WASHINGTON — Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement on the introduction of Senate Republicans’ national abortion ban by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.):
“The Senate Republicans’ bill is a cruel, unjust attack on the fundamental freedom and bodily autonomy of millions of people across the country, disproportionately impacting the most marginalized communities, including Black and Brown people, low-income people, young people, and LGBTQ+ people. This bill is the culmination of Republicans’ long-held goal: to ban abortion nationwide and rip the most personal of decisions away from the people they are supposed to serve. The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade, made by an anti-abortion majority the Republicans worked for decades to create, was a necessary prerequisite — but it was never the end game.
“Let us be clear: this is a national abortion ban. It is a power grab and an attempt to control women and all people who can get pregnant. It does not simply ‘return abortion to the states’: it institutes a nationwide criminal punishment for abortion.
“As one of the 1 in 4 people in this country who has had an abortion, I refuse to allow this offensive bill to become law. Democrats are resolute: the decision to have an abortion belongs to the individual, not politicians. We will continue our fight in Congress to protect that right, our advocacy for President Biden to expand access to care through executive action, and our solidarity with the movements who have been fighting to protect and expand abortion access and get our neighbors the care they need.
“Republicans have shown us their roadmap if they seize control of the Senate: they will continue their wild, desperate march to take away fundamental freedoms that have been settled law for half a century. They are showing over and over again that they are out of step with the country. House Democrats have already passed the Women’s Health Protection Act — twice. With a clear pro-choice majority in the Senate, Democrats will pass that bill and finally codify the freedom to make choices about our bodies — including choosing abortion. All of us who are enraged will continue to take our righteous anger to the streets and to the voting booths.”
