Senator Patty Murray Hosts Roundtable with Patient Storytellers and Providers Amid GOP Attacks on Abortion and Access to Health Care
SEATTLE, WA ––Today, Senator Patty Murray hosted a roundtable with local patients, providers, and advocates to highlight how Trump-era and Republican-led attacks on abortion and access to health care are harming families. Together, they’ll set the record straight about what’s at stake as Trump and GOP lawmakers push for a nationwide ban on abortion.
In July, President Trump signed into law a massive spending package that defunds Planned Parenthood and slashes health coverage for millions of people. The same officials who say they want to “leave abortion up to the states” are exploiting the power of the federal government to roll back our rights even further – and the consequences will be devastating.
At the roundtable, Senator Murray, patient and physician storytellers, and community leaders shared how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families across the country.
“The horror stories caused by abortion bans have not stopped since Republicans ended the right to abortion, implemented cruel bans, and plunged this country into a full-blown health care crisis. And unfortunately, Republican attacks on abortion care have not stopped,” said US Senator Patty Murray. “But we are still pushing back and fighting for reproductive rights in every way we can. As Appropriations Vice Chair, I am working to reject Trump’s proposal to slash Title X and eliminate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program, among other awful ideas. The funding bill we passed out of committee last week funds these programs. Democrats are pushing to reverse the damage from Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, so we can restore Planned Parenthood funds, save patients from losing care, and save hospitals. And we are keeping our spotlight on how Republicans’ anti-abortion extremism is hurting women every day. From abortion care to rural hospitals, health care is under attack here in America. The fight to change this is today and every day until we can reverse these cuts and keep making progress.”
“My husband serves in the Air Force, and attacks on reproductive freedom and access to health care feel like a slap in the face. We worry about the hostility of the next state we are stationed in,” said Emily Cuarenta, a student at Eastern Washington University who lives with her husband on an Air Force base in Spokane. “The Dobbs decision opened the floodgates to oppressive, medically inaccurate laws that endanger the lives of pregnant people. In addition to suffering poor maternal health outcomes, pregnant people now fear criminalization of their pregnancy outcomes.”
“The’ Big Ugly Bill’ strips people of their access to reproductive health care, their choices in family planning and their fundamental human right to health care,” said Dr. Keemi Ereme, an OB/GYN and Complex Family Planning Fellow at the University of Washington. “This legislation will lead to many preventable deaths, and that is simply unacceptable.”
“Planned Parenthood affiliates in Washington provide high quality reproductive health care to more than 100,000 patients every year, including patients who come across state lines because their state has eliminated preventive care access and banned abortions entirely. But care in Washington is at risk like it is everywhere else: the Republican budget bill will eliminate health insurance for tens of thousands of Washingtonians, and will defund Planned Parenthood by banning us from Medicaid,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaiʻi, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky.
“Without support from state and local governments to fill the gap, health centers in Washington will close and patients will lose access to care. We are thankful to Senator Murray for being the national leader on reproductive health and rights as she fights to restore funding and reverse the ban, and we are thankful for leaders in Washington who are committed to finding local revenue to keep our doors open.”
“I did my residency training as a family physician in Idaho and have stayed all these years to practice because Idaho had built a safe system of care that I was proud to be a part of, one where I could care for my small rural community to the best of my ability and training, and refer my patients to higher level of care when they needed it. All of that changed when the Dobbs decision triggered Idaho’s extreme and dangerous near total abortion ban into effect,” said Dr. Caitlin Gustafson, a family physician who practices in rural Idaho, and the co-president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare. “The reduction in this workforce further threatens healthcare access, not just for women but for all Idahoans. With Medicaid cuts looming, our ability to do our jobs to keep our communities safe and healthy will become that much more difficult. Still, I remain hopeful because, as in the rest of America, most Idahoans believe that healthcare decisions are best left to patients and their families in consultation with their doctor, not their politicians.”
Access to safe and legal abortion through Planned Parenthood saved my life,” said Heather Mullin, a patient storyteller and local advocate from the Seattle area. “I was the victim of a predator who was a respected person in our community and used his position of power and access to harm children. He once told me that he had noticed me when I was in the sixth grade, which makes me about 11 years old. I was repeatedly sexually assaulted from the age of 13 until I became pregnant when I was 15. And I knew that when I became pregnant at the time that I was not going to have the baby. I felt very afraid and alone, and I didn’t want my abuser’s baby to be my life sentence. So, I sought out a legal and safe abortion at Planned Parenthood. I took the bus during spring break of my freshman year of high school, when my parents thought I was at track practice. And I got an abortion, and nobody knew about it for a really long time—and I didn’t really talk about it publicly until the Dobbs decision. And I really felt it was important for people to know that there are all sorts of reasons for having an abortion, that you probably know someone who has had an abortion. And when I started talking about my story, I realized it was really a much more common experience than we sometimes think about and talk about. In our current state where we have outright abortion bans, including no exclusions for rape or incest, we’re talking about forcing children to give birth. And that’s the kind of thing that really keeps me up tonight, and why I’m here today to talk about the importance of funding abortion care and access to abortion. It’s disturbing to me that some of our government officials seem to be protecting predators instead of victims.”
“In the fall of 2022, just one day after Idaho’s abortion ban took effect, my family received the devastating news that our very wanted son had several fatal fetal anomalies and there were no surgical interventions available,” said Kayla Smith, who moved her family from Idaho to Washington after being forced to flee the state for lifesaving abortion care. “In 2023, when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, we moved our family to Washington state out of fear. Idaho was no longer a safe place to raise our daughters. The truth is that abortion bans do not save lives –– they put them at risk, and cutting Medicaid will only make matters worse. Getting an abortion is now a privilege, when it should be health care that is readily available to anyone who needs one or chooses to have one.” Smith is a former plaintiff in Adkins v. State of Idaho, a landmark lawsuit challenging Idaho’s extreme abortion ban.
Today’s roundtable is part of Free & Just’s “Summer Storytelling Series,” featuring patient storytellers, local partners, and lawmakers in communities across the country to amplify the human cost of abortion bans. Later this month, Free & Just will be joined by local lawmakers, patients, providers, and advocates in Georgia and North Carolina.
You can watch the event here. If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us.
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