Senate GOP blocks birth control access bill

Senate Democrats back contraception rights in front of U.S. Capitol — Democrats will continue to "put reproductive freedoms front and center," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Getty Images)

What happened

The Senate voted 51-39 on Wednesday to advance the Right to Contraception Act, short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) joined all Democrats present to vote for the legislation, which would establish a nationwide right to "obtain contraceptives and to voluntarily engage in contraception," and for health care providers to distribute birth control.

Who said what

Republicans called the bill an unnecessary messaging "stunt" and said they understood it was an "effort to force them to take an unpopular vote," The New York Times said. "But the vast majority of them did so anyway, a sign of the strength of the anti-abortion lobby." In fact, "far-right conservatives have been trying to curtail birth control access" by falsely redefining certain types of contraception, notably the morning-after pill and IUDs, as "abortifacients," The Washington Post said.

"If it's a messaging bill, my message is I support a woman's access to contraception," Murkowski said.

What next?

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has scheduled a vote next week on a Democratic bill to protect in vitro fertilization, saying Democrats will continue to "put reproductive freedoms front and center" so voters "can see for themselves who will stand up to defend their fundamental liberties." IVF, also broadly popular, technically runs afoul of fetal "personhood" bills backed by many Republicans.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.