Every Day Congressional Republicans Attack Women’s Health Care

By Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Patty Murray

When Congress returns in September, we’ll have to pass another bill to fund the government. Although there have been times when Republicans have worked with us to break through the gridlock and get this done without partisanship or games, too often, spending bills have meant fights over critical funding for women’s health care. We have successfully beaten back these attempts so far — but that doesn’t mean Republicans have stopped trying. Once again, we’re going to make it crystal clear that we’re not going to let Republicans get away with it this year either.

The “war on women,” however, is nothing new.

For the past few decades, Congressional Republicans have consistently blocked women’s access to equal pay, affordable health care, and access to constitutionally-protected reproductive health care including safe, legal abortions.

But what is new is the frequency, the pervasiveness of the attacks that are coming every day on women’s rights from every angle in states and in Congress. Sadly, these attacks are not new — they represent just another disappointing day in Congress.

And it’s not just that we and countless others are noticing this happening. The facts draw a clear picture of rights under siege.

In the past two years alone, there have been more than 100 direct legislative attacks on women’s health and women’s rights.

These attacks are a steady barrage coming from every angle — in legislation, investigations conducted by taxpayer dollars through “special committees” and in the courts.

These Republican attacks harm women directly, they stall other important priorities that affect women and families and they prevent Congress from focusing on so many of the other great challenges facing our nation.

Here are just a few recent examples:

Zika

Right now, the bipartisan bill to fund the fight against Zika has stalled because Republican leaders refuse to pass it without poison pill language targeting essential women’s health providers like Planned Parenthood.

Think about that for a minute. The very services — birth control and family planning services — that public health experts say are needed to prevent the spread of Zika, a sexually transmitted virus, and allow women to time their own pregnancies to prevent birth defects during this crisis, are the very services that Republicans want to essentially limit access to for women in the bill. It defies basic common sense.

We have joined with other Democrats to call for Congress to come back into session immediately to pass a real Zika bill. Every day this bill languishes is a day of increasing risk for women and the health of their babies in America and around the world.

In Puerto Rico for example, as many as 50 pregnant women per day are becoming infected with Zika, a number that could reach 10,000 pregnancies by the end of the year.

Wasted Taxpayer Dollars on “Special Committee”

Not only is time wasted trying (or not trying) to pass these bills, but taxpayer dollars are wasted as well. So far $300,000 has been spent on the partisan Special House Committee whose sole function is to spread false claims against Planned Parenthood.

Supreme Court

Not winning in Congress? Take your case to the Supreme Court. This year Congressional Republicans submitted multiple “friend of the court” briefs to the Supreme Court in support of undermining women’s access to essential contraceptive coverage and health services.

To our Republican colleagues: Don’t let a much-needed funding bill in September become yet another opportunity to wage more attacks on women’s health and rights. We will fight back every day until you finally accept that we are not going to allow women to pay the price for your political games.‎