[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 104 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E560-E561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SUPPORTING THE RIGHT TO CONTRACEPTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 14, 2023

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the right to 
contraception for all Americans.
  Last year, Justice Clarence Thomas' concurrence to the Dobbs v. 
Jackson's Women's Health decision called for the U.S. Supreme Court to 
reconsider the right to contraception.
  Emboldened by this statement, Republican-controlled state 
legislatures across the Nation began limiting access to birth control.
  Nine states have already adopted restrictions to emergency 
contraception.
  I stand with my colleagues, Congresswoman Manning and Senator Markey, 
as they reintroduce the Right to Contraception Act.
  Last year, this bill passed the U.S. House with a bipartisan vote of 
228-195.
  I am proud to be a part of the effort to bring this important issue 
into legislative focus and protect women's health.
  This bill sets out statutory protections for an individual's right to 
access and a health care provider's right to provide contraception and 
related information.
  Generally, the bill prohibits measures that single out and impede 
access to contraception and related information. However, a party may 
defend against a claim that a measure violates the bill's prohibitions 
by demonstrating, through clear and convincing evidence, that the 
measure significantly advances access to contraception and cannot be 
achieved through less restrictive means.
  The Department of Justice, individuals, or health care providers may 
bring a lawsuit to enforce this bill, and states are not immune from 
suits for violations.
  This Act would codify into law a person's right to obtain 
contraceptives and to engage in the use of contraception.
  It would also define and protect a health care provider's 
corresponding right to prescribe contraception and to provide 
information about the use of contraception to their patients.
  The ability to make personal choices about one's own body is a 
fundamental human right.
  The right to contraception is internationally recognized by the World 
Health Organization, and by the United Nations as intrinsically linked 
to women's health, economic mobility, and self-governance.
  Birth control pills, IUDs, and other forms of contraception are all 
forms of safe and essential healthcare.
  They are central to women's ability to participate equally in the 
workplace, in academia, and in society.
  Contraception allows individuals, couples, and families to be in 
control of their own futures.
  Contraception can allow a young woman to achieve her dreams of 
earning a college degree.
  It can allow a young couple to prioritize their careers before 
raising a child.
  It can allow parents to focus their financial and emotional resources 
on the care of a special needs son or daughter.

[[Page E561]]

  It is a tool that allows those who wish to become parents, and those 
who do not, the agency to make the decision that is best for them.
  A 2010 study found that access to contraceptive care resulted in 
approximately one million fewer unplanned conceptions per year.
  That is one million fewer children born into families who are 
unprepared to support them.
  When access to contraceptives is limited, more children are born into 
lives of difficulty and hardship.
  The ``Right to Contraception Act,'' would help ensure that children 
are born into families who are eager, equipped, and prepared for their 
arrival.
  The right to contraceptives has long been an expectation held by the 
American people.
  In 1965, the United States Supreme Court's decision in Griswald v. 
Connecticut affirmed a married couple's right to birth control. In 
1972, Eisenstadt v. Baird protected that right for single people. Then 
in 1977, the right to contraception for minors was secured in Carey v. 
Population Services International.
  For more than 50 years, the right to contraception has been settled 
law.
  That is, until the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson 
Women's Health Organization, when five conservative Justices chose to 
let their personal opinions and beliefs supersede decades of 
established precedent by overturning women's right to abortion.
  Since then, the American people have witnessed the abhorrent 
consequences of Republicans' radical agenda to criminalize women's 
reproductive health decisions.
  In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas made it very clear 
that the extremist ruling that ended Roe v. Wade could be used to chop 
away at other rights--including the right to access contraception.
  Reproductive rights opponents are now including emergency 
contraception, IUDs, and other forms of birth control in their anti-
abortion legislation.
  These anti-abortion laws shackle women to unwanted pregnancies.
  Conservative lawmakers now seek to stop women from exerting agency 
over the prevention of pregnancