Bill Cassidy
Role at the time: United States Senator for Louisiana and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, responding to questions from MS NOW
Statement summary
Asked about Hawley's bill, Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to which it had been referred, told MS NOW that he opposes the current scope of availability of abortion pills, then added that he had not seen this particular legislation. He has not said whether his committee will take the bill up.
“I haven't seen this particular legislation.”
Source for Bill Cassidy's response as chairman of the committee holding the bill, John Cornyn's "All in" post on X, Chuck Schumer's reaction, and Alexis McGill Johnson's statement. Also records that spokespeople for Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski did not respond to questions about the bill, and that the two were the only Republican senators who declined to sign a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services calling for a mifepristone crackdown.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case's fixed reference point is Hawley's proposition that Congress should ban mifepristone by revoking its federal approval. Asked directly for his position on the bill, Cassidy closed the question by saying he had not seen it, while stating a general view on abortion pill availability. That is a refusal to take a position on the specific proposal. The closest competing label is defends_or_excuses, because he volunteered that he opposes the drug's current availability. That loses because the case's reference point is the congressional ban, not availability in the abstract; his general remark does not commit him to the bill, and the operative part of the answer withholds a position on it.