top of page

The Right to Birth Control Access Is At Risk

"The idea that I had to do that — I mean, no, really, think about it. Think about it. I know I’m 198 years old, but all kidding aside.. 

​

I never ever thought I’d be signing an Executive Order protecting the Right to Contraceptives.”

                                                -President Biden (6/23/23)

Growing Threat to Contraception

Contraception is a part of everyday life for most Americans, a freedom we have taken for granted for generations.  But in recent years, a coordinated federal, state, and court effort has emerged to take away Americans’ right to contraception.

Last year, 195 US House Republicans voted against the Right to Contraception Act in 2022, which would have guaranteed access to basic birth control like the pill, IUDs, and condoms.

 

In Nevada, Governor Lombardo vetoed a bill guaranteeing the right to condoms, IUDs, and the pill sponsored by his own Republican leaders in the legislature.  In Georgia, Governor Kemp was caught on tape talking about how he would consider executive action to block access to basic contraception.

​

Yet, Governor Kemp’s comments aren’t even the most alarming. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently vetoed a $2 million allotment from the state budget which would have supported low-income individuals in accessing long-acting birth control.

 

And these extreme politicians are being supported by activist judges looking for a new target and culture war now that Roe has been overturned.  

Last year, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said the Supreme Court should revoke the right to contraceptives by overturning Griswold v. Connecticut, in which the court ruled that married couples have a right to access contraceptives.  And he has been joined by activist judges in lower courts who are building the legal framework to ensure state efforts to block access to contraceptives can succeed.

 

It may seem unimaginable that something as normal and popular as contraceptives could be taken away.  But special interest money and an increasingly polarized and extreme political class have made this a real risk.

 

You can read more examples of the efforts to take away contraception for yourself. 

 

But don’t focus too long on the problem and extremes. The good news is that people of good will are coming together from across America to demand common sense bi-partisan solutions on contraception. In more and more states, bi-partisan solutions are winning. 

 

So make sure to also read about what pastors, veterans, Democrats, Republicans, men and women are doing to stand up to the extremist and find common sense solutions.   

Read About Bi-Partisan Solutions

President Biden just joined Republicans and Democrats defending access to contraception, signing an Executive Order to stregnthen Americans' access to birth control. 

​

“The idea that I had to do that — I mean, no, really, think about it, think about it,” Biden said. “I know I’m 198 years old but all kidding aside, think about that. I never, ever thought I’d be signing an executive order protecting the right to contraceptives.”

Examples
Other Efforts to Take Away Right to Contraception

Across the country, we are seeing attacks at the state level – some successful, others blocked – to ban different forms of contraception and/or create financial or other barriers to access.  At least 10 states have legislation in the works that would restrict or ban access to basic contraception, and the pressure from fringe groups continues to mount.

 

  • Despite sponsorship by Republican Leadership in the state Senate and a veto-proof majority that voted for the bill, Nevada Governor Lombardo recently vetoed the Nevada Right to Contraception Act.  Read More

 

  • In Florida, Gov. DeSantis has repeatedly blocked funding for contraception -- specifically for LARCs (long-acting reversible contraception, or IUDs and the Implant) for low-income constituents.

 

  • Georgia Gov. Kemp, Mississippi Gov. Reeves have both said they would consider blocking access to basic contraception in their state.  

 

  • U.S. Senators Mike Braun of Indiana and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have both said states should be allowed to block access to basic contraception.

 

  • In 2021, Idaho lawmakers passed a law that resulted in universities in Idaho telling employees not to tell students how to get emergency contraception, because they could be charged with a felony. 

 

  • Also in 2021, a Missouri state senator nearly succeeded in banning state funding for IUDs, which would have prevented Medicaid participants from accessing those methods of birth control.

 

  • Texas ruled that Texas girls would need their father’s permission to get birth control. The Court sided with Jonathan Mitchell, the former Texas solicitor general who masterminded the state’s ban on abortions after about six weeks in a case he brought on behalf of a father of 3 girls claiming that allowing minors to access birth control without their father’s consent infringed on the father’s “fundamental right to control and direct the upbringing of his minor children.” 

​

  • In Wisconsin, state Representative Chuck Wichgers, one of the 11 Republicans who voted against a bill that allows pharmacists to prescribe contraceptive patches and self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives without a doctor's prescription, falsey claimed that contraception leads to infidelity, a "proliferation of STDs," and is unnatural.

​

​

  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a $2 million budget to support low-income individuals in accessing reliable, long-acting birth control. The funding would have made basic contraception like birth control pills and IUDs more readily available and affordable—which would have helped reduce abortion rates across the state. DeSantis’ action goes against the will of the public majority and further reduces contraception access.

bottom of page