On the recordApril 19, 2023
Madam President, I join my colleagues today to continue to speak out against the far-right Republicans' harmful and, frankly, insulting resolution to prevent women veterans from accessing essential healthcare in this country. You know, our veterans stepped up to serve our country, putting their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and keep our families safe. We owe them a debt of gratitude. That is why I am working to ensure that we protect veterans' rights to essential healthcare. We trust these women to make critical decisions in the line of duty to protect our national security; so why don't extremists on the right trust them to make decisions about their own bodies? The purpose of the VA is to protect veterans' health and life. Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, my colleagues and I pushed the administration, including the VA, to take action to protect women veterans' access to abortion care across the country. At our urging, the VA created a rule to provide abortion counseling to pregnant veterans as well as abortion services in the limited cases of rape, incest, or the life or health of the mother. This is critical for women veterans, especially those who live in States with strict abortion bans and no access to care in their communities. But we knew that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, anti-choice policymakers wouldn't stop trying to take away a woman's right to choose.…
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