it went through a couple of other iterations and finally emerged later as a proclamation, not an executive order. it went to the supreme court and the supreme court said it is ok because the way the law was written, i believe the phrase is it "exudes deference" to the president. so if congress are going to pass laws that exude deference to the president, we have to accept that presidents will take advantage of that. i would place a lot of the concern with congress being unwilling to fulfill its own constitutional imperatives in a lot of areas and instead handing off that power to the president. host: this is coming in on x from jimbo in bakersfield, california. he is an independent and says, "what happens when a legal executive order conflicts with laws within a state, like california?"

sen. murray: thank you all for being here. we are here today because republicans are focused on just about everything except how to lower costs and make regular people's lives better. this week they are not rolling out a health care plan or telling us how they are going to lower the cost of groceries. instead, republicans are pushing more unpopular, antiabortion extremism. and republicans are still peddling debunked lies about how abortion works and the people who get them. and trying to pass through the u.s. congress a disgraceful sham of a bill that totally this

represents the hard and painful choices that women face when a pregnancy is medically complicated. let's talk about the bill that the republicans are bringing to the floor today because it is really important for people to understand what it is. senator lankford's bill, which has 44 cosponsors, we create a new government mandate that would override the best judgment of grieving families who find out their fetus has a fatal condition and it would create new medically unnecessary barriers for doctors and patients at a time when doctors already have their hands tied when it comes to basic reproductive health care. and let's be clear, it is already illegal to kill a baby. we know that. to suggest otherwise is a deliberate and callous smear against providers and patients find themselves in heartbreaking, traumatic situations. it is heinous and absurd suggestion.

now, americans are rightly worried about what will happen to the reproductive rights under total republican control of government, and that's because they are painfully aware of what is happening already every day because of republican bans. women are being denied the care they need. they are being told they have to get sicker first, and told they have to go to a different state. they are told they have to stay pregnant even if they don't want to or even if it kills them. that is the state of women's health in states across america today, and it is profoundly alarming that now, republicans are doubling down here to make things even worse. during the first week of trump's presidency, this is what republicans are focused on? attacking women, criminalizing abortion, criminalizing doctors, and lying about abortion. republicans obviously don't care about the cost of groceries. they are not working to make life more affordable for

families before or after a baby is born. think about that. republicans have put medicaid and snap on the chopping block. house republicans fought back when we try to fully fund blip so moms and babies would not go hungry. and republicans are flat out opposed to making paid leave a reality so that a mom can spend time with her baby after giving birth. so today, we are here on the anniversary of roe v. wade to say we are going to do everything we can to continue to push back against republican's antiabortion, anti-women extremism. i cannot predict what republicans will launch next, but i can promise you that democrats will stand our ground, we will lift up your voices, and fight for your rights every single day. republicans may be in charge, but we are not going anywhere. with that, let me turn it over to our leader, senator schumer. sen. schumer: also not going anywhere, except right here to the podium.

i want to thank senator murray. she has been an amazing leader on the issue of choice, on the issue of women's rights, on the issue of women's health care. she's amazing, she's a blessing not only to the senate but to the country. so thank you. and i think my other colleagues, senators smith and shaheen, who also have been fighting this fight for so long. whenever there is a fight, they are all here. we are two days into donald trump's, and they are already breaking their promises. remember that one? we are going to leave it up to the states. that's out the window. we believe in what doctors and women say. that's out the window. this is a metaphor. this is the first of many extreme issues they will bring up that are anti-women. and in every case, they will have the same, same dishonesty. leave it to the states, out the window. between a woman, a doctor, and her families, gone.

that's what they are doing. and the only good news here is they are showing their true colors only two days after the president was sworn in. they couldn't wait to keep their falsehoods last a little longer. so they are not taking any action to help working families, to lower the cost of prescription drugs, to lower the cost of groceries. instead, they are focusing on attacking and ripping away women's health care. as you may recall, trump said he doesn't want to get involved at the national level. this, mr. president trump, this is the national level, you are already involved, and you are breaking your promises. here we are, voting on bills that attack women's health care using false narratives and fear mongering. the situation, targeted by this bill, is heartbreaking. it's heart-wrenching. and to use women and their families in this situation for crass political purposes, to

appeal to a hard right extreme group that is not close to where america is at, it disgraceful. just disgraceful. it substitutes the judgment of qualified medical professionals and the wishes of millions of families with an ultra right audiology, that i daresay when you look at the polling data, not even a majority of republicans support, let alone the rest of the country. women are meant to be supported and trusted. this is when male politicians should step up and support women. not use them as political footballs, as this bill so heartlessly does. i am here today not just as leader schumer, but as husband, dad, and grandpa chuck. to my wife, my daughters, my granddaughter. so this is not esoteric. this affects me and my family as well. as it does tens of millions of american families.

