Hirono, Colleagues Announce Legislation to Codify Right to Contraception, Safeguard 60 Years of Settled Precedent

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Representative Kathy Manning (D-NC) in reintroducing the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would codify and strengthen the right to contraception, which the Supreme Court first recognized more than half a century ago in its Griswold v. Connecticut decision. Enshrining the right to contraception into federal law would reverse steps already taken by Republicans in states across the country to restrict access to contraceptives and ensure that any future attempt by the far-right majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Griswold would not endanger access to this essential health care. 

“Nearly a year after the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Republicans continue to obsess over controlling women’s bodies, further restricting reproductive health care and threatening access to contraception,” said Senator Hirono. “The right to contraception is fundamental, central to one’s privacy and well-being. I am proud to reintroduce this bill to help protect access to contraception and the ability of every individual to make decisions about their bodies and their futures.”

The lawmakers first introduced the legislation last July in the wake of Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—which overturned Roe v. Wade and overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. In his concurring opinion, Justice Thomas urged the Court to “reconsider” its substantive due process precedents, including Griswold.

Although nine out of 10 American adults support access to all forms of birth control, several states restrict access to contraceptives by eliminating public funding for it, defining abortion broadly enough to include contraception, and allowing health care providers to deny service related to contraception on the basis of their own beliefs. Attacks on health care, especially reproductive health care, fall hardest on Black, Brown, Indigenous and immigrant communities, as well as LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, low-income people, and those living in rural and underserved areas.

The Right to Contraception Act is co-sponsored by more than half of the Senate Democratic caucus, including Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO.), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

In the House, the bill is supported by 127 members.

The Right to Contraception Act is endorsed by Advocates for Youth, AIDS United, American Atheists, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Americans for Contraception, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Catholics for Choice, Center for American Progress, Center for Biological Diversity, CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers, Coalition to Expand Contraceptive Access, Contraceptive Access Initiative, Equality California, Girls Inc., Hadassah, House Pro-Choice Caucus, Ibis Reproductive Health, Interfaith Alliance, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, Minority Veterans of America, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Coalition of STD Directors, National Council of Jewish Women , National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Health Law Program, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women's Law Center, People For the American Way, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Population Connection Action Fund, Power to Decide, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Reproductive Health Access Project, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, The Collaborative, and Upstream USA.

The full text of the bill is available here.

A long-time champion for abortion access, Senator Hirono is committed to protecting the fundamental right to reproductive health care for all. In May, she reintroduced the Affordability is Access Act, bicameral legislation to expand access to over-the-counter birth control. In March, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act, a bicameral bill that would help guarantee abortion coverage–without restrictions–for millions of Americans. Earlier this year, she led a letter to Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of mifepristone, urging them to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add miscarriage management to the medication’s label—which currently only includes medication abortion but can also be safely and legally used for miscarriage management. In November, she also sent a letter to the FDA Commissioner encouraging the agency to defend Americans’ reproductive rights, and to consider steps to protect and expand access to medication abortion. Last August, Senator Hirono also sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging concrete action to help meet President Biden’s goal of protecting and expanding access to medication abortion.

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