JUST IN: Patty Murray Holds Press Briefing Approaching Dobbs Second Anniversary
On Tuesday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) held a press briefing on reproductive Rights.
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NewsTranscript
00:00And then I think we need to do, I've got to jump up.
00:04I've got to move this.
00:06Well, at least have the head.
00:08Yes, it does.
00:10Do you want to have cameras?
00:12Yes, in the back.
00:14Hey, buddy.
00:16That's out of your seats.
00:18Thank you very much.
00:20First-generation carbon fiber.
00:22Sorry.
00:24I see you're stuffed.
00:26I'm stuffed, too.
00:28Thank you so much.
00:40Is that Bill?
00:42Is it time?
00:44It's getting there.
00:46I'm pretty nervous.
00:50I have a feeling they're not waiting.
00:52Heads up.
00:58Okay.
01:04They were behind me.
01:06No, no, no.
01:08We're here.
01:10Reinforcements.
01:12Okay.
01:14I don't want to carry that up there.
01:20All right.
01:22Debbie, here you are.
01:24Okay.
01:28I haven't heard.
01:30Yeah, I heard.
01:32I love that one.
01:34Yes.
01:36Hey.
01:38Hi, Chuck.
01:40I should have worn my beautiful leg.
01:42I know.
01:44Because I think in times like these,
01:46a lot of spirit is really important.
01:52Are you guys done?
01:54Okay.
01:56All right.
01:58There are no two ways about it.
02:00Republicans intend to ban abortion nationwide,
02:04and it's not just me saying that,
02:06because they have made their plan public
02:08for all the world to see,
02:10plain as day.
02:12It's called Project 2025,
02:14the radical and detailed agenda
02:16that a far-right alliance
02:18is preparing to implement
02:20under a second Trump administration.
02:22My colleagues are going to have a lot more to say
02:24about how alarming this agenda is,
02:26but to give you an idea,
02:28they want to stack our courts
02:30with far-right judges
02:32who've been specifically vetted
02:34for anti-abortion views
02:36and rubber-stamped
02:38by extreme anti-choice groups.
02:40They want to try to misuse
02:42the 1873 Comstack Act,
02:44which the Department of Justice
02:46has repeatedly made clear
02:48does not apply as a backdoor way
02:50to ban abortion nationwide
02:52for mailing medication abortion
02:54and potentially even the medical supplies
02:56necessary for abortion care.
02:58They want to take
03:00Title X funding away
03:02from trusted health care providers
03:04and give it to centers
03:06that lie to women to pressure them
03:08out of getting abortions.
03:10They want to have FDA reverse
03:12its approval of medication abortion
03:14completely, cutting off
03:16access in every single state
03:18in the most common method of abortion.
03:20They want a new regime
03:22of invasive abortion data
03:24tracking, giving a hostile
03:26federal government sensitive information
03:28about women seeking
03:30necessary health care.
03:32They want to refuse to enforce
03:34federal laws that say women
03:36in medical emergencies
03:38can get abortion care if it's necessary
03:40to save their health and life.
03:42And they will attack access
03:44to an insurance coverage
03:46of contraception, ripping
03:48birth control away from women
03:50in every state, especially
03:52low-income women. So to recap,
03:54right now Donald Trump and his
03:56allies are planning a detailed
03:58roadmap, they've given it out, to
04:00rip away a woman's right to choose in every
04:02single state in America should they take
04:04power. Not just with legislation
04:06by the way. They don't even need
04:08Congress to pass bills for most of it.
04:10They will try to do this with just
04:12Donald Trump in the White House wielding the
04:14power of the presidency. That is
04:16how dangerous this is.
04:18So here's what Americans need
04:20to understand. Abortion
04:22rights are absolutely
04:24on the ballot in November in
04:26every single state, and
04:28Project 2025 leaves
04:30no doubt. You can go read about it
04:32yourself. So if you want to stand up for
04:34abortion rights in America, you need to use
04:36your voice and your vote.
04:38With that I will turn it over to our leader,
04:40Senator Chuck Schumer.
04:42Thank you, Patty.
04:44Thank you very much,
04:46and next month
04:48we will continue our
04:50crusade to protect
04:52women's reproductive freedoms.
04:54The Republicans don't
04:56want to talk about it,
04:58but they're going to have to vote on it
05:00plain and simple.
