The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill that would codify the right to contraception, with all but two Republicans voting against it. The vote comes at nearly the two-year mark since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
All Democrats voted for the bill in addition to Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME), with a final vote of 51-39, failing to muster the 60 votes necessary to advance it.
The House passed a similar version of the bill back in 2022 after the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health decision, but hasn’t seen much movement since. GOP-led efforts to reduce access to reproductive care throughout the country warrant the need to codify the right to contraception in legislation, Democrats said.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) offered support for the bill and came down hard on Republicans for what he characterized as bending to the radical views of far right GOP members.
“In a perfect world, we’ll say you can access birth control without government interference,” he said. “That would not be necessary. But given the erosion of reproductive rights in America, today it is absolutely vital.”
But Republicans say the bill isn’t necessary as there aren’t any states that have restricted access to birth control. Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is against the bill’s definition of contraception, saying that it includes the abortion pill mifepristone.
He also asserted that the bill contradicts religious freedom law and is worried that it could potentially require religious groups to prescribe contraception even if they have objections of conscience.
“The Democrats are using their power to push an alarmist and false narrative that there is a problem accessing contraception,” he said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote.
On the House side, Democrats on Tuesday took steps to force a vote on the bill without moving it through the committee process. Lawmakers can do this by filing a discharge petition, which would require at least some support from Republicans to get through.
The Biden administration expressed support for the bill in a statement Wednesday morning, pointing to state-level bans on abortions that have been implemented following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case.
“Contraception is also under attack,” the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said in the statement. “Officials in some states have made clear they want to ban or restrict birth control in addition to abortion, and Republicans in Congress have attacked contraception access nationwide by proposing to defund the Title X Family Planning Program.”
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is expected to hand down a decision this month on whether the FDA will be forced to walk back certain regulations related to the abortion pill mifepristone.