Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Ahead Of Today’s Vote On Advancing The Reproductive Freedom For Women Act

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act, which senators will vote on later today. This bill will give Republicans the chance to show where they stand on women’s fundamental right to choose. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, the Senate will vote on Reproductive Freedom for Women Act.

Senate Republicans must answer a very simple question: do they believe that women should be trusted to make their own health care choices, yes or no?

Will Republicans stand with the majority of Americans, stand with the mainstream, and stand against Donald Trump by affirming a woman’s fundamental right to choose?

Will Republicans show courage and declare, as most people in this country prefer, that the basic protections of Roe v. Wade should be the law of the land?

I want to thank Senator Murray from the great state of Washington for leading this bill and every single female senator on our side of the aisle for cosponsoring it. Today’s vote will not be the end of the struggle to secure reproductive freedoms, but it is an important step forward. Americans want to see where their senators stand.

By voting on these bills on women’s health, we are moving the issue forward, because it’s very important and very reasonable for members to be called on to take a position on a vital issue.

Of course, many Republicans would rather sweep reproductive health under the rug, saying it’s political, but this is not political. This is the essence of what elected government is like. We all know these issues are deeply personal to so many people. And Americans ought to be able to see how their senators vote.

All year long, Senate Republicans have shown everyone just how out of touch they are with the mainstream. When Senate Republicans blocked federal protections for contraception, when they blocked protections for IVF, they chose MAGA extremism over the American people.

When Donald Trump pushed not one, not two, but three radical Justices to the Supreme Court with the explicit goal of overturning Roe, Senate Republicans confirmed them without question. It was Trump who said “if we put another two or perhaps three justice on [the Supreme Court] – that will happen.”

Every time Senate Republicans have gotten a chance to do the right thing this year, they have consistently doubled down on their anti-women agenda. Just yesterday, Senate Republicans again and again came to the floor to block commonsense legislation to protect women’s reproductive freedoms.

Of course, if my Republican colleagues take issue with being called out for their bad record on women’s issues, they have another option: they should vote yes today. Maybe it will happen. Unlikely, but you always hope.

If Republicans don’t think women are second class citizens, they should vote yes today.

If Republicans do in fact trust women to make their own reproductive choices, they should vote yes today. I urge them to do the right thing. And I remind them, America is watching.

###