WASHINGTON – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03) issued a statement urging for the abolition of the filibuster and passage of federal legislation to protect transgender children, women’s reproductive health and voting rights following Governor Doug Ducey’s signing of several state bills into law. The bills include banning abortions past 15 weeks without exceptions for cases of rape or incest, banning transgender athletes from playing sports, limiting access to gender-affirming care and a voting bill that violates federal law.

“The blatantly unconstitutional and overreaching bills signed by Governor Ducey today were enabled by the U.S. Senate and their inability to remove a Jim Crow-era rule allowing for the filibuster of legislation that would provide protections for our LGBTQ members, enshrine our voting rights, and protect the agency of women’s reproductive health.

With their refusal to abolish the filibuster, Senators Sinema and Manchin are directly enabling the erosion of civil rights and liberties in one swift swipe of the pen. And as we’ve already seen, they are opening the floodgates for more right-wing state legislators and governors to follow suit.  We can still pass the Equality Act, the Women’s Health Protection Act, the Freedom to Vote Act, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, but only if these Senators abolish the filibuster and stop standing in the way of progress.”

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