U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) recently joined 34 of her Democratic colleagues in a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to take “bold action” to protect women's right to have an abortion.
“Now is the time for bold action to protect the right to an abortion,” the group of nearly three-dozen senators wrote, according to Hirono's website. “You have the power to fight back and lead a national response to this devastating decision, so we call on you to take every step available to your administration, across federal agencies, to help women access abortions and other reproductive health care, and to protect those who will face the harshest burdens from this devastating and extreme decision.”
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, wrote the letter, which was sent in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24. The high court ruled that the right to abortion was not protected under the U.S. Constitution.
Since the landmark decision, 22 states have implemented trigger ban laws to restrict access to abortion.
“Those laws will leave millions of Americans without access to essential reproductive health care,” the senators said in their letter. “The chilling reality is that our daughters and granddaughters now have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. Women across the country are now being told by states what choices they can and cannot make when it comes to their own health and reproductive choices. This is dangerous and horrifying, and it will endanger women’s lives.”
Earlier this month, Hirono introduced the My Body, My Data Act, legislation designed to protect personal reproductive health data by minimizing the information collected and retained and preventing that information from being disclosed or misused.
“We cannot stand idly by as Republicans rip away women’s rights,” the senators said in their letter. “And we know they will not stop with this decision; they are already eyeing a national abortion ban.”