Political Quotes

“I hear colleagues from the other side of the aisle talk again and again about how they want patient-centered healthcare. That is the refrain--patient-centered healthcare. Make no mistake about what this resolution is all about. It turns that phrase on its head because what it says to certainly women who are patients: You are not free to go get the healthcare you want. It seems like this never ends--another day, another effort to deny women the opportunity to have the kinds of healthcare choices and the healthcare services that they feel strongly about. I am not going to take long; I know colleagues are in a hurry. I just want to say that the next time you hear this lofty rhetoric-- particularly from the majority--about how everything they are going to do in American healthcare is going to put the patients at the center of healthcare, give people more choices, and protect the freedom that they talk about in healthcare--understand, if you vote for this resolution, you are repudiating all of those speeches. I have heard Senator Murray talk about it. She says it very eloquently. The bottom line is that this resolution not only doesn't support that lofty rhetoric about patients being at the center of healthcare, this resolution deprives women of choices and access to healthcare services they want. I hope my colleagues will join Senator Murray and understand the dangerous consequences of what is at stake.…”