On Dobbs anniversary, Senate Democrats aim to restart abortion conversation

Washington Post

5 days ago

Just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Nancy Davis learned that her fetus had a fatal cranial condition. She sought an abortion in her home state of Louisiana, but a 'trigger law' took effect shortly after the June 2022 decision.
The law banned nearly all abortions in the state, and doctors were unsure if Davis's case fell within its few exceptions, forcing her to travel to New York to have an abortion.
Now, three years post-Roe, Davis worries for patients who may still face the kind of excruciating decisions about their pregnancies that she did. On Tuesday, she will help Senate Democrats as they try to bring abortion and reproductive health care back to the forefront on the anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
'I know these women who are currently going through it need someone to say 'I see you,'' Davis told The Washington Post. ''I believe you.''
In a forum designed to resemble a congressional hearing at the Capitol, Davis will share her story with an audience of Senate Democrats and members of the press alongside other witnesses, including two abortion providers. They will speak about their experiences in the three years since the high court eliminated the nearly 50-year constitutional right to an abortion — part of an ongoing effort from some Democrats to keep steadfast attention on the issue. The event, known as a shadow hearing, allows for a public forum to be held without conducting an official Senate hearing, which would've required approval from Republican leaders who chair committees.
The move comes at a time when abortion appears to have drifted away from where it once stood as a key political issue. Though President Donald Trump has repeatedly taken credit for appointing the justices who solidified the landmark Dobbs decision, he said on the campaign trail last year that he would veto a federal abortion ban and leave abortion law up to the states.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
When Roe fell in 2022, conservatives claimed it as a massive victory. For liberals, it served as a sign of the ground the GOP gained while the Democratic Party struggled to muster enough votes to pass national abortion legislation over the past decade.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), one of the four Democratic lawmakers leading the Dobbs anniversary messaging, said that since Trump took office, his administration has steadily launched smaller scale antiabortion efforts, which she said amount to a 'national abortion ban behind the scenes.'
'Because there's so much going on, and because it's little by little and piece by piece, women don't collectively see what is coming at them,' Murray told The Post.
Among the efforts Murray referenced is the GOP's budget bill, which includes a provision that would halt Medicaid payments to abortion providers who received more than $1 million in federal reimbursements in 2024 — a measure that would mean funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, one of the biggest reproductive health care providers in the United States. Senate Republicans are racing to meet Trump's July 4 deadline to pass their version of the bill.
Leading the Democratic messaging on this year's Dobbs anniversary alongside Murray are Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin) and Tina Smith (Minnesota), all of whom have been vocal about the need to protect abortion access and other reproductive health advocacy. Murray said they will highlight a medley of actions from the Trump administration related to reproductive health over the past six months — some of them undoing Biden-era efforts to protect abortion access.
Within days of assuming the presidency, Trump pardoned 23 people who were convicted of blocking access to reproductive health clinics, many of them during the Biden administration for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or Face Act. This month, Republicans prepared a bill that if passed would repeal the Face Act altogether. Also in January, Trump overturned two executive orders signed by President Joe Biden that aimed to expand access to reproductive care. And in early June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rescinded Biden-era guidance that required hospitals to provide emergency abortions when needed to stabilize patients, regardless of the state where they were receiving treatment.
For Davis, who still lives in Louisiana and has become a reproductive health advocate, the ongoing changes have made her afraid that more patients will be unable to receive the care they choose in a timely manner.
It's a fear that's been on her mind constantly, she said, especially as a mother to three girls, one of whom was born in the time since her 2022 nonviable pregnancy. Sharing her story again this week, Davis said, 'gives us a chance to stand up before any more harm is done.'
'For me, it's about protecting the next woman, the next family, the next mother,' she said.