05:02Here's what they think.
05:04They say, this is the
05:06Republican plan, we don't
05:08need a federal ban when we have the
05:10Comstock Act on the books.
05:12There's a smorgasbord of options.
05:14I think the pro-life groups
05:16should keep their mouths shut
05:18as much as possible until the election.
05:20Our Republican colleagues
05:22may not want to talk about this issue because
05:24they know they're on the wrong side.
05:26They know their goal
05:28is to enact a nationwide abortion
05:30ban, but we're going to force them to vote
05:32on it. This is not a show
05:34vote. This is a show who you
05:36are vote, and we're going to show just
05:38who the Republicans are. And if you
05:40don't believe us, ask Donald
05:42Trump. Here's what he said.
05:44After 50 years of failure
05:46with no one coming even close, I was able
05:48to kill Roe v. Wade,
05:50much to the shock of everyone.
05:52Without me, the pro-life movement
05:54would have just kept losing. That's
05:56probably true of Mitch McConnell.
05:58It's true of Mitch McConnell
06:00and all the Republican leaders.
06:02So I want to thank Senator
06:04Murray and all of my colleagues
06:06for being here, for their tireless work
06:08to fight back against
06:10Republicans' relentless attack
06:12on reproductive freedom.
06:14As we approach the two-year anniversary
06:16of Roe, which will occur on June
06:1824th, many of us are
06:20doing events in our states
06:22about that issue.
06:24As we approach the two-year anniversary
06:26of Roe, being overturned
06:28this month could have been a month
06:30when the Senate came together
06:32to protect Americans'
06:34reproductive freedoms. It could have been
06:36a month when both sides came together
06:38to pass commonsensical
06:40legislation protecting
06:42reproductive care like contraception
06:44and IVF.
06:46It could have been a month
06:48when we put to rest the
06:50worries of the millions of women
06:52across America enduring attacks
06:54on their reproductive freedom
06:56in the aftermath of Roe.
06:58But instead, June
07:00has been a dismal month
07:02for MAGA Republicans and their attacks
07:04on women, families, and reproductive rights
07:06because Senate Democrats are forcing
07:08them to vote
07:10and show who they are and what they
07:12believe. And it's shocking
07:14to many Americans that
07:16they wouldn't protect the right to contraception,
07:18they wouldn't protect the right to IVF,
07:20and they wouldn't protect the right to have
07:22an abortion.
07:24In the last two weeks,
07:26Senate Republicans have shown
07:28that for all their attempts to sound
07:30moderate on reproductive care when it comes
07:32time to vote, they choose
07:34MAGA extremism.
07:36We tell America, look at how
07:38they vote, not by how they talk
07:40or how they zip up their mouths and
07:42refuse to talk about this issue.
07:44When Republicans block
07:46protections for IVF
07:48as they did a few days ago,
07:50they chose MAGA extremism over
07:52the American people. When they
07:54block protections for contraception
07:56a few weeks ago,
07:58they chose MAGA extremism over the
08:00American people. These
08:02hard-right extremists are hell-bent
08:04on restricting every reproductive
08:06right on the books if they take control
08:08in November. And they went
08:10so far to put it in writing. Listen to this.
08:12They've outlined extreme plans
08:14in Project 2025.
08:16Read it. See how extreme
08:18it is. And that's the plan
08:20crafted by Trump allies and former
08:22Trump administration officials, and it speaks
08:24for the Republican Party,
08:26unfortunately, with rare exception
08:28as a whole. So we have to
08:30fight back. It's why yesterday
08:32I took the first procedural step
08:34to place on the legislative calendar
08:36the Reproductive Freedom
08:38for Women Act, sponsored by Senator Murray,
08:40myself, and co-sponsored by
08:42every Democratic woman in the
08:44Senate on our side of the aisle.
08:46The measure affirms
08:48a woman's fundamental right
08:50to choose and calls
08:52for enshrining the protections of Roe
08:54into law, which
08:56the overwhelming majority of Americans
08:58want. I will work with my colleagues
09:00to bring it to the floor as soon as
09:02possible. In short, we don't have
09:04time to waste. When Donald
09:06Trump continues to
09:08this day to brag about working with
09:10Senate Republicans to confirm
09:12three right-hard Republican justices
09:14who eliminate Roe,
09:16we know the Republicans will never
09:18stop choosing MAGA extremism
09:20over the American people.
