VIDEO: Hirono Condemns National Abortion Ban, Calls Out Republican Hypocrisy in Press Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), along with several of their Democratic colleagues, in a press conference to speak out against Senate Republicans’ recently-introduced legislation to ban abortion nationwide and punish providers for providing abortion care. The bill, introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), would ban abortion after 15-weeks across the country, including in states like Hawaii where abortion is currently legal.

“I’m glad to join my colleagues in pointing out that the issue was never about states’ rights, it was all about controlling a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body,” said Senator Hirono during the press conference. “And when a woman can’t make decisions about her own body and about abortion, this affects her family, her community, and our economy.”

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans have ramped up efforts to impose a nationwide ban on abortion, stripping millions of people of their right to make decisions about their own lives, bodies, and futures. Senate Democrats are fighting back against these anti-abortion attacks and making clear that Democrats will not stand by as Republicans work to chip away at the rights of Americans across the country.

“As mentioned, the vast majority of Americans support a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, but apparently Republicans don’t think so,” continued Senator Hirono. “If Republicans take control over the Senate, they are going to push for a national ban. And that means that states like Hawaii, which was the first state in the nation to protect a woman’s right to choose—we supported abortion before Roe was decided—and all other states that come forward, or already have in place, basically codifying Roe—under this national ban bill, would fall by the wayside.”

Senator Hirono’s full remarks are below and can be viewed here.

So many of us have been on the side of a woman’s right to choose and abortion rights for decades. If you add up all of the years of all of us fighting that battle, this battle, it’s going to be over 100 years, I’d say.

I’m glad to join my colleagues in pointing out that the issue was never about states’ rights, it was all about controlling a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. And when a woman can’t make decisions about her own body and about abortion, this affects her family, her community, and our economy.

As mentioned, the vast majority of Americans support a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, but apparently Republicans don’t think so. So, we have the senior Senator from South Carolina saying that he would like to—he has—propose a 15-week national ban. Why 15 weeks? Because that’s something “he’s comfortable with”—something he is comfortable with.

And this is not some sort of hypothetical debate because if Republicans take control over the Senate, they are going to push for a national ban. And that means that states like Hawaii, which was the first state in the nation to protect a woman’s right to choose—we supported abortion before Roe was decided—and all other states that come forward, or already have in place, basically codifying Roe—under this national ban bill, would fall by the wayside.

And note that a lot of the very people who talk about requiring people to wear a mask, that is interfering with their personal freedoms, but they think nothing of forcing women to have babies. So, asking somebody to wear a mask, oh my goodness that is just too much, but forcing a woman to have a baby? Not a problem—talk about government overreach, talk about hypocrisy. 

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