so much of the hard right's anti-choice agenda is pushed by people who have little or no understanding of women's health care, let alone how to best handle those decisions. and so here we are, week one into this administration, and instead of focusing on costs -- of lowering costs for your families, donald trump and republicans are focused on regulating you or your moms, your wive's, your daughter's bodies. it is not only unproductive, it is gross. it's just gross. so yes, president trump and republicans told you they would not touch abortion. that was alive. gone after -- that was a lie. gone after two days trump has been president. america should take this as a warning. watch what they do, not what they say or have said. here is a message to my republican colleagues, plain and simple. instead of attacking reproductive care, today would be a great day for senate republicans to lower the cost of

groceries. it would be a great day for senate republicans to do something to make our drugs more affordable. it would be a great day to help americans buy a home. if nothing else, it would be a great day for senate republicans to simply trust women and leave their health care choice is up to them. sen. shaheen: thank you, senator schumer, senator murray, and senator smith for your leadership. thank you all for joining us this afternoon. this is the anniversary of the roe v. wade decision in the supreme court. i remember when that decision came out and i remember what it was like before that decision for women who were facing unexpected and unplanned for pregnancies. this used to be a day to celebrate that decision, the

hard-won victory of generations of women who finally have the right to determine our own futures for our bodies. but since the dobbs decision in 2022, this day now shows how far we've gone in the wrong direction. and we are here because we share the concerns about what has happened in this country since roe was overturned. the fears that have become reality for millions of women. and i hear from people in new hampshire, we hear from women across the country. it is especially frustrating that our republican colleagues -- not all of them, we have some who believe that women should make their own decisions -- but for those who have sponsored the langford bill that senator murray referred to, it's particularly frustrating that this is being done on the first week that this new administration has taken office. because, once again, we're

seeing, as my colleagues have said, that they are taking aim at women's reproductive health care. instead of focusing on what the american people want, which is to find ways for us to work together to lower costs, to make health care more accessible, to address the reproductive health of women. what this legislation would do is to put women's lives in danger. and while all americans struggle to make ends meet, struggle to afford the basic health care they and their families need, this is what we are being given by the new administration. i can tell you all, there's no one who is elected to come to the united states congress, to the united states senate, because we wanted to make it harder for people to access basic health care. no voters in this country said go to washington, make it hard for people to get health care. make it hard for them to afford it.

make it harder for women to access the health care that they need. no elected official here in washington or in any state capital, in any court in this country, should be in charge of making the most personal and difficult decisions that women and their families and their doctors should be making. now, we should be here voting on legislation to make health care more affordable, to make women's access to care better, when women are dying across this country because of the dobbs decision. and yet, here we are, talking about making it harder for families in the most difficult times. i hope that our republican colleagues are going to come to the table and work with us to drop this extreme agenda, and to work on what the american people

want, which is more affordable access to health care, the ability for women to make our own decisions about our bodies and our futures, for us to have opportunities in this country. that's what it would mean for the real golden age of america. senator smith. sen. smith: good afternoon, everyone, and thank you senator shaheen and senator murray. i am glad to be with you all today on this anniversary of the roe decision. long before i came to the u.s. senate i worked at planned parenthood, and every single day i watched people walk through the doors of our clinic, fully capable of being able to make the best decisions for themselves and their families about their health care. including abortion. and the last thing they needed was for some politician to get in there, try to make these decisions for them. that was the power of roe.

it recognized that the constitution of the united states protects the freedom and dignity and autonomy of people to make personal and private decisions about their bodies and their lives and their families free from government interference. but that all changed with the trump court in 2022. the dobbs decision said, dope, this decision is no longer yours but state legislatures and politicians, they are going to be the deciders now, they control your decisions. and the constitution does not protect your rights. and so we can see there is a direct through line between that dobbs decision and where we are today. so here we are, two days into the new trump administration with republicans in charge. are they offering bills to lower the cost for americans? are they offering a bill to lower the cost of health care or lower the cost of housing? no, they are not.