09:22But Republicans can't run
09:24away from the basic truth
09:26their record on women's healthcare
09:28is outright abysmal,
09:30it is shameful, and dangerously
09:32out of step with the views of Americans.
09:34But we assure America
09:36we in the Democratic caucus,
09:38led by these great senators, are going
09:40to keep fighting and standing
09:42up for the American people,
09:44and standing up for reproductive rights.
09:46Senator Stabenow.
09:48Well, thank you so much
09:50Senator Schumer, and thank you Senator
09:52Murray for bringing us together.
09:54This is an all-hands-on-deck moment
09:56in terms of women
09:58having the freedom
10:00to make our own reproductive
10:02health decisions. In fact, for any
10:04American to have the freedom
10:06to make their own
10:08reproductive health decisions.
10:10That's what this is all about.
10:12Both Senator Murray and Senator Schumer have talked
10:14in the big picture of everything that's
10:16at stake. I want to focus on one
10:18specific piece, and that
10:20is mefapristone, who
10:22is the medicine
10:24that is used
10:26most often for
10:28early-stage abortion.
10:30Last week, we were able to
10:32breathe a temporary sigh of relief
10:34that the Supreme Court didn't restrict
10:36mefapristone,
10:38but we know it was only on
10:40legal issues of standing,
10:42and that they gave a road map
10:44about how to come back to the court.
10:46But we also know this drug is safe,
10:48it's effective, it's been used
10:50in over half the abortions in the United
10:52States for more than 20 years.
10:54That's the reality.
10:56It's also used by women suffering
10:58from endometriosis,
11:00from cancer, from
11:02anemia, and miscarriages.
11:04And one woman
11:06that, Larissa, who
11:08spoke with me, talked about
11:10experiencing multiple
11:12heartbreaking miscarriages,
11:14and she needed to use
11:16mefapristone to complete
11:18the miscarriages
11:20so she could try to get pregnant again.
11:22This wasn't about
11:24an abortion. It was about having
11:26a process that would allow
11:28her to be able to
11:30be healthy and have another baby.
11:32She said mefapristone is
11:34sometimes used as, quote,
11:36part of the puzzle of people
11:38having families.
11:40After years of trying, Larissa
11:42and her family now have
11:44a beautiful daughter,
11:46and they are so pleased
11:48that they were able to do this
11:50and use this important
11:52drug, but unfortunately,
11:54this ruling leaves
11:56a question mark about what's going to happen
11:58down the road. Now, we know
12:00that it's not going to stop new legal challenges
12:02for the drug, and we also
12:04know more importantly this, that
12:06if Donald Trump is in the White House
12:08next year, there is no doubt,
12:10no doubt, that he and Republicans
12:12will continue to use
12:14every tool possible
12:16to ban mefapristone,
12:18as has been shown by these
12:20quotes, including
12:22restricting the shipment of
12:24this life-saving drug
12:26to women across the country,
12:28and his administration
12:30will try to revoke
12:32the original decision
12:34of the FDA in
12:362000, the approval
12:38of mefapristone.
12:40So there's no doubt
12:42he's going to continue his assault
12:44on all of our reproductive freedoms,
12:46and he has said he's proudly the person
12:48responsible for ending Roe,
12:50proud to put the lives of millions
12:52of women at risk, proud
12:54to take this freedom away
12:56from millions and millions of women.
12:58Today, one in three women
13:00now live under extreme and dangerous
13:02abortion bans, and if
13:04you think they're going to stop there, you have not
13:06been listening to them.
13:08So we are
13:10completely committed, working
13:12with our President and Vice
13:14President, we are working every
13:16day to defend Americans'
13:18freedom to make decisions
13:20for themselves, whether
13:22it's reproductive health care, whether
13:24it's decisions on who they love,
13:26or who they,
13:28where they live, or what their futures
13:30are going to be. These are basic
13:32freedoms for Americans,
13:34and we are committed to making
13:36sure that Americans do not
13:38lose these freedoms in the long run.
13:40Senator Klobuchar.
13:42Thank you. Thank you, Senator Stabenow.
