PPMW’s Dr. Serina Floyd speaks at U.S. Senate briefing on the state of abortion rights
For Immediate Release: Jan. 17, 2024
Washington, D.C. — Dr. Serina Floyd, Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC (PPMW), spoke at a U.S. Senate Democrats briefing today on the state of abortion rights in America (see full video). The briefing was scheduled just ahead of what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Dr. Floyd started her remarks noting: “I am here today to make clear that abortion is essential care. I can say without hesitation that I have saved people’s lives by providing abortion care. It is a critical part of my work as an OB/GYN – work that has become increasingly challenging to do in this country.” She shared the experiences of patients traveling hundreds of miles to access care and people forced to remain pregnant when they have been unable to access out-of-state care.
“We know both from research and from reality what it means when someone is denied the abortion they need,” Dr. Floyd said. “We know of the mental, emotional, physical, and economic impacts of those denials. Evidence shows that women denied abortion care are more likely to experience serious medical conditions during the end of pregnancy, are more likely to remain in violent relationships, and are more likely to experience economic hardships and financial insecurity.”
Dr. Floyd noted: “Systemic racism and economic injustice have translated into enormous failures of the U.S. health care and economic systems to meet the needs of minoritized and marginalized individuals. This has resulted in a disproportionate shouldering of the burden of restrictive laws and abortion bans on people of color, those with low incomes, young people, LGBTQ+ persons, rural communities, migrants and immigrants, those with disabilities, and those experiencing incarceration.”
She also described how abortion bans have had harmful effects on doctors and the medical profession, noting that doctors in states with abortion bans “are being made to ignore medical guidelines and are being forced to delay life-saving medical care in direct opposition to the oaths to which we are sworn.”
Dr. Floyd is a board-certified OB/GYN. In addition to working as PPMW’s Chief Medical Officer, she is a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. Joining her on today’s panel were writer Jessica Valenti and Dr. Austin Dennard, a Dallas-based physician and a patient plaintiff in the Zurawski v. State of Texas case.
The briefing was hosted by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).