Senator Blackburn Advocates for Women’s Health

February 3, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) spoke on the Senate floor to advocate for proper healthcare for women and making sure those services are available, in addition to promoting that taxpayer funds should not be used to fund abortion clinics.

To watch Senator Blackburn’s speech, click below or here.

You can read the transcript recorded in the Congressional Records below or click here.

 

MRS. BLACKBURN: Madam President, I appreciate the opportunity to

respond to much of what my colleague had to say about we are in the

middle of a pandemic. Families are struggling. Yes, indeed, that is

very true. And if you want to talk about making healthcare services

more available to more women, then, yes, indeed, what you want to do is

make certain that these taxpayer funds are not used to provide abortion

services, that these funds are going to the community clinics that are

the ones that are providing the screenings.

  Many of the Planned Parenthood clinics do abortions. They refer women

to the community clinic around the corner for the cancer screenings,

for the breast exams, for the Pap smears. So there should be agreement

that, yes, individuals should have access to this healthcare. And if

you say: If you perform abortions, you cannot have these title X

dollars, then the hundreds of community clinics that are access points

to healthcare for women in underserved communities, these funds would

be made available to them.

  I think we also have to talk about rights and privileges and touch on

that for just a moment. I fully appreciate, we all have different

opinions, and it is wonderful that we live in a country that allows

freedom of speech, where we can express our difference of opinions.

  What we do have to realize is this, that we have in this country

1,700 lives lost every day to abortion--1,700 voiceless and

vulnerable--and to me that is just an absolutely heartbreaking stat

that these unborn children do not have the opportunity to enjoy that

right to life. I find that very sad.

  As I said, this legislation would make certain that all of this money

goes to these health clinics but not to a clinic that provides abortion

service.

  This is the kind of access that, yes, indeed, many families would

appreciate having more access and more services available to women at

their community clinics.