13:44Thank you, Senator Murray, Senator Schumer,
13:46and my colleagues here. I think everyone
13:48remembers where they were when they found
13:50out that this decision was real,
13:52that it wasn't just a leaked opinion
13:54two years ago. I was getting
13:56my hair cut, and all the women there
13:58that were around me going, what?
14:00And from that day
14:02on, we predicted what would happen,
14:04and it has sadly really all come
14:06through. We predicted
14:08back then that we were
14:10going to see a patchwork of laws,
14:12and we have a presidential
14:14candidate in Donald Trump that is
14:16calling for giving
14:18it back to the state. So,
14:20what does that mean?
14:22When you look at what the states are doing,
14:24women turned away from emergency rooms,
14:26sitting in cars waiting for care,
14:28doctors being threatened with prosecutions
14:30for doing their jobs,
14:32access to fertility treatments
14:34at risk, and we thank our colleague,
14:36Senator Duckworth, for her leadership
14:38on that bill.
14:40State by state by state,
14:42in all of
14:44these states where, as my colleagues just pointed out,
14:46we have a third of women of reproductive age
14:48now living under extreme bans
14:50and dangerous bans.
14:52That's what's happened. The other
14:54thing that we predicted that would
14:56happen is women
14:58across this country are
15:00confused because they're waiting
15:02and waiting for what is the next court
15:04case going to say? Well, we thought
15:06we didn't have Memphis-Bristow in Texas,
15:08but now I guess it's okay because of
15:10this appeal and that appeal. This
15:12is no way to protect people's
15:14rights. Getting me to my topic
15:16is judges. Reproductive
15:18rights are in jeopardy because
15:20we have an extreme Supreme Court
15:22with Trump-appointed judges that
15:24overturned 50 years
15:26of precedent, overturned
15:28Roe v. Wade. And if
15:30you look to a future and you look at that plan
15:32they put in place and you look at the stuff
15:34that's out there, we would see more
15:36judges the same.
15:38Several other states, like Idaho,
15:40Kansas, Missouri, are pursuing
15:42litigation like we saw
15:44in Texas on Memphis-Bristow.
15:46And that's why every judge
15:48we confirm makes a difference.
15:50As a member of the Judiciary Committee,
15:52I'm proud we have confirmed over
15:54200 judges, but
15:56it isn't just the quantity, it's also
15:58about the quality.
16:00We know the American people are with us.
16:02They are with us on
16:04having judges in place that
16:06actually respect the law. They are
16:08with us on choice.
16:10Since Dobbs, voters from Ohio
16:12to Kansas have stood with us.
16:14And the best solution here is
16:16to codify Roe v. Wade into
16:18law and to continue
16:20to put judges on the court
16:22that actually wish
16:24to respect the law. Thank you.
16:38The chaos that was wrought
16:40with the decision in Dobbs
16:42overturning Roe is really
16:44all about gaining power and
16:46control over women
16:48and our bodies.
16:50Does it surprise you
16:52that Donald
16:54Trump is all in
16:56on all of these efforts
16:58to gain power and control
17:00over women's bodies and lives?
17:02Shouldn't come as a surprise to any of us.
17:04So Dobbs
17:06sowed chaos across our country,
17:08but it foretold
17:10more chaos to come.
17:12And in his Dobbs concurrence,
17:14Justice Thomas called for
17:16the court to, quote,
17:18reconsider other privacy rights,
17:20including the right to contraception.
17:22Now, Donald
17:24Trump and his allies are making
17:26clear that if they regain
17:28power, they're coming
17:30after contraception.
17:32And Project 2025
17:34is their blueprint.
17:36I would ask all the members of the press,
17:38take a look at what's contained
17:40in Project 2025.
17:42This is a blueprint for what
17:44the MAGA Republicans
17:46and Donald Trump and his ilk
17:48want to do to the rest of us
17:50in this country. This is a blueprint.
17:52So to start, they want to rename
17:54the Department of Health and Human Services
17:56the Department of
17:58Life.
18:00Let that sink in.
18:02They will reclassify
18:04common forms of contraception,
18:06like Plan B, as
18:08abortificants.
18:10I can't even say
18:12the word. You know what I mean.
18:14To make it as difficult as possible
18:16to access contraceptives.
18:18And they'll try to redirect
18:20federal funds from Title
18:2210 family planning programs
18:24to so-called
18:26crisis pregnancy
18:28centers, centers that
18:30manipulate women in need
18:32of basic maternal
18:34guidance,
18:36medical guidance.
18:38And what's worse, Project 2025
18:40calls for cutting off
18:42Medicaid funding for Planned
18:44Parenthood, despite the fact
18:46that Planned Parenthood is often
18:48the only option for women
18:50with low income seeking
18:52contraceptives. This isn't
18:54about protecting life.
18:56It's about power and control
18:58and the Republicans'
19:00obsession,
19:02obsession with controlling
19:04women's bodies.
19:06So this isn't hypothetical.
19:08MAGA Republicans are telling us
19:10exactly what they plan to do.
19:12They're not just going after
19:14abortion, making abortion illegal
19:16throughout the country, but they are going after
19:18just about every other way
19:20that women can make decisions
19:22about our lives. That includes
19:24contraception. And that is
19:26why the Democrats are fighting
19:28to codify our reproductive
19:30rights and sound
19:32the alarm.
19:36Next is
19:38Senator Rosen?
19:40Sorry.
19:42Senator Duckworth.
19:48Thank you,
19:50Senator Hirono. Hi, everyone.
19:52So ten years ago,
19:54when I was going
19:56through one of my rounds of IVF,
19:58my fertility doctor said,
20:00you know, if personhood,
20:02this idea of personhood, where a fertilized egg
20:04is a human being with equal rights
20:06to you, takes hold,
20:08we can't do what we're doing today,
20:10which is discarding three of the five
20:12fertilized eggs that we had
20:14retrieved because they
20:16were non-viable. They had
20:18stopped growing. And if he had implanted those
20:20in me, they would have caused miscarriages.
20:22He said this could potentially be manslaughter
20:24and murder. That was ten years ago.
20:26Three years ago, before
20:28the Dobbs decision came down,
20:30as the arguments were being heard,
20:32the Association for Reproductive Medicine
20:34put out a bulletin to all of
20:36members, practitioners
20:38in reproductive medicine, and said,
20:40hey, just so you know,
20:42if Dobbs does actually pass
20:44and Roe v. Wade is overturned,
20:46you might want to reconsider
20:48practicing medicine in these red
20:50states because
20:52with the fall of Roe,
20:54you could potentially be put into legal
20:56jeopardy. This came out from the Association
20:58for Reproductive Medicine, formally to
21:00all of their doctors. And now we see it
21:02happening. We see doctors leaving all of
21:04these red states, moving away
21:06because they can no longer practice medicine.
21:08We see women not being able
21:10to access basic reproductive
21:12health care. So, you know, as we
21:14prepare to mark the two-year anniversary of
21:16the Dobbs decision, I find myself
21:18getting more and more mad every single day
21:20because we've seen this coming.
21:22They've been telling us this is what
21:24they're going to do. Yet,
21:26for months now, Republicans have been running
21:28to cable news shows telling every camera
21:30in sight, just like their ringmaster
21:32Donald Trump has been doing, that no one
21:34cares about women more than they do.
21:36That no one cares more about defending
21:38women's rights than they do.
21:40And that all they want to do in this
21:42scary post-Alabama ruling reality
21:44is to defend Americans' access to IVF.
21:46But for anyone
21:48who's paying any attention,
21:50you know that's not
21:52true. That is a lie.
21:54Until you solve the problem of personhood
21:56and a fertilized egg being a human
21:58child, then you
22:00don't get to the point where
22:02women can have safe access to
22:04reproductive health care, to
22:06assisted reproductive technology,
22:08to safe abortions,
22:10if needed.
22:12Just last Thursday, my Republican colleagues
22:14blocked my Right to IVF Act,
22:16which would have enshrined into law
22:18the simple standard that no hopeful parent
22:20or doctor can be criminalized for IVF.
22:22If Republicans actually
22:24cared as much about protecting IVF
22:26as they do about protecting Donald Trump's
22:28ego, this would have been a
22:30simple yes vote. If they actually wanted
22:32to find a real fix for this crisis
22:34that countless Americans are facing,
22:36they would have joined me in passing this
22:38very obvious solution.
22:40Because the threat to IVF isn't
22:42some far-fetched hypothetical.
