DispatchesSharon Basch is a rising 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a JURIST staff correspondent in Washington DC this summer.
On Tuesday I attended a hearing called by the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to examine women’s freedoms, focusing on access to abortions across the United States two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The hearing, entitled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America”, was chaired by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) after Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (D-VT) who briefly summarized women’s rights struggles in the US before saying that he believed that a meeting on abortion should be chaired by a woman.
Murray opened with remarks that Republicans are content to curtail women’s freedom by allowing the government to decide on pregnancies, rather than those who are pregnant. She warned Republicans that though they’d like the post-Dobbs status quo to remain, the issue of abortion and women’s rights will never go away – and that women will never forget nightmare abortion stories caused by Republican-led legislation. She also made clear that every time abortion rights have been on a ballot post-Dobbs, abortion rights have won, indicating what she said were the true desires of the American people.
Ranking member and physician Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) addressed the panel and the crowd (the main hearing room ran out of seats, as did the overflow room one building over). Sitting next to a large poster, with photos of fetuses at different gestational ages, he berated Democrats, claiming that the issue raised was simply partisan politics and that Democrats were trying to normalize abortion and demonize fetuses and women. He characterized legalizing late-term abortions (not a medical term) as horrible, and lamented that teenagers could pursue abortions without their parents being informed. As the issue was “too personal for too many people,” Senator Cassidy discussed the need to support mothers, rather than allow abortions. Audible scoffing could be heard throughout the room – and this would not be the last of the audience’s responses.
The first Committee witness was Madysyn Anderson, an abortion patient from Houston, TX who shared her harrowing abortion story. Two weeks after Texas enacted its six-week abortion ban, Madysyn discovered she was pregnant. She drove 13 hours roundtrip to Jackson, Mississippi in order to get abortion care. Due to laws regarding waiting periods, she was turned away and had to fly back a second time. All included – it cost Madysyn $2850 to get the abortion care she sought. She missed upwards of 20 hours of class instruction for her degree, and 20 hours of her mandatory internship for each trip she had to take. Her closing was impactful – “Abortion is not just a hypothetical, I am a person.”
The second witness was Dr. Nisha Verma MD MPH, Fellow for Physicians for Reproductive Health in Atlanta, Georgia. She discussed how she and her colleagues struggle to care for individuals who miscarry or have a high-risk pregnancy in Georgia, where there is a six-week abortion ban. She told a story of one of her patients, a sixteen-year-old who was only a few days past the six-week mark. Her insurance wouldn’t cover pre-natal care at that hospital and she was forced to give birth – despite the fact that abortion care is safe. She also discussed how anti-abortion laws cause doctors to leave states with abortion care restrictions for fear of high fines, or worse (criminalization) for acts of care that may not be defined by a legislator or judge as necessary medical care.
Destiny Lopez, MPA and co-Ceo of the Guttmacher Institute testified that the Dobbs decision caused rampant chaos and fear. She said that between 2020 and 2024, more than 40 brick-and-mortar clinics shuttered their doors. In 2023, the number of Americans who would seek abortion care out of state doubled from 81 thousand to 170 thousand. She continued, by sharing that Dobbs has had and will continue to have major effects on all of women’s healthcare – not just abortion.
For instance, this year four states introduced legislation—and one passed a law—criminalizing adults who support adolescents seeking abortion care in another state. Earlier in the year, the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision to classify frozen embryos as “children” wreaked havoc on fertility treatment services while advancing the anti-abortion movement’s long-term goal to enshrine fetal personhood in both law and policy. These attacks on bodily autonomy, coupled with two major abortion cases currently before the Supreme Court, signal that the policy and legal landscape will continue to shift.
The final witness for the Democrats was Dr. Allison Linton, MD MPH and the Chief Medical Officer for Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin. She discussed an 1849 law on the books in Wisconsin — before the Civil War, the abolition of slavery, women’s right to vote, and the discovery of penicillin — that seemed to ban abortion at conception. Despite questions of enforceability, Wisconsin immediately ceased providing abortions, trying to avoid harsh penalties. There exists a narrow exception – abortions performed that is necessary to save the life of the mother. While that seems self-explanatory, it really is not. She followed with numerous scenarios where it is unclear what was considered necessary and when. For those interested in such a list, it is certainly worth reading at the above link.
Following these witnesses were those selected by Republicans. First, Dr. Christina Francis MD and the CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists began with the proclamation that abortion is not healthcare, and that OB/GYNS have two patients – mother and child – that they must consider. Abortion, according to Dr. Francis, kills one patient and severely harms or puts at risk another. She claimed she had never performed an induced abortion, and that abortion bans have not prevented or negatively impacted other maternal care, contrary to prior witness testimony. She also spoke about telehealth and abortion medication access without requiring a visit to a doctor as the opposite of healthcare. Dr. Francis further claimed that despite claims that abortions help address inequitable maternal mortality rates (with black women being 3x more likely to have an abortion, yet still having other maternal complications).
