In Floor Speech, Senator Hassan Urges Colleagues to Enshrine a Woman’s Reproductive Freedom into Law

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan delivered a speech on the Senate floor yesterday urging her colleagues to support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would enshrine into federal law a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions and guarantee the right to an abortion. Senator Hassan and her colleagues reintroduced this critical legislation yesterday as well.  

To watch Senator Hassan’s speech, click here.

Highlights from Senator Hassan’s floor speech:

“I rise today to join Senator Baldwin and Senator Blumenthal, and all of my colleagues who are in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act. […] I want to thank advocates from Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and other organizations who have been tirelessly pushing for this legislation and standing up and speaking out for reproductive freedom.”

“When women across the country raised the alarm following the Supreme Court’s decision, there were those who suggested that we were overreacting; they suggested that life for most women would continue as it did before. Well it has become very, very clear that those who espouse that view were wrong.”

“Partisan politicians who believe women are incapable of making their own critical health care decisions have made clear that their ultimate goal is to ban abortion in all 50 states.”

“The question before the Senate is whether or not we believe that we have an obligation to listen to their voices; whether or not our government should be accountable to the people. Including women. What is at stake is the principle that American women are free and equal citizens in our democracy and that they should be able to chart their own futures.”

“That is why I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would once again protect a woman’s fundamental freedom in every part of the country. We cannot stand idly by as women across America become second class citizens. We should stand united in the belief that our daughters deserve the same freedoms as everyone else.”

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