Bernie Sanders Points Out Many Americans Believe Women Should Control Their Own Bodies, Not The Govt

4 months ago

During a Senate Health Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave opening remarks about the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the need to protect abortion rights.

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Transcript

00:00 Two years ago, six Supreme Court justices, all nominated by Republican presidents,

00:07 decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, abolish the constitutional right for women to have an abortion,

00:17 and to give politicians in state government the right to control the bodies of women in state after state.

00:27 This morning, we will be holding a hearing to take a hard look at how this Supreme Court decision,

00:34 the Dobbs decision, has impacted women, physicians, and health care providers throughout our country.

00:41 In a few minutes, I am going to be handing the gavel as chair of the committee to Senator Patty Murray,

00:50 because given the subject matter, I think it's appropriate for a woman to chair this important hearing,

00:57 and this is an issue that Senator Murray has been deeply and passionately involved in for many, many years.

01:04 But before I hand the gavel over to Senator Murray, let me say a few words on a subject I feel very, very strongly about.

01:15 It is no secret to anyone that throughout our country's history,

01:22 women have had to fight for their basic human rights against all forms of patriarchy and sexism.

01:34 No great secret.

01:36 Women had to struggle, and some died, in order to achieve the right to vote,

01:43 something which they did not receive until 1920.

01:47 Women had to struggle for the right to get the education that they wanted all over America.

01:53 Women wanted to go to this school, wanted to do that, couldn't get it into the door because they were women.

02:00 Women had to struggle to get banks to lend them the money they needed to buy a car or start their own business.

02:08 In fact, up to 1974, banks in America could legally refuse to issue a credit card to a woman simply because she was a woman.

02:23 Women struggled to get to choose the careers they wanted.

02:27 In the 1950s, it was legal for employers to fire women for the crime of getting married.

02:35 They got fired because she chose to get married.

02:38 Up until 1964, it was legal for employers in America to reject a job applicant simply because the applicant was a woman.

02:48 The struggle for equal pay, for equal work, continues to this day.

02:54 In America today, women working full-time make just 84 cents on the dollar compared to men.

03:01 And on and on it goes.

03:03 Women struggling for their basic human rights.

03:08 Then on January 22, 1973, after decades and decades of struggle,

03:15 women in America finally won the right to control their own bodies as a result of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.

03:24 No longer would state governments be able to tell women what they could or could not do with their own bodies.

03:37 And when we talk about the history of how all of these happened, let's not ignore the lack of political representation that women had.

03:48 In 1987, not so many, many years ago, there were two women in the United States Senate and 98 men.

03:57 Those are the folks all over this country who are making the decision.

04:02 The truth is that men, men, would not tolerate them being subject to government decisions regarding how they can control their own bodies.

04:16 I am not aware of any state in this country that has ever restricted the right of a man to get Viagra or any other medication prescribed by a doctor.

04:25 I'm not aware of any state in this country that has prevented a man from getting a vasectomy or any other medical procedure that men choose to get that hasn't been approved by a doctor.

04:35 You know, we hear a lot of talk about freedom in this body.

04:41 Freedom to do what you want to do.

04:45 And yet, right now, we are living at a time when half of our population or more has lost that freedom.

04:52 And by the way, when I talk about the right of women to be able to control their own bodies, it's not just me talking.

04:58 It's what the American people believe in poll after poll, in state election after state election.

05:06 People are saying we may disagree politically, may disagree on this or that issue.

05:13 But very strongly, the American people believe it is women, not the government, that has a right to control their own body.

Bernie Sanders Points Out Many Americans Believe Women Should Control Their Own Bodies, Not The Govt

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