Democrats reintroduce bill to safeguard access to contraception

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - On Wednesday, Democrats reintroduced a bill that would codify the right to contraception.

The legislation would guarantee the legal right for individuals to access and use contraception. It would also guarantee health care providers the right to provide contraceptives, information, referrals, and contraception services. The Right to Contraception Act would further prohibit the federal government or any state from implementing any regulation that would prohibit or restrict contraception. It would also allow the Department of Justice to enforce the rights in court.

Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) reintroduced the bill along with U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.).

This month marks one year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. The lawmakers said, they first introduced the contraception bill in July 2022, after Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurring opinion in Dobbs which signaled the Court to “reconsider” precedents such as Griswold v Connecticut. The 1965 Supreme Court ruling of Griswold v Connecticut guaranteed access to contraception.

“In one fell swoop, the partisan Supreme Court majority stripped away the right to abortion, a right to which millions of Americans relied for almost 50 years, and put a target on the back of the right to contraception as well. A right which we have held even longer,” said Sen. Markey.

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