Tina Smith: “I thank Senator Baldwin for her thoughtful remarks. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Women's Health…”

“I thank Senator Baldwin for her thoughtful remarks. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Women's Health Protection Act, and I urge my colleagues to join us in standing up for fundamental rights to freedom, autonomy, and self-determination. Make no mistake: That is what this vote is about--who has the power; who has the freedom to decide when your own health, livelihood, and life are on the line. There is nothing more American than the values of freedom and individual autonomy; yet the U.S. Supreme Court is about to declare that women in this country are not guaranteed the freedom to make their own private decisions about abortion. Justice Alito, Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans, and radical Republican State legislators around the country believe that they should have the power--that they know better than American women, whose lives and stories they will never know. To that, I say: How dare they? When I worked at Planned Parenthood, I saw firsthand the capacity of women to make good decisions about their health, their bodies, and their lives. To suggest otherwise is insulting to the dignity of women as full, adult human beings and as equal citizens of this Nation, but that is where we are. Justice Alito's draft opinion is a wake-up call and a call to action. Reading his opinion was like a gut punch, but it was not a surprise, and it didn't just happen.…”