Senate Democrats, upset with the recently leaked draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, took matters into their own hands, and passed landmark legislation mandating abortion for women in underserved communities. Standing side-by-side with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer read this statement today from the steps of the Supreme Court.
For 50 years, Democrats have supported a woman’s right to choose. Considering Justice Alito’s radical repudiation of all precedent, all reason, we were forced to act, to restore those rights. We accomplished this with no help from the other side. Not a single Republican voted for this legislation. History will judge their actions. Like many of you, we’re angry. In that rage we realized something new and important. Simply restoring those rights doesn’t go far enough in meeting women’s health care needs. Unplanned pregnancies are a special burden for women-of-color, single women, poor women, trans women, women who are now men, women with women, women with student loans, and women we can’t define as women. A woman’s right to choose has been the safe way to relieve this burden, freeing women to pursue careers, and find fulfilling roles in society, free of the pressures of capitalism. Our legislation expands those rights, ensures government funding, and allows post-delivery termination that continues through the end of the fourth trimester. We’ve also added a landmark provision that we believe further demonstrates our compassion and commitment to women’s reproductive health rights. Over 700 women in the United States die every year during childbirth and they are disproportionately poor, women-of-color. Thanks to our legislation, these most vulnerable women will no longer have to make that agonizing decision, “do I keep my baby, or protect my own life and health.” Unlike the misogynists in the other party, we care about the lives and health of our most medically underserved women. We call this new provision, Your Body, Our Choice. Over many decades, Democrats built and funded Planned Parenthood clinics where you live, within medically underserved communities of color. When you believe that you might be pregnant, you will visit your local clinic and they will relieve that threat to your health, happiness, and economic future. But note that whites and Asians are not eligible for this program. They have privilege that disqualifies them from the assistance and hope that this legislation will bring to struggling communities. Democrats care deeply for our diverse women and we’re putting our words into action. You can’t trust the courts to defend your rights, and we don’t trust the people in the 50 states. This legislation removes those obstructions. I want to thank Senators Warren and Feinstein, and on the House side, Congressmen Schiff, Ocasio-Cortes, Omar, and Swallwell. They all contributed to this great, visionary, victory we celebrate today. I’d also like to thank someone who isn’t able to be here, but is very much with us in spirit, the late Senator from the great state of West Virginia, Robert “KKK” Byrd. He’d be proud of what we’ve accomplished here. In his honor, we’ve titled this legislation the “Robert KKK Byrd Women of Color Health Restoration Act.” Thank you everyone, and may Allah bless America.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded with an angry tirade that the Washington Press immediately labeled as both hateful and racist.
For the life of me, for all things good, I am left speechless by the actions of my Democrat colleagues. Mandating that all women-of-color abort their every child is ghastly inhumane. To portray this as somehow defending or promoting women’s health is an abomination. This is a dystopian act, an offense against humanity. We see these sorts of government diktats in China, in the Xinxiang province, where the Chinese communists are quietly exterminating the Uyghur people. I never thought that I would live to see such dark, genocidal actions from our own Democrat Party. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Senator Schumer called me yesterday to say he’d offer an amendment to win bipartisan support. Chuck said that he would exclude mixed race children from the mandate if we would support the bill. If a woman-of-color could prove that the father was white, then the Your Body Our Choice clause would not apply. I told him he could go to hell. I won’t dignify this heinous act with any further remarks.
McConnell’s personal attack on Senator Schumer, his expressed hope for a warm afterlife, was met with universal condemnation. CNN’s Brian Stelter called it “vicious misinformation,” saying “Senator McConnell has no proof that Senator Schumer is going to hell, there’s simply no evidence for that.” The New York Times tweeted “Racist McConnell demands abortion of mixed-race fetuses.” Despite the blowback, McConnell and Washington Republicans remain solidly opposed to the bill, and the ACLU, NAACP, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Black Caucus promise a vigorous fight if ultra-MAGA deplorable opposition appears in any red state. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation at a Rose Garden ceremony slated for June 19th.