VIDEO: Hirono Votes to Stop Republicans From Taking Away Veterans’ Reproductive Freedom

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, voted against a Republican-led effort that would overrule the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) interim rule on reproductive health care. The interim rule, which was issued after the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision overruling Roe v. Wade, affirms VA’s legal authority to provide abortion services in cases of rape, incest, and the life or health of the patient. 

The vote follows a press conference held earlier this afternoon, where Senator Hirono joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and six of her Senate Democratic colleagues in a press conference to underscore their opposition to the Republican effort.

“The Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision eliminated reproductive rights for almost 300,000 women veterans, many of whom live in states where abortion is illegal,” said Senator Hirono during the press conference. “Now, Republicans want to overturn this common sense rule because they have such an obsession—that is the right word, obsession—with wanting to control and have power over our lives and to promote a nationwide abortion ban.”

“They’re so obsessed with banning abortion that they would rather let veterans die—that's right, they would rather let veterans die—than allow them this care, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save her life,” continued Senator Hirono. “Our veterans and all Americans should not have to pay the price of the Republicans’ obsession.”

In September, Senator Hirono announced that, following a push she led as a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed in a legal opinion that VA has the legal authority to provide abortion services in cases of rape, incest, and the life or health of the patient. Earlier that month, Senator Hirono also condemned Republican attacks on the Biden Administration’s landmark decision to allow the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to provide abortion care to veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the woman and in cases of rape or incest. Last July, Senator Hirono also called upon the VA to take immediate administrative action to offer abortions and all abortion-related services to veterans and eligible dependents.

In addition to Senators Hirono and Schumer, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) also spoke at the press conference.

A full transcript of Senator Hirono’s remarks is below and a link to download video is available here.

Aloha, everybody. I’m glad to stand here with my colleagues because this is yet another example of the battles we thought we had won don’t stay won, so eternal vigilance is required of all of us. So, MAGA Republicans are working to strip the veterans of the freedoms that they fought for and that they sacrificed for—none better said than Tammy and Lindsay, thank you so much, Lindsay.

So, the Supreme Court's disastrous Dobbs decision eliminated reproductive rights for almost 300,000 women veterans, many of whom live in states where abortion is illegal. And this is why some of us wrote a letter to the VA to protect veterans and to provide access to abortion care. And they did so, not to the extent we would like, but one must start somewhere.

So the VA will provide abortion care in the cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother—an important step that the VA took. Now, Republicans want to overturn this common sense rule because they have such an obsession—that is the right word, obsession—with wanting to control and have power over our lives and to promote a nationwide abortion ban.

If they overturn this rule, VA wouldn't be able to provide access to abortion care, as I said, even to save the life of the pregnant person. They’re so obsessed with banning abortion that they would rather let veterans die—that's right, they would rather let veterans die—than allow them this care, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save her life.

The Republicans’ obsessions with having power and control over our bodies has resulted in, as mentioned, Senator Tuberville blocking military promotions. We're talking about hundreds and hundreds of promotions. It's also led to judge shopping, leading to the judge in Texas imposing, basically, a nationwide ban on the use of mifepristone. This is a judge who said pregnancy is a normal human condition, as though those of us who are in childbearing years should just be pregnant because that is a normal condition. As one of my friends says, “What is that? That is bananas!”

Then their obsession with wanting to impose a nationwide abortion ban—so, our veterans and all Americans should not have to pay the price of the Republicans’ obsession. And that's why Senate Democrats will stand together to vote against this effort today, to do away with the common sense rule that the VA adopted to protect veterans. And listen, this is in the cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the person—talk about common sense. So we will keep on fighting to make sure that, not just this effort, but all the other efforts of the hard-right, MAGA Republicans fails, on behalf of all Americans. Mahalo.

A long-time champion for abortion access, Senator Hirono is committed to protecting the fundamental right to abortion care for all. Last week, she led a letter to Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of mifepristone, urging them to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add miscarriage management to the medication’s label—which currently only includes medication abortion but can also be safely and legally used for miscarriage management. In November, she also sent a letter to the FDA Commissioner encouraging the agency to defend Americans’ reproductive rights, and to consider steps to protect and expand access to medication abortion. Last August, Senator Hirono also sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging concrete action to help meet President Biden’s goal of protecting and expanding access to medication abortion.  

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