22:44As GOP legislatures, courts,
22:46and the Extremist Project 2025 have made
22:48all too clear, this threat
22:50is already a real-life nightmare
22:52for countless women who are now forced to live
22:54in fear that Republican success
22:56this November would even further imperil
22:58their right to try to create
23:00a family, to try to create
23:02a child. Hopeful moms who remain
23:04unsure whether living in a red state under
23:06a Trump presidency could mean getting
23:08jail time for committing the supposed sin
23:10of needing modern medicine to help bring
23:12into the world a baby that they
23:14want to love and cherish.
23:16A baby that they've dumped off for years.
23:18So when someone shows you who they
23:20are the first time, believe them.
23:22That's how the saying goes.
23:24Well, Republicans have shown us who they are
23:261, 2, 3,
23:284,000 times.
23:30When the rubber meets the road,
23:32and we ask not just for empty words
23:34on Twitter, but for their vote,
23:36they won't lift a finger to protect women
23:38in this country. As a mom
23:40who struggled with infertility and needed IVF
23:42to have my two beautiful little girls,
23:44all I can say to my Republican colleagues
23:46in this moment is, how
23:48dare you continue to lie to the American people?
23:50How dare you continue
23:52to dash the hopes of so many families
23:54looking to have that precious child?
23:56And I wish you luck as you try
23:58to excuse your hypocrisy to every one
24:00of your constituents back home who are
24:02facing the heart-wrenching struggle
24:04of trying to have their own little girl or boy
24:06to cuddle and love,
24:08who are terrified that your blind loyalty
24:10to Trump may have just snatched
24:12that dream away from them.
24:14Shame on you. And now I'll pass it to
24:16Senator Rosen.
24:22Well, I want to thank
24:24Senator Murray and
24:26all of my colleagues here today
24:28for the work that they do on this issue
24:30and so many others. But today we're talking
24:32about women's fundamental
24:34freedom. And as my colleagues
24:36have already made clear, overturning
24:38Roe v. Wade was just the beginning,
24:40just the beginning of anti-choice extremist
24:42attacks on women's
24:44reproductive freedoms.
24:46In the last two years,
24:48we've seen politicians
24:50pushing to enact more
24:52restrictions on women and their
24:54health care. You've heard my colleagues
24:56speak about it.
24:58Even here in the Senate, a nationwide
25:00abortion ban has been introduced by
25:02anti-choice Republicans
25:04and would severely limit
25:06women's reproductive freedom
25:08in all states,
25:10including a pro-choice state
25:12like mine, Nevada.
25:14At the same time,
25:16we've seen states around the country enact
25:18extreme and highly restrictive
25:20abortion bans, some
25:22even without exceptions for rape
25:24or incest.
25:26And even when they claim to have exceptions
25:28for life of the mother, we know
25:30that in practice,
25:32this is not the case.
25:34The lack of clarity
25:36about what constitutes
25:38a medical emergency
25:40forces doctors today
25:42to consult lawyers
25:44before they're able to provide care for women
25:46whose lives depend on it.
25:48In Texas,
25:50because of the state's extreme abortion ban,
25:52a woman who was going
25:54through a miscarriage when she was four months pregnant
25:56had to wait
25:5824 hours in a hospital.
26:0024 hours in a hospital.
26:02She's having a miscarriage.
26:04She developed sepsis
26:06before she could receive the
26:08life-saving care she desperately
26:10need before they,
26:12the doctors, had to do their consultation.
26:14And sadly,
26:16it could get even worse.
26:18Right now,
26:20anti-choice extremists are attacking
26:22the fundamental right for a pregnant woman
26:24to receive proper medical care
26:26in an emergency.
26:28Think about that.
26:30They want the Supreme Court
26:32to overturn EMTALA,
26:34a decades-old
26:36federal law that requires
26:38all hospitals
26:40to provide life-saving care
26:42to all patients.
26:44It's simple. You go to an emergency room,
26:46they have to treat your emergency,
26:48including abortion care
26:50for women.
26:52Emergencies happen all the time.
26:54Women.
26:56Women will get
26:58turned away at the emergency room door.
27:00In fact, they're getting turned away now
27:02as we speak. And if the Supreme Court
27:04overturns this law, make no mistake,
27:06women will die.
27:08This could be your wife.
27:10This could be your daughter, your sister,
27:12your mother, your friend.
27:14And you never know.