and after campaigning all of last year telling americans not to worry about a national abortion ban, and more infringements on their freedoms, this is where we are today. one of the very first laws that they are trying to pass would be a federal law that would mandate what doctors must do in their practice in the event of these very rare but tragic and complicated health crises that happens in some women's pregnancies. and nobody wants this, that's the thing. so let's be clear. this law that we are going to be voting on in just a few minutes, this proposed law, plays on misinformation and misunderstanding. but like all antiabortion bills, it is designed to take away the rights of patients and doctors to make the very best decision they have in the very unique situations that confront everything a patient. so my message to women in minnesota and across this nation is that we are not gonna do this. senate democrats respect you.

we respect your decision making power and we trust you and your doctor to make the very best decisions you can about your health care, including about abortion. and we are telling republicans to butt out. we understand that you are trying to figure out how to afford your life, and we are on your side. so, if you are part of the 50% of moms delivering babies in this country who get your health insurance through medicaid, we're fighting for you and we are going to fight against republican efforts to cut your insurance benefits so that they can pay for tax cuts for rich people and big corporations. and if you are one of the millions of working moms who put food on the table for your family with the help of snap and wic, we're on your side and we are going to fight republicans who are trying to cut snap -- which by the way, is only about six dollars a day. we're not gonna let them cut that so they can do more cut -- more tax cuts for the rich buddies and big corporations.

now, we a lot of work ahead of us and we are going to work with anyone who wants to work with us to protect your freedom and your autonomy. but we are gonna fight anybody who wants to take that away and that is why we are here today. thank you. sen. murray: thank you very much. we can take a few questions. >> [inaudible] sen. murray: i would hope so, but i don't have a lot of hope that that will occur. yes. reporter: the way senate

republicans are framing this bill are saying this will protect babies born. sen. murray: that is entirely misinformation. let me make it very clear. if a baby is born alive and a doctor kills it, that is today illegal, and they would be taken to court and appropriate leap punished. what this bill actually does, which they are not describing to you, what it actually does is mean if a woman has a fetus with a fatal anomaly and it is born, that that baby will be stripped away from her and the doctors told by law they have to do all these medical interventions, when actually what these parents want to do is spend their last few minutes with their dying child. that is what this bill does. reporter: if there are democrat

to end up peeling off, what do you think that says? sen. murray: i will let you watch the vote today in about an hour. i do not believe there was a whg effort -- a whip effort. as democrats we are going to stand by women to make their own health care choices. reporter: [inaudible] sen. murray: are you talking about republicans? this last election was very clear across the country. where republicans' message was this was a state issue. in state after state they brought up state protections interstates and a one. here we are with the president barely sworn in and the very first attack they have is on

women and their ability to make their own health care decision. i would say that every republican, you just went back on your word, and we are going to be on the attack on this. sen. shaheen: i want to respond to that because senator smith and i are both up next year. i have run now in seven statewide races in new hampshire and every single one of those races i have been attacked by republicans for my support for allowing them to make their own decisions. as governor i got rid of a criminal statute that would have made a felony criminalization of doctors and i had bipartisan support to do that. the majority of the people in this country do not believe government should tell women and their families what to do about pregnancy. they understand, like all of us here, that that is a decision that women and their families and their doctors and their

pastors or whoever they go to, their clergy, should make for themselves. it is not a decision that i should make as a senator, that the court should make, that the men who are in this senate should make. it's a decision for women and their families. and for those people who don't understand that, they are on the wrong side of morality on this one. reporter: obviously democrats have been pushing to codify the protections from roe. why does it have to be protections from roe? why can't there be baby steps or smaller protections? [laughter] sen. murray: i am not going to negotiate with anybody right now. but i saw across the country,

state after state, what republicans said the decisions about toys are going to be made in the state. that is not true. they are attacking our rights. we are in the minority here in the senate but we are going to fight back with everything we have. i am happy to talk with anybody about putting protections in the law, but that is not the conversation we are having now. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] anr:hursy, agriculture secretary nomineeolli appears at her confirmation arinbefore the senate agriculture committee. she rved as acting director for the -- you can watch live vera starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3, c-span now, or online at c-span.org.

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