Democratic legislation that would have protected the right to birth control and other contraceptives was blocked by Senate Republicans on Wednesday, a little more than a month after the Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of precedent and revoked abortion rights.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) objected to a request to pass the bill by unanimous consent. If any senator opposes such a request on the floor of the Senate, it is rejected.
Ernst claimed the Democrats’ bill “deliberately goes beyond the scope of contraception” and said it could fund abortion providers and protect abortion drugs.
The House passed the Right to Contraception Act last week amid fears that the high court may come next for reproductive health care. Democrats pointed to an opinion from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that suggested the court should reexamine the precedent that guarantees the right to contraception.
The law would create a statutory right for people to obtain and use contraceptives, as well as codify protections for physicians who provide them.
In the House, 195 Republicans opposed the measure.
Ernst on Wednesday sought to pass his own bill that would speed up over-the-counter access to birth control. Democrats objected, saying it would not prevent states from restricting or banning access to birth control.
“His bill will not ensure access to birth control, and it fails to codify the constitutional right to birth control across the United States,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
The right to purchase and use contraceptives is currently protected by the Supreme Court’s landmark 1965 decision in Griswold v. Connecticut.
But Republicans who downplayed the threat posed by the 1973 abortion decision before the Supreme Court overturned it similarly denied the threat to other rights, such as contraception and same-sex marriage.
Some state legislatures have introduced bills to restrict access to contraceptives, though they have not passed.
It’s unclear whether the bill protecting contraception will get a vote on the Senate floor amid a busy calendar, with many other competing priorities on the Democrats’ agenda.
A bill protecting same-sex marriage has advanced through the Senate with some GOP endorsements, but it not yet have enough GOP votes to break a filibuster, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.).
