The Ms. Q&A With U.S. Senator Patty Murray: 'Our Ultimate Goal Is to Put Roe Back Into Law'

The Ms. Q&A With U.S. Senator Patty Murray: ‘Our Ultimate Goal Is to Put Roe Back Into Law’
6/20/2023 by Carrie N. Baker
“Our ultimate goal is to put Roe back into law. We don’t have the votes today, but that is our goal,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told Ms. “A legislative body should not be deciding when a woman can get access to care.”



U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) speaks on reproductive rights outside the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 2, 2022. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

As the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s devastating decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization approaches, Ms. spoke with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—who has has been at the forefront of the congressional fight for reproductive freedom since she was first elected in 1992. Today, Murray leads the Democratic Caucus on reproductive rights, chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations and is the first woman to serve as Senate president pro tempore.

This month alone, Murray has been busy:

On June 14, Sens. Murray and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Right to Contraception Act to protect every American’s fundamental right to use birth control.
The next day, Sens. Murray and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced the Reproductive Health Care Training Act to ensure the next generation of healthcare providers receive training and education in abortion care, regardless of where they reside.

And this week, Murray will join Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic women lawmakers to seek unanimous consent on the Senate floor (in which a measure automatically passes, so long as no senator objects) for four common-sense bills to protect reproductive healthcare access:

the Right to Contraception Act, which would enshrine into law the right to use birth control;
the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, to ensure women in anti-abortion states can travel to another for abortion care;
the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, which would protect healthcare providers from being held liable for providing abortions; and
the Upholding Protections for Health and Online Location Data (UPHOLD) Privacy Act, to protect abortion-seekers’ digital data.

Despite widespread majority support across the U.S., the bills face an uphill climb in the Senate due to Republican opposition, Murray admits—but the vote “will force Republicans to go on the record once again, and explain to the American people why they refuse to codify our right to contraception, why they refuse to let women travel across state lines for lifesaving healthcare.”

Murray is also a co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which codifies abortion rights established in Roe, and the EACH Act, which requires federal healthcare programs, including Medicaid, to provide coverage for abortion services.

Sen. Murray spoke with Ms. about the impact of Dobbs on women across the country and what she’s doing to take back women’s reproductive rights.


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https://msmagazine.com/2023/06/20/senate-abortion-patty-murray-women-politics/