Senate Democrats to bring right to contraception to floor for vote, pressuring Republicans

Washington – The Senate is scheduled to vote Wednesday on legislation to protect access to contraception, as Democrats work to put reproductive rights front and center toward November elections.

The bill, called the Right to Contraception Act, would codify the right to contraception in federal law. For Senate Democrats, the effort has been a long time coming. The legislation was first introduced following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the federal right to abortion in 2022, sparking concern from Democratic lawmakers that birth control could be next. Two years later, they are drawing attention to the issue — and the positions of their Republican colleagues — as they try to maintain their narrow control of the Senate.

“Federal protections for contraceptives are a critical piece of protecting women’s reproductive freedoms,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor, praising the Senate’s upcoming measure to “defend the freedom of choice with a vote on the Right to Contraception Law”. .”

The New York Democrat warned about Republican efforts in states to block contraception access protections, saying “it’s all the more reason to move forward to protect contraception at the federal level.”

“For those who think that federal action to protect access to birth control is unnecessary, just look at what is happening in states like Virginia, Nevada and Arizona, where Republicans are openly blocking those same protections,” he said. Schumer. “I hope protecting access to birth control is the definition of an easy and uncontroversial decision here in the Senate. But the vote will say everything when we give the gavel tomorrow.”

Still, support for the project is expected to be insufficient in Wednesday’s vote. Although it passed the then-Democratic House in 2022, efforts to pass the bill in the Senate by unanimous consent were blocked by Republicans on two occasions. And some Senate Republicans have argued that the measure is unnecessary, arguing that contraception is not under attack in the United States.

But the vote is part of a broader push by Senate Democrats on reproductive rights this month and appears as just one part of a broader plan to put Republicans in difficult positions on these issues. Schumer said Tuesday that he also intends to present a new package to protect in vitro fertilization for a vote “very soon.”

A group of Senate Democrats introduced the package to protect access to IVF earlier this week, after the issue gained national attention when a Alabama Supreme Court Ruling led providers to stop fertility treatments and drew attention to in vitro fertilization as a possible new front in the fight for reproductive rights in the U.S.

The push to make clear to Republicans issues such as in vitro fertilization and contraception, along with abortion, comes after the issue proved to be a major motivator for voters at the polls in the midterm elections. And while the bills are not expected to pass the Upper House, Schumer made Democrats’ ultimate goal clear.

“In the coming weeks, Senate Democrats will put reproductive freedoms at the forefront of this chamber so that the American people can see for themselves who will stand up to defend their fundamental freedoms,” he said.