As chair of the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) is at the forefront of some of the most important issues for social conservatives in Louisiana and across America.
Cassidy most recently helmed a since-viral hearing about the abuses of mail-order abortion pills; he spoke with the Washington Reporter from his hearing room floor about why that was important for him to do, as well as about his role in defending women’s sports, which the Supreme Court is poised to definitively rule on in a few months.
“Our state is very concerned about the vulnerable,” Cassidy said, explaining why it is important for him to be pro-life. “Our state is very concerned about that child who’s in utero. There’s a strong backbone of people of faith who recognize that that child in utero is a life in utero, and they don’t want that child’s life to be snuffed out. We want to support the young lady. You’ve gotta be pro-life and support the young lady, and you’ve got to be pro-life and support the child, and my state understands that.”
Cassidy’s latest interview with the Reporter came shortly before thousands of Americans descended on Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life. He said that that march “is a statement for the American people of their views. If we can amplify, if you will, pre-amplify, what those views are, then the impact they have is even greater. And I cannot emphasize enough the importance of those folks coming up for the March to state their concerns. If we can frame it, and if we can work together to address those concerns, that’s a very good thing.”
During Cassidy’s hearing, the Democrats’ witness repeatedly refused to answer questions from Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) about whether men can give birth, which Cassidy told the Reporter showed how Democrats’ claims to be on the side of science ring hollow.
“They kept on emphasizing we need to be scientific, but couldn’t say that only biological women can have children,” he noted. “That was a little odd, but nonetheless, let’s put women’s concerns first. You’ve got to have an in-person visit, I think [to receive an abortion drug]. You have to know how many weeks pregnant she is. Dr. [Roger] Marshall, an OBGYN, pointed out that sometimes women come in for delivery and don’t even realize they’re pregnant. That sounds crazy, but it happens. You need to have that baseline ultrasound to estimate gestational age. All those things should be common ground. And because it’s pro-woman, because it’s pro-child, I’ll push for those things.”
While Cassidy is hopeful that there can be bipartisanship on regulating mail order abortion pills, especially in the wake of horrific abuses that he and his colleagues spotlighted, he isn’t necessarily optimistic. In fact, he told the Reporter that opposition to their proposals to require in-person visits with a doctor are “indefensible.”
“People are being told deliberately a lie,” Cassidy said” about the way that abortion pills can be prescribed. “There’s not an in-person meeting or any human contact. And so you actually don’t know at what week the pregnancy is, and then after week 10, it’s not supposed to be given. All those things should be common ground, so hopefully we can solve that. But I don’t know if that will be the case, but we should, because that is truly pro-woman, pro-child.”
Cassidy scored backup following the hearing from groups like the American Association of Pro Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG), which highlighted that his hearing showed how “the pro-abortion industry ignores science and promotes dangerous abortion pills at the expense of women’s health.”
“The FDA’s own data shows that roughly 1 in 25 women who take mifepristone will end up in the emergency room,” AAPLOG noted. “We also know that there is a 4x higher risk of complications than with surgical abortions — and this is under controlled circumstances where women are examined by a physician, and the drugs are not given beyond 9 weeks of gestation.”
Towards the end of the hearing, Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the HELP Committee, said that Cassidy’s pro-life moves flew in the face of science. Cassidy told the Reporter that Murray’s remarks were “funny” in light of how the Democrats’ witness could not answer if people like him — namely, biological males — can give birth.
But the scientific debates didn’t end there. As HELP chairman, Cassidy led investigations into blue state policies that allow men to compete in, and to dominate, women’s sports. “These are cases where men compete in women’s sports and they win, and they do take the medals,” he said. “If you’re going to be pro-woman, you’ve got to be pro-opportunity for that woman. That means don’t tilt the playing field to somebody who physiologically is going to be stronger. And I just feel that passionately. So let’s be pro-woman, and say that if you’re a biological male, you have to compete against biological males.”
Finally, Cassidy said that he wants President Donald Trump to get involved in the health care fights on Capitol Hill, especially in backing Cassidy’s health savings accounts (HSA) push.
“With the HSA proposal, we need the president’s involvement,” he said. “If the president is involved, we can get to something that is good for everyone. The president can make a deal. He’s the straw that stirs the drink. If he’s involved, I’m optimistic, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Below is a transcript of our interview with Sen. Bill Cassidy, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Senator Cassidy, why was it important for you to talk about the dangers and the abuses of these abortion pills sent via the mail?
