WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released a statement on Monday after voting against a Republican bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, even in cases where the health of the mother is threatened or when there are severe or fatal fetal anomalies.

“Republicans just can't help themselves when it comes to their continuing assault on women's health care. I won’t stop working to expand access to critical health care services for women in Connecticut, including safe, legal abortions. These difficult decisions should be made by women, not Washington,” said Murphy. “Instead of wasting valuable floor time with extreme, ideological bills to strip rights away from people, Republicans should be working with Democrats to negotiate a budget and keep our government running. Have they already forgotten their deadline is next week?”

Murphy strongly supports the fundamental, constitutional right of a woman to make her own decisions regarding her reproductive health. Last year, Murphy criticized Congressional Republicans for allowing states to withhold Title X funding – which covers services such as contraception, STD screenings and treatments, but cannot be used to cover abortions – from healthcare providers that provide abortion services.

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