June 21, 2023

Wyden: In One Year Without Roe, We’ve Seen the Horrible Reality of the Right-Wing’s War on Women

Watch a video of Wyden’s floor remarks here.

As prepared for delivery

It has been a year since the Supreme Court’s atrocious decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. I remember reading the leaked decision in the press early last May and realizing, with dread, that it would strike down Roe v. Wade. My first reaction was that the Court had set in motion a catastrophe for the health, safety, autonomy and privacy of American women.

To the horror of the 36 million women living in states that have already banned abortion, or are likely to ban access to abortion: I was right. The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs tossed out over a half century of legal precedent, curtailed the fundamental rights of women, and jeopardized the health and safety of millions across the country. The Court betrayed and defied the American people, who are living with the grim reality that some of the nation’s most powerful people are eager to violate their privacy and their basic human right to control their own bodies.

This last year has been a nightmare for millions of women in this country, but it has been felt most acutely by those living in the more than 20 states that have passed laws banning or severely restricting access to abortion. The personal stories I have heard are gut-wrenching. Women in Texas who desperately wanted to be parents, who suffered pregnancy complications, nearly died trying to access life-saving care, and yet were told they weren’t even sick enough to get it. Right-wing politicians suing health care providers for providing care to a ten year old who was raped and became pregnant. Devastatingly, the cruelty seems to be the point.

I am proud to be from Oregon, where abortion remains legal. Oregon has some of the most pro-women laws in the nation for those seeking reproductive care. That is because, in Oregon, we understand people can make the best decisions for themselves and their families. But even in Oregon, we can’t take that freedom for granted. Extreme Republicans won’t stop until they pass a national ban on abortion. 

And they are trying. A national six week ban was introduced in Congress right after the Dobbs decision came out. 

Extreme anti-abortion advocates sought out a lone judge in Amarillo, Texas to try to ban mifepristone, which is widely and safely used in medication abortions, nationwide. 

The FDA approved mifepristone for dispensation more than 20 years ago. I organized the first ever congressional hearing about the drug in 1990. My advocacy around this issue and this drug has never been based on some extreme view or some political agenda. It is based in science and in fact.

That’s why I came to the Senate floor in February and called on the administration to do everything it could to keep this life saving medication on the market, no matter what.

Thankfully, these right-wing extremists haven’t won yet, but we are still not home free on that front as the case moves through the courts.

Contrary to what Justice Kavanaugh told us in his concurrence in Dobbs, anti-abortion zealots are clearly not leaving these matters up to the states.

Several states are trying to restrict freedom of movement, criminalizing women who travel to other states for an abortion, or even the person who gives them a ride. Let’s not sugarcoat that. They’re talking about enacting laws that reach beyond state borders, harkening back to the darkest parts of our history. 

This is, and has always been, all about control. This is about control over women, their bodies, and their lives. This is about the politicians inserting themselves into exam rooms, and into private decisions about whether and when to start a family.

I deeply care about this issue for several reasons. Chief among them is that I believe in my core that Americans’ right to privacy is paramount. It’s what makes America, America.

As women grapple with restrictive state laws that threaten their health and take away their right to privacy, they are also facing an equally pressing crisis of digital privacy and the threat of “uterus surveillance.”  Governments are weaponizing the most personal and private data about women’s bodies and health care and using it against them. That’s uterus surveillance. 

I’ve been sounding the alarm for years that location data leached from phone apps is ripe for abuse. In states where extremists have restricted or banned abortion, that goes straight to a five alarm crisis. 

Shady data brokers have already tracked women to and from Planned Parenthood health centers. They have and will sell this information to anyone with a credit card.

In states where abortion is illegal, anything women say or read online could be used against them. Researching birth control online, updating a period-tracking app, even simply carrying a phone into the doctor's office. You name it. It’ll become evidence for the prosecution. The possibilities are endless and frightening.

And our laws governing women’s sensitive, private health data have been outdated and weak for decades. I commend the Administration for drawing attention to this issue and seeking to shore up loopholes in our laws, but more must be done. We have seen, over the past year, that Republican state AGs and governors are ready and willing to discard women’s privacy in their quest to prohibit access to reproductive health care. We can’t let them win.

Even though this year has been horrific, we must stay resolute. There are commonsense bills, like the ones being considered by request for unanimous consent today, that would go a long way toward protecting women and health care providers. I will fight tooth and nail to enact these kinds of laws, and enshrine the right to abortion in federal law. As long as I serve in the United States Senate, I will fight toward that goal. And I know the American people are on our side.

I yield the floor.

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