Not My Boss's Business Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. BOXER. I am proud to follow my colleague from New Jersey, and I am proud to say I am a cosponsor of Senator Murray's bill and Senator Udall's bill, the Udall-Murray bill, that is going to make sure we protect the health of our families.

I am going to put up a beautiful photograph of the Supreme Court where above the portico these words are inscribed: ``Equal Justice Under Law.'' We have reprinted them here. I am going to keep this for the remainder of my remarks, because I think that is the essential issue before us. Those four words are the promise of our country that every American should be treated equally, should be respected, should be honored.

I wish to note that these words don't say: Equal justice under law except for women. They don't say: Equal justice under law except for birth control. And they don't say: Equal justice under law as long as it is OK with your boss.

The beauty of this Nation is we respect each other's rights and freedoms, and we have shed blood to make sure those freedoms are protected.

Yet with this Hobby Lobby ruling, five men, who happen to be appointed by Republicans, decided that a corporation has the power to deny me or to deny you coverage of critical health care for us and for our families.

What is very upsetting to me is that they have seized on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to justify giving for-profit companies the sweeping power to deny their employees access to affordable birth control, and we believe it will prove to be other health care benefits required under Federal law.

I speak as someone who voted for the Kennedy bill, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, that if anybody thinks Ted Kennedy wanted to deny access for birth control, then they didn't know Ted Kennedy and they didn't read at all the Record as we debated that bill.

I voted for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it was written to protect an individual's freedom of religion so that if I, as a religious individual working for a corporation, don't want to use the birth control coverage, I don't have to. But if I want to, I make that choice. If I, as an independent individual, want to vaccinate my child, it is covered under law, under the insurance. I can if I want to. No one can force me to do that.

The idea behind the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was to protect the individual, and I quote: ``Government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion.''

Let me repeat: ``a person's exercise of religion.'' It doesn't say a corporation's exercise of religion, your boss's exercise of his religion. It was about protecting the individual.

What the conservative majority of the Court did 2 weeks ago turned the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on its head. As someone who supported that act, it made me angry, sad--put in the adjective. It is wrong to reinterpret what a law meant. It stood the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on its head when they ruled a corporation can put its own ideology ahead of the religious freedom and health care needs of its employees.

A female employee should be able to decide whether to use birth control. And that is not all that is at stake after the Hobby Lobby decision, because we know if you follow their logic that if a corporation can deny birth control because of a religious objection, what if they object to a blood transfusion? There are certain religions that do. Then the employee can't get a blood transfusion. And what if they object to a vaccine or HIV treatment? Then, in order for employees to have access to those treatments, they wouldn't have the insurance. We all know, from looking at the real world, if you don't have insurance, these treatments become very expensive and you may not be able to avail yourselves of them.

Chief Justice John Roberts, during oral arguments in the Hobby Lobby case, made it clear that Congress can fix this and override the Court's decision, and I agree. That is why I am so thankful to Senator Murray and Senator Udall for working so hard and so fast so we can have the remedy right now. It is important that we act fast. People are very confused out there as to what they can count on in their insurance coverage.

We are going to have a vote on this tomorrow. It is a cloture vote to end debate so we can actually get to a vote on the substance. Sadly, it means we need 60 votes, a supermajority. But I hope and frankly pray that we get those 60 votes because we need to protect women's health.

The Murray-Udall bill is called the Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act, but they have nicknamed it Not My Boss's Business Act, which I like. It is not my boss's business what I decide to do.

It would require employers to follow the Federal law when offering health insurance to their employees, notwithstanding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which, as I said, I believe the Court stood on its head. It was meant to protect individuals, not corporations, not your boss.

The bill says corporations cannot hide behind the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to deny their workers coverage to the benefits we have in law. More than 180 House and Senate lawmakers have cosponsored this bill so far, and I hope our colleagues will vote for it.

I was saying we need to act fast because there is confusion out there. Virtually so many women rely on birth control at some point in their lives, it is amazing. Sixty percent of women who take birth control, 6.5 million American women, do so in whole or in part to treat painful and difficult medical conditions.

Let me say that again. One may take a birth control pill for birth control, but there are many other uses for that pill; 1.5 million women out of the 6.5 million who use it, at least in part for other conditions, use it solely as a medication to treat those painful and difficult conditions.

