Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) held the Senate floor for one hour to raise awareness on the state of women’s reproductive rights post Dobbs v. Jackson, which overruled Roe v. Wade. She was joined by her Senate Democratic colleagues. To watch her remarks, click here or see a transcript below.
Senator Blunt Rochester’s full opening and closing remarks can be found here.
Senator Blunt Rochester’s opening remarks, as delivered
Mr. President, there are moments in our lives when everything changes, when the world shifts underneath you and a new reality forms. These are moments when you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with.
June 24th, 2022 was one of those days. Three years ago, I marched with my House colleagues to the Supreme Court.
I stood in solidarity with Democrats and Republicans alike. We felt shock, disbelief, anger, and sadness at the loss of one of our fundamental rights.
On that day, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and for many, their lives were turned upside down. Since then, extreme Republicans and President Trump have said that abortion is a states’ rights issue. States’ rights. Yet over the last three years, we’ve watched quietly and purposefully. They have chipped away at our rights, chipped away at our bodily autonomy—because the goal has always been a national abortion ban.
Three Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices and the Dobbs decision later, and we are still watching this unfold. Anti-abortion extremists have been piecing together a puzzle that, when completed, will create a national abortion ban—and they add a new piece each and every day. Over the next hour, my colleagues and I will lay out what the Republican national abortion ban looks like, what it means for everyday Americans, and what we can do about it. Because these efforts will hurt all of us—especially young women, women of low income, women in rural areas, and women of color.
For me, this is personal. I could have lost my daughter-in-law because she did not get the care she needed. And I remember getting a call on Christmas morning. I was in the kitchen, I was cooking, and I heard my daughter-in-law on the other end of the phone say, “Mom, my water just broke.”
It’s too soon. She went to the hospital. But again, the hospital we went to could not provide the care that she needed for the miscarriage that she was having.
And they sent her home. And I remember thinking about all the committee hearings that I had on the HELP Subcommittee in the Health Committee in the House, and how the data was clear that we in this country have a maternal mortality crisis—that Black women die at three times the rate of our white counterparts.
And all I could think was, “We’ve got to get you somewhere.” And we did. Fortunately, Ebony is here alive today. Fortunately, Ebony was able to have my beautiful granddaughter—because of IVF, I might add. But stories like these are all too common. They disproportionately affect Black and brown women.
We face reproductive challenges. We have a higher mortality rate. We have higher rates of reproductive cancers. We have higher rates of preterm births.
Like I said, this is personal. We’re here today to show the American people that we did not forget about the Dobbs decision—especially because the majority of Americans—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—believe that we should have legal and safe abortions.
We’re here today to tell the Republican Party: You can’t have it both ways. You can’t claim to be the party of personal freedom while telling us what to do with our bodies, President Trump. You can’t claim to be the “fertilization president” while making it more dangerous for women to give birth. You can’t claim to be the party of strong economic growth while cutting Medicaid, food assistance, and child care for many women who need it to participate in the workforce—
And all to give tax breaks to people who already have all of these resources. We’re here today to show extreme Republicans across the nation that we see what you’re doing—quietly assembling the pieces of the puzzle. And when it is completed, it will strip Americans of their access to abortion care in red states and blue states. We’re here to show just how important it is that we fight this reconciliation bill.
Whether you call it a “big ugly bill” or whatever you call it, this is the moment for people to speak up—because it is just another piece of the puzzle. And we’re here to shine a light on the ultimate goal of a national abortion ban. I stand here and I think about the young women that I saw as I came to this floor.
I think about my niece. I think about my daughter. And I think about my granddaughter—and the fact that they now have fewer rights than I did, than my mother did, and than my grandmother did. And that today, it is important for us to not forget—and to make sure that we recognize what this is all about, and that we want the best for our young people in this country. And so with that, I’m going to yield the floor to my colleague, Senator Wyden.
Senator Blunt Rochester’s closing remarks, as delivered
Mr. President, as I close out this time, I had written prepared remarks for my closing, but a word keeps ringing over and over in my head, and that is “freedom.” And as I stand here, why today is so important is because it is again another chip chipping at our freedoms. I stand here as a Black woman who has, in our history, knowledge of what it means for your bodily autonomy to be taken. I stand here today looking at a picture of my granddaughter who I want to have the same right that I had growing up.
Today, we mark a three-year anniversary, but we also have an opportunity to commit to what our future will look like. This very week, we potentially will see a bill on this floor that will again chip away, chip away at health care when we know that 40% of the births in this country are through Medicaid. Chip away at our rights. And so, I thank my colleagues for their powerful words today. I thank all of the advocates who came and spoke to us today, all of the individuals who are still fighting the good fight to make sure that we have the rights that we deserve.
I will end with story of an individual who I just met – I just met today. Her name is Nancy Davis, and she was a patient in Louisiana. She said, “When I was ten weeks pregnant, doctors informed me that my baby had a rare condition that was fatal for my baby and dangerous for me. Naturally I was heartbroken and scared, but I trusted I would receive the necessary medical treatment so that my family and I could begin healing. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Just a few weeks before I received my diagnosis, the Supreme Court issued the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade.
The fallout from that decision was fast with states across the country starting to have dangerous abortion bans. My state of Louisiana has some of the strictest laws in the country. Even though I needed to terminate my baby to protect my own health, I could not go to the hospital in Baton Rouge. Instead of being able to process the diagnosis and grieve the loss of the pregnancy at home with my family, I had to scramble to find a way out of Louisiana to access abortion care. I found a situation I never thought I would be in, forced to travel 1,500 miles to get the care I needed and deserved. I experienced not only the denial of necessary medical care, but the denial of compassion and my right to make my own decisions about my own health. I felt dehumanized and stripped of my most fundamental rights. I knew what I needed to do to protect my health, and my doctors agreed, but local lawmakers who will never know me or understand my situation had the final say. The system failed me. And I am just as outraged today as I was then.”
Today let’s turn that outrage into action. Spread the word about what is coming to this floor. Make sure that people stand up. Use their voices, use this moment. Freedom, that’s what this is about. Freedom. I yield back.
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.