Tammy Baldwin: “I rise today in support a woman's right to control her own body. Across the country, women have been stripped of the…”

“I rise today in support a woman's right to control her own body. Across the country, women have been stripped of the freedom to make their own decisions--decisions about their families, their health, and their futures. Judges and politicians have inserted themselves into exam rooms, telling doctors they cannot treat their patients, sometimes even if that treatment would save her life. In my home State of Wisconsin, women lived for 15 months under a criminal abortion ban that was passed in 1849, a law on the books from 1 year after our statehood and 70 years before a woman won the right to vote. And while there were no women in the room when the statute was crafted, 2 years ago, Wisconsin women woke up to find their healthcare decisions would be dictated by a law that predates the Civil War. They woke up to find out that they now had fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers. That day began 15 months of confusion and chaos and heartbreak for families across Wisconsin. We heard stories of women bleeding out from miscarriages, developing life-threatening infections, or being forced to carry unviable pregnancies until they could find an appointment out of State. For countless women, that meant driving hours, paying for lodging and childcare, and taking time off work just to make their own decisions about their own body. Patients from every one of Wisconsin's 72 counties traveled to Illinois just to access healthcare, some traveling over 500 miles.…”