This week, the U.S. Senate voted down a bill that would create a federal right to contraception. The vote to consider the legislation before the full Senate failed 51-39, and needed a 60-vote threshold to proceed. Two Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, from Alaska and Maine, respectively, voted with Democrats in support of a federal right to birth control.
Sponsorship of the Legislation
Senators Ed Markey from Massachusetts and Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, both Democrats, sponsored the legislation in question, the Right to Contraception Act.
Election-Year Effort
The effort to pass this legislation enshrining the right to contraception was largely a show vote as part of an election-year effort to reach women and highlight the differences in the main parties’ platforms on reproductive rights.
Strategic Positioning
While the vote was not expected to pass, the push to bring it to the Senate was to force Senators to take a position on the topic, which could later be mentioned in campaign materials and advertisements to target like-minded voters.
Conservative Concerns
Democrats know that many conservatives are concerned about messaging on reproductive rights issues, which puts Republicans in a difficult position with many women who might otherwise support the party and its candidates.
Senate Majority Leader’s Statement
Senate Majority Leader dismissed the political nature of the vote roll call, stating, “Today was not a show vote, this was a show us who you are vote, and Senate Republicans shows the American people exactly who they are.”
Republican Opposition
For their part, Republican opposition to the legislation was less about the overall messaging of the bill. Still, it was based on the fact that past Supreme Court decisions already protected access to contraception.
Concerns About Bill’s Scope
Republican Senators who voted against consideration of the bill also stated that the bill was too broad and had the potential of having abortion and abortion-inducing drugs to qualify as part of the legislation’s mandate.
Future Legislative Actions
Following the failure of this measure to reach consideration by the full Senate, Schumer has stated his intention to consider protecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the coming weeks.
State-Level Legal Impediments
Schumer’s action is in response to a flurry of legal impediments to IVF at the state level which were both instituted and summarily overturned in past months.
Anticipated Republican Opposition
It is likely that any future legislation will be drafted to ensure Republicans will not support the effort. Therefore, Democrats will be able to use a ‘no’ vote in campaign materials against Republican Senators both in this election and in the future.
Republican Support for Related Bill Introduced by Senator Ernst
Republicans have coalesced around Senator Joni Ernst’s bill, the Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act, which directs the Department of Health and Human services to prioritize drug applications for oral contraceptives. The bill also requires reports on how funding is being used for contraception. Finally, the most tangible aspect of the bill requires over the counter birth control to be available to adults over age 18.
White House Statement
The White House released a statement on the failure of the bill recognizing a federal right to contraception. President Biden stated, “This is the second time since the Supreme Court’s extreme decision to overturn Roe v Wade that Congressional Republicans have refused to safeguard this fundamental right for women in every state. It’s unacceptable.”
Biden’s Commitment
Biden continued, “My administration, alongside Democrats in Congress, will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and keep taking action to strengthen access to affordable, high-quality contraception.”
