WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) issued the following statement today in response to Republican legislation to impose a federal ban on abortion.

“Every lawmaker who cheered the Supreme Court after the Dobbs decision and said that the ‘states should decide’ the future of legal abortion and reproductive health care in the U.S. needs to be held accountable. They need to clarify whether they meant those words or they really support a federal ban on abortion health care. Senate and House legislation imposing a federal, 15-week abortion ban goes against the clear will of voters in Maryland and other states across the country. Republicans are making clear that they will prioritize a vote on such draconian legislation if the Republicans win back the majority in either the House or Senate.

“Congress – and the Supreme Court – cannot continue down a path of trying to revoke the civil rights of Americans. Our constitutional duty is to protect the rights of our citizens under the rule of law.  Senate Republicans were wrong to block the Women’s Health Protection Act in May, and the Supreme Court was wrong to overturn Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs decision in June.  Abortion is a standard part of health care. Bans and criminalization will not stop abortion; they only will make it more dangerous and limit access to those with the means to travel or work around the law. This constant attack on reproductive health care must end.”