By allowing employers to deny coverage for contraception, the Court is depriving many women and families of health care. Surveys have shown that 55 percent of young women, aged 18 to 34, struggle to afford birth control, which can cost as much as $600 per year. Maybe the Supreme Court Justices in their ivory tower think that is not a lot of money, but let me state, for women working the minimum wage, even for women earning more than the minimum wage, it is quite a hit to their pocketbooks.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out in her dissent that a woman earning the minimum wage would spend nearly an entire month's wage to get an IUD, $1,000. Imagine. This case has unjustly singled out women's health services.

I have to make a note here. I do not know of any employer that is dropping coverage for Viagra. I don't. I have asked around. I have been on TV, I have invited folks to let me know. Oh, no, Viagra is fine; birth control is not fine. Just put the pieces together yourself. I think this decision discriminates against women, and in the slippery slope argument you are going to see it affect everyone.

And we need to listen to the women who rely on birth control to improve their health and the health of their families. Let me tell you a few stories. Raquel from Sacramento was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2010. After her treatment her doctors told her she needed to use birth control to ensure she did not become pregnant for the next 3 years because she was really sick. Luckily, her employer covers birth control and now, happily, 4 years later she is pregnant with her first child. What could have happened to her if she had gone through an unintended pregnancy? It could have been pretty devastating. What if she had worked for a different employer who refused to offer her that birth control? Her health and the health of her child would have been at risk and that would have been tragic. So let's listen to her.

Let's listen to Katherine from Pleasant Hill, CA, who relies on birth control after having her first child.

Both my husband and I want to be the best possible parents for our son, and having another child so soon would hurt our ability to do that. A variety of affordable birth control options are crucial for me and for all first-time moms like me!

Many years ago I was on the board of Planned Parenthood, and what we said all the time was that our dream was that every child be a wanted child--a wanted child. As a parent myself and as a grandparent I tell you right now it takes a lot to raise a child. Hillary Clinton said it takes a village. It certainly takes loving parents, and it takes a loving family. It certainly costs money, and it certainly takes energy.

We want our families to be healthy. We want our families to be productive, and birth control is a success story. It breaks my heart that women just like Katherine who work at Hobby Lobby and other for-profit corporations now could be denied access to affordable health care unless we fix this.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was not about giving your boss the power over you like this. It was about giving you the right to make your own choices and decisions. We need to listen to women like Ariana in Redding, CA, who wrote:

I am a recent college graduate trying to make ends meet and pay off my student loans. It is a great relief to know I can get the birth control I need without a copay.

These are real stories. If the boss doesn't like that you choose birth control, that is his right. If he wants to sit down with his daughter and tell her his religious objection, and if she agrees with him, that is fine. I mean, that is what America is about. But don't take your religious beliefs, your ideology, your biases, your prejudices, and your opinions and foist them on your employees. That is not this country. That is not what we are about.

Shouldn't we care more about the rights of women and their families than the rights of a few employers who can exercise that in their families? This bill we are going to vote on is critical, and I hope it won't die as a result of partisanship. We have to rise above partisanship around here.

``Equal justice under law''--that is what it says over the portico. And frankly, there is another issue. If you look at what has happened to the rates of abortion since we have seen more use of birth control, they are going down. There has been a study in one of our Nation's big cities that proved that because there was broad use of birth control, abortions went down by 50 percent. Imagine. So if that is our concern regardless of whether we are pro-choice or not, we shouldn't be embracing decisions that make it more difficult for women to get access to birth control.

So equal justice under the law doesn't say: ``except for women.'' It doesn't say: ``except if my boss disagrees with me.'' It is pretty beautiful. It is pretty clear. It is something that we have to respect. It is for the ages, and tomorrow we are going to see if our colleagues agree. Every Senator must take a stand tomorrow for individual liberty. When we vote tomorrow, let's be reminded: Women are watching. The American people will hold each of us accountable if we fail to protect their rights and their ability to decide what is best for their families.

I have been around a while. I was around when one of the Bushes was actually on the board of Planned Parenthood--George Herbert Walker Bush. Suddenly this issue is back--birth control--and suddenly we are arguing over it again.

So I say this. I may be wearing a white jacket, but it is not a white doctor's coat. I am not a doctor, and I don't want to put myself, as a politician, in between a woman and her doctor or in between a family and their doctor. Let's leave important health care choices where they belong: with women, with families, with doctors, and not with politicians, in the Senate or Justices sitting in a courtroom.

Thank you very much. I yield the floor.

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