Finally, Melissa Ohden, an abortion survivor and the Founder and CEO of the Abortion Survivors Network, testified that despite claims otherwise there are individuals who survive abortion, even despite numerous attempts. She stated:
Abortion bans have not ended abortion– we’ve merely seen a shift to abortion pills. These pills have a lower success rate and result in women becoming their own DIY abortionist. The results of this access to abortion are staggering, nearly 1-8% of abortion pills fail, which means that women are still facing the same challenges as before, and put themselves and their child at risk for repeat abortion attempts.
She told the story of a woman named Evelyn who had tried to abort her baby twice and that both of those attempts failed. She was denied another chemically induced abortion as she was too far along. Ohden says that the abortion industry abandoned her – she was offered a plane ticket, lodging, food, and a $12,000 surgical abortion that placed her at risk. She continued, calling the “Nightmare of Abortion” is not that women do not have easy access, but that women have been “made to believe that abortion is the only option.”
Questioning then began. Senator Murray first asked Anderson what she felt during her long travel to receive abortion care, and how she felt afterwards. Madysyn responded “I was anxious, sleep deprived, basically delirious from exhaustion. I was constantly on edge.” Immediately after her abortion, she states that “it was the first time [she] could sleep more than three hours; that she could finally breathe; and that a weight was lifted.”
Murray quickly pivoted to Dr. Francis, asking if she believed women should have access to Plan B. Francis answered that women should have access to information. When pressed by Murray to answer her question, she stated “No.” Murray asked about IUDs and was faced with the same answer – a distraction and a no and followed with “Abortion is never required medically.” Murray remarked that it appeared Dr. Francis thinks women should go through the trauma of labor, even if the fetus is non-viable.
Senator Markwayne Mullins (R-OK) used his five minutes of time to tell a story about his wife and her fertility issues. After finally being able to conceive (three times), he was full of joy. He included an aside about adopting three more children – thanking God that the 15-year-old who got pregnant carried to term instead of aborting. More scoffs and huffs of disdain were heard around the room.
Senator Bernie Sanders asked Dr. Verma and Dr. Linton who they believed was best prepared to decide whether or not women should receive an abortion, to an immediate response that the pregnant person should decide. Dr. Verma said “people are experts in their own lives.”
Senator Cassidy addressed Dr. Linton. Despite its rarity, does a “baby in a late-term abortion not have any rights? Even if there are no medical complications? Despite attempting to answer, Dr. Linton was cut off numerous times by Senator Cassidy, reiterating his question. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) used his time to have Dr. Linten and then Dr. Verma complete their responses to the late-term abortion question. Dr. Verma dispelled the mythos of “late-term abortion”, saying that the term is not a medical term – rather a fear-mongering tactic used by the right. Over 90% of abortions occur in the first trimester. Less than 1% occur after the 20 week mark, and even then, they are performed for those with imminent medical emergencies. She explained that people who access abortions later into their pregnancies desperately want their children – have set up nurseries and picked out names – but for one medical reason or another, are unable to complete gestation.
Later in the hearing, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) asked the witness panel how the abortion bans were affecting other types of care. Dr. Linten responded that the bans jeopardize care for miscarriage and other grave issues – doctors are being asked to interpret narrow laws, stating “Let physicians make medical decisions.” Dr. Verma spoke to the exodus of OB/GYNs in her state of Georgia – as doctors leave, women are unable to readily access other OB/GYN care, including pre-natal care.
Senator Marshal asked Dr. Linten if she successfully delivered babies at 24 weeks, having to resuscitate them. If so, why should abortion be acceptable at the same age? Dr. Linten shared that each case is different, and that she trusts her patients to make such choices with her guidance.
After a few more rounds of questions, Senator Murray called the end of the hearing, reiterating the Democratic position on abortion, warning yet again that women will continue to suffer under Republican abortion law.
The feeling in the room was clear – most of the attendees were pro-choice and were disgruntled by the comments of Republican Senators and especially with Dr. Francis’ testimony. A medical resident for the Committee of Interns in Residence told me that she was “grateful for the testimonies of Dr. Linten and Dr. Verma. They represented challenges for medical trainees who cannot access sufficient OB/GYN training in many of the states with bans and restrictions, and spoke to help get necessary care to those communities.”
Leaving the room was bittersweet for me, happy with the great effort clearly being put forth by pro-choice advocates, but frustrated with fear-mongering and false hypotheticals promoted to harm women and their freedoms.
