By Miriam Raftery
East County Magazine
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After Republicans in multiple states introduced measures to restrict women’s access to birth control including IUDs and birth control pills, Democrats in Congress tried to enact the Right to Contraception Act (S. 4381(link is external)) which would have protected birth control access nationwide. But Senate Republicans blocked the measure. Only two Republicans, both women, voted to protect birth control access.
Though 14 states including California currently protect birth control access in their state constitutions or by state law, if Republicans retake control of Congress and the presidency, they could pass a nationwide law outlawing some forms of birth control.
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, a Democrat whose district includes part of San Diego’s East County, voiced outrage at her colleagues’ action. “I went on birth control in high school for debilitating cramps. I’ve used Plan B. I have an IUD. Birth control is health care for me and millions of others—and we deserve the right to access it,” she posted on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday. “Today, Senate Republicans blocked this right… just one more reason to vote them out.”
S.4381, the measure killed by Senate Republicans, addressed only contraception; the bill’s text does not include abortion.
Congressman Darrell Issa, an East County Republican, previously voted no on a similar House measure, the Right to Contraception Act, HR 8373(link is external). His stance against birth control access is nothing new. When Issa chaired a Congressional panel on contraception back in 2012, he drew outrage by refusing to allow any women to testify. “Of the five witnesses called to testify in the first round, all five were men who opposed contraception,” Slate reported(link is external). ABC news confirmed(link is external) that the hearing sparked protests and a walk-out by some women members of Congress. Senator Patty Murray warned at the time, “There is nothing new about these Republican attacks on our family planning decisions. In fact, from the moment they came into power, Republicans in the House of Representatives have been waging a war on women’s health.”
Senator Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican who voted against protecting birth control access, slammed Democrats for what she called “scare tactics.”
But it’s a fact that Republicans have stepped up their attacks on birth control access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, kicking abortion regulation back to the states—and many states have since outlawed nearly all abortions. Some have also blocked or restricted access to medication used to induce early stage abortions, which are also used to treat women suffering miscarriages and have become unavailable.
The bill blocked by Republican legislators would have assured women access to guaranteed women access to birth control, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), birth control pills, and the morning after pill to prevent conception, such as after rape.
Examples of states where birth control access is under attack by Republican legislators include Missouri where the GOP tried to restrict access to the morning after pill commonly used by rape victims to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, Idaho where hearings are planned to possibly ban IUDs and emergency contraception, and Louisiana, where a House committee passed a bill that declares life begins at conception, which could outlaw IUDs, Plan B medications, and possibly other forms of birth control that prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Next up, Senate Democrats say they plan to introduce a bill to protect in-vitro fertilization, which one Southern state’s court has already outlawed since not all fertilized embryos are carried to term. It remains to be seen whether Republicans will also oppose protections for IVF, a popular alternative for couples unable to have children on their own.
The Republicans’ actions come despite numerous polls showing nearly all Americans support access to birth control, and the vast majority also support abortion access.
A 2022 poll by FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos found that well above 90% of Americans including over 90% of Republicans support access to birth control pills and condoms, over 80% said they support access to IUDs including over 80% of Republicans, and over 80% support access to emergency contraception such as Plan B, Including over 60% of Republicans. The partisan divide becomes apparent however on access to medication abortions/abortion pills, still backed by well over 80% of Americans, but less than 40% of Republicans. As for surgical abortions, 80% of Americans support access, but just over 30% of Republicans favor access to surgical abortions.
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump said earlier this year that he was open to considering birth control restrictions, but later said he would not back an outright ban on birth control, leaving open the door that he may sign restrictions on some forms of birth control if elected in November.
President Joe Biden issued this more definitive statement on the Senate action. “Senate Republicans just refused to protect a woman’s right to birth control,” the president said. “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.”
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Miriam Raftery is publisher and editor of East County Magazine, with which San Diego Jewish World trades stories under auspices of the San Diego Online News Association.