~ Video of Sen. Hirono’s remarks at the presser can be found here ~
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) reintroduced the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would create a statutory right to obtain and use contraceptives and ensure health care providers have a right to provide contraceptives, and share information about this essential care. Companion legislation was introduced by Representative Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Senators Hirono and Markey and Representative Fletcher held a press conference today to announce the reintroduction of the bill.
“Contraception is essential health care that millions of people across the country rely on,” said Senator Hirono. “The Right to Contraception Act simply protects patients’ right to access contraception, as well as providers’ right to provide it. I’m proud to join Senator Markey and Representative Fletcher in reintroducing this important bill. The right to control your own body, free from government interference, is as fundamental as it gets, and we’ll continue doing everything we can to protect the reproductive rights of all Americans.”
In July 2022, the Right to Contraception Act passed the House with a vote of 220-195. That same month, Republicans blocked an attempt in the U.S. Senate to pass the bill by unanimous consent. They did the same in June 2023. In June 2024, Republicans blocked Senate Democrats’ attempt to pass the bill on the floor.
The Right to Contraception Act is endorsed by Power to Decide, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Women's Law Center, Guttmacher Institute, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), Population Connection Action Fund, Americans for Contraception, Advocates for Youth, National Partnership for Women & Families, American Public Health Association, American Humanist Association, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health , Center for Biological Diversity, Ibis Reproductive Health, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Upstream USA, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Health Law Program, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Reproductive Health Access Project, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Upstream USA, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, Center for American Progress, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, All* Above All, and Center for Reproductive Rights.
In addition to Senators Hirono, Markey, and Duckworth, the legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the legislation is available here. Video of Senator Hirono’s remarks at the presser 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. Last September, Senator Hirono voted in support of the Right to IVF Act, legislation to protect the right to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services, as well as expand insurance coverage of IVF treatment for those who struggle with infertility. The legislation, previously blocked by Senate Republicans in June, failed on the Senate floor again, with only two Republicans voting to advance it. Following the vote, Senator Hirono delivered a speech on the Senate floor, highlighting that for decades, IVF treatment and other assisted reproductive technologies have helped people, who otherwise couldn’t, start families on their own. In July 2024, two years after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, Senator Hirono joined Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and 14 other women Democratic senators in releasing a new report, Two Years Post-Dobbs: The Nationwide Impacts of Abortion Bans. The report details how the Dobbs decision is harming women’s health care in states across the U.S.—whether those states have abortion bans or not. Also in July, Senator Hirono voted to advance the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act, legislation that expresses support for women’s reproductive freedom and protecting access to reproductive health care. The vote failed on the Senate floor with a final tally of 49-44—with nearly every Republican voting against it. Senator Prior to the vote, Hirono delivered a speech in which she highlighted the horrifying consequences of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision for women across the country.
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