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
The March for Life is a statement for the American people of their views. If we can amplify, if you will, pre-amplify, what those views are, then the impact they have is even greater. And I cannot emphasize enough the importance of those folks coming up for the March to state their concerns. If we can frame it, and if we can work together to address those concerns, that’s a very good thing.
Washington Reporter:
In the years that I’ve been covering the March for Life, I’ve noticed that even your state’s former Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, would address the march when he was governor. Louisiana is really leading the way on this, between your work on this hearing, between your attorney general being here as well. Is there something in the water in Louisiana that makes it such that this is a state where this is such an important issue for you and for your constituents?
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
Our state is very concerned about the vulnerable. Our state is very concerned about that child who’s in utero. There’s a strong backbone of people of faith who recognize that that child in utero is a life in utero, and they don’t want that child’s life to be snuffed out. We want to support the young lady. You’ve gotta be pro-life and support the young lady, and you’ve got to be pro-life and support the child, and my state understands that.
Washington Reporter:
One of the things that stood out to me during this hearing is that you and your Republican colleagues kept laying out the abuses of the system as it currently stands, where pimps can force young women to take these abortion drugs, where abusive parents can force children to take these drugs. You were saying that you were hoping that there can be some common ground on this issue. Are you optimistic, after what you heard from your colleagues across the aisle today, that some of those abuses can be stopped with any Democratic support, or are they just unwilling to meet you anywhere on this issue?
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
I don’t know yet, but it’s indefensible. Their witness was continually referring to telemedicine and the need to have a good history. And the whole thing that Attorney General Liz Murrill was saying is that there’s not a history. People are being told deliberately a lie. There’s not an in-person meeting or any human contact. And so you actually don’t know at what week the pregnancy is, and then after week 10, it’s not supposed to be given. All those things should be common ground, so hopefully we can solve that. But I don’t know if that will be the case, but we should, because that is truly pro-woman, pro-child.
Washington Reporter:
But how do you make that happen when their witness under oath could not answer if you or I can give birth?
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
By you or I, you mean biological males, of course. They kept on emphasizing we need to be scientific, but couldn’t say that only biological women can have children. That was a little odd, but nonetheless, let’s put women’s concerns first. You’ve got to have an in-person visit, I think. You have to know how many weeks pregnant she is. Dr. Marshall, an OBGYN, pointed out that sometimes women come in for delivery and don’t even realize they’re pregnant. That sounds crazy, but it happens. You need to have that baseline ultrasound to estimate gestational age. All those things should be common ground. And because it’s pro-woman, because it’s pro-child, I’ll push for those things.
Washington Reporter:
Towards the end of the hearing, you made it a little bizarre for the ranking member to say that this is an anti-science thing, because their witness was unable to answer if you or I can get pregnant.
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
That was really funny.
Washington Reporter:
Another important issue that you have been working on also just hit the Supreme Court. The court took up the issue of men in women’s sports; your investigations on the HELP Committee into blue state abuses of how you or I could go dominate a high school girls’ volleyball team helped lead the way on that. Even though we’re seeing state AGs like yours run point on these two cases in Idaho and in West Virginia, this also was a clear priority for you as chair of HELP. How did that come about? And what do you want Congress to do in the five or so months while we wait for the Supreme Court to decide this case?
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
If you’re going to be pro-woman, you can’t be pro-woman some of the time. You have to be pro-woman all of the time. And the fact that a man can go up there and dominate a woman physically is well known. That’s 95 percent of the time. Sure, there are some exceptions.
Washington Reporter:
Unfortunately, I would be the 5 percent.
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
These are cases where men compete in women’s sports and they win, and they do take the medals. If you’re going to be pro-woman, you’ve got to be pro-opportunity for that woman. That means don’t tilt the playing field to somebody who physiologically is going to be stronger. And I just feel that passionately. So let’s be pro-woman, and say that if you’re a biological male, you have to compete against biological males.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump and you are both making health care affordability a priority; you previously talked with me about your legislation on restructuring how payments are processed in the health insurance industry. What do you think the odds of that are based on what you’ve been hearing from the White House?
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
You’re talking about the ACA extensions, right?
Washington Reporter:
The ACA extensions, and also the HSAs.
Sen. Bill Cassidy:
With the HSA proposal, we need the president’s involvement. If the president is involved, we can get to something that is good for everyone. The president can make a deal. He’s the straw that stirs the drink. If he’s involved, I’m optimistic, and I’ll leave it at that.
Washington Reporter:
Senator, thanks as always.