27:16You never know when this emergency
27:18could happen to somebody that you love.
27:20EMTALA saves lives,
27:22period.
27:24And so this is just another
27:26attempt by anti-choice extremists
27:28to control women's bodies.
27:30Let me be clear.
27:32We, all of us here,
27:34and our Democratic
27:36colleagues, won't
27:38let them. We won't
27:40let them.
27:42Nevadans sent me here to the Senate
27:44to fight for them and their rights.
27:46In their states,
27:48they were sent to fight
27:50for the rights of women.
27:52And as long as I'm here,
27:54as long as we are here,
27:56and the Senate Democrats remain in the majority,
27:58we will stand up for women's
28:00reproductive freedoms and block any
28:02attempt to pass a restrictive
28:04abortion ban that will hurt women.
28:06Senator Murray.
28:08Thank you. Thank you to everyone.
28:10We're happy to take a couple questions.
28:12Thank you. So Tina Smith
28:14said last week that she plans to
28:16introduce a bill for Jill Comstock, which she mentioned
28:18at the beginning, in the coming days
28:20was her wording.
28:22Is such a legislation
28:24something that Senate Democrats
28:26and leadership would prioritize
28:28and potentially bring for a vote?
28:30Let me make it very clear.
28:32Our Department of Justice has made it very
28:34clear that Comstock does not apply.
28:36I think we're all concerned
28:38about what could happen in a Trump administration,
28:40but at this point, I've not seen
28:42the legislation. We'll obviously review it,
28:44but our Department of Justice has said
28:46it does not apply.
28:48Senator Murray, you mentioned that
28:50some of these agenda items wouldn't even
28:52require congressional approval that the administration
28:54could take unilateral action or change
28:56regulations. What are, I guess, some of those
28:58issues that you're worried that a Trump
29:00White House could enact, even
29:02without a government?
29:04Well, I think pretty much everything we've talked about,
29:06if they change the regulations through FIAT
29:08at, through
29:10making Mifflin-Pristone
29:12illegal, I mean, there's,
29:14I can list you all kinds of things, but
29:16I will tell you that we
29:18aren't going to let that happen. We're going to be here.
29:20We're going to fight back.
29:22Thank you. You know, it is
29:24very easy to blame another branch
29:26for this, especially as we approach the
29:28anniversary of this DOPS ruling.
29:30But why weren't Senate Democrats,
29:32House Democrats, able to whip enough
29:34votes to codify this
29:36before this happened?
29:38Well, as someone who's been here a long time
29:40fighting for women's rights, I can
29:42tell you that every time we said
29:44there's a possibility we need to be
29:46ready, I was told, don't worry,
29:48Supreme Court will never overturn this.
29:50I mean, constantly, throughout,
29:52you know, priorities and setting up, don't worry,
29:54and now we know. We know
29:56that a Trump administration put
29:58judges in place that overturned Roe,
30:00and we're here to tell you never
30:02again. We are fighting back. We're looking forward.
30:04We're doing everything we can to protect
30:06women's rights, and we will be here to block
30:08anything that the Trump
30:10administration tries to do, but voters
30:12need to be aware of that.
30:14You might not
30:16have the votes to codify
30:18Roe into law, but you may
30:20have the votes to codify
30:22exceptions like rape, incest,
30:24woman's life. Is that something you would consider
30:26down the road? We are going to,
30:28as soon as we get the majority
30:30and a Democrat in the White House
30:32and a Democratic majority in the House
30:34restore Roe.
30:36Yes.
30:38So the Trump campaign has put out
30:40statements suggesting that Project 2025,
30:42that the Project 2025 agenda
30:44should not be considered official Trump
30:46stance. How confident are you
30:48that the agenda will become true?
30:50Well, the Project 2025
30:52was written by people who were in a former
30:54Trump administration who will likely be in that
30:56Trump administration again.
30:58It was written by all of the
31:00Republicans out there who will be part
31:02of that administration. I'm not going to sit back
31:04and go, oh, believe Trump.
31:06How many Republicans have rejected it?
31:08Yeah, tell us that.
31:10Has a single Republican rejected?
31:14Better yet, has a single Republican voted
31:16to protect the right to contraception and
31:18protect the right to IVF?
31:20Not one.
31:22Two.
31:24All right.
31:26Thank you all.
31:28Thank you so much.