Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act of 2014 - Motion to Proceed - Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about a proposal Senator Patty Murray and I have introduced to restore a woman's power to make personal health care decisions based on what is best for her and her family, not according to her employer's personal beliefs. The Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act--or the Not Your Boss's Business Act--aims to counteract the far-reaching consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision. That misguided Court decision allows closely held corporations to now deny their employees coverage for contraceptives through their employees' health insurance plans.

As Senator Murray did in her home State of Washington, I also traveled around my home State of Colorado. Several days ago I stood shoulder to shoulder with women's health experts, including an OB-GYN in Denver, who told me that physicians might now have to consider how an employer's religious beliefs might fit into their diagnosis before they make a medical recommendation, which ought to be based solely on their patients' well-being. This is unacceptable. Women should never have to ask their boss for a permission slip to access common forms of birth control or other critical health services.

Today, as Senator Murray alluded, champions in women's health are taking a stand on social media to illustrate why the Senate should come together this week to pass the Not Your Boss's Business Act. This outpouring of support from all over the country shows how important it is that we keep private health care decisions in employees' hands and out of corporate boardrooms.

As part of today's Digital Day of Action across the country, my staff and I put together a BuzzFeed post to dispel some misconceptions about the Hobby Lobby decision and highlight why we need to pass the Not Your Boss's Business Act. Go to BuzzFeed.com/markudall and share my post to help push back against some of the myths.

Despite what some people say, this decision is a bad deal, and it will undermine women's access to contraception across the country. But more and more Americans are joining us to speak out because of how backward this Hobby Lobby decision is. I am proud to have groups from across the Centennial State, such as the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, and Colorado's Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, come out in support of our bill.

I believe the Supreme Court was wrong in its misguided Hobby Lobby decision, which is already adversely affecting American women and families. But we have a chance to fix this, and I stand here today to call on my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join me, join Senator Murray and America's workers who agree that women's health is not your boss's business.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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