Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a Senate vote will be held Wednesday on a bill that would establish federal protections for access to contraceptives.
The bill, named the Right to Contraception Act, would also protect providers of contraceptives, like doctors and nurses, and those who provide information related to contraception.
“The right to contraception is a fundamental right, central to a person’s privacy, health, wellbeing, dignity, liberty, equality, and ability to participate in the social and economic life of the Nation,” the bill states.
Schumer announced the plans for a chamber vote in a letter posted to his social media, noting it will purposefully take place a couple of weeks before the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24.
The 2022 ruling rolled back federal abortion rights and expanded states' abilities to limit or outlaw abortions. It’s become a key issue for Democrats during the presidential election year as Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump has claimed he is personally responsible for the Supreme Court’s decision.
“The Dobbs decision was one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of modern times,” Schumer wrote. “Democrats have been clear we will not stand for these attacks and we will fight to preserve reproductive freedoms.”
He added there will be “more action to come” after the Senate votes on the act.
Abortion
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Currently, there are 14 states with bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions for things like rape and incest.
If the Right to Contraception Act is passed, it would prohibit the federal government or any state from “administering, implementing or enforcing any law, rule, regulation, standard or other provision that would prohibit or restrict the sale, provision, or use of contraception.”
Keeping with the topic of reproductive rights, a group of Senate Democrats led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois introduced legislation on Monday that would preserve a person’s right to in vitro fertilization and make it more affordable.
This comes after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos are equal to children in a February decision, prompting the state’s legislators to pass protections for health care providers who perform IVF services.
