WATCH: Senator Hassan Calls out Republican “Gaslighting” and Stands Up for Women’s Health Care Access at Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) forcefully defended a woman's fundamental freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions and called out the "gaslighting at the highest level" from Republicans attacking mifepristone access during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing today. Senator Hassan exposed the hypocrisy of Congressional Republicans who claim to protect women while simultaneously voting to gut Medicaid, defund Planned Parenthood, and create maternal health deserts that deny women access to essential care.

To watch Senator Hassan's hearing questions, click here.

Senator Hassan began by calling out the reality of what Republican abortion bans have created for women across the country. "To say that women shouldn't be able to get this medication through the mail misses the point that abortion bans have created maternal health and reproductive health deserts in this country," she said. "When you say a woman should go consult with a physician, there are women who would have to travel hours in this country, miss work, find a babysitter, if they have a car to begin with" because of policies that Congressional Republicans supported, including cuts to Medicaid that are closing rural health centers, and abortion bans.

Senator Hassan shared her personal experience of miscarriage to illustrate the complexity of reproductive health care and push back on Republican claims that mifepristone is unsafe because it can be physically and emotionally difficult, pointing out that a miscarriage itself is physically and emotionally difficult: "When I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks, it was painful, and it was hard, and it was emotional, and mifepristone had nothing to do with it. I didn't use mifepristone, I had to have a D&C. So, the gaslighting here is extraordinary."

Addressing the challenges facing women in maternal health deserts created by the very policies that Republicans support, Senator Hassan asked about telehealth's role in providing safe reproductive care. Dr. Nisha Verma, an OB/GYN in Georgia and a fellow for Physicians for Reproductive Health, confirmed that telehealth has made care more accessible and emphasized that "what is really the issue here is when people need additional care, they can't get it in their communities without fear of being criminalized."

Senator Hassan has been a leader in fighting to protect women's access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including mifepristone, and to ensure that all women can make their own decisions about their bodies and their health care. On the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, she joined a group of Senators to reintroduce legislation that would guarantee a woman's right to access reproductive health care. Senator Hassan also spoke on the Senate floor to criticize the decision by the Senate's Republican leadership to hold a vote on legislation to restrict a woman's fundamental freedom to access reproductive health care instead of working in a bipartisan manner to lower the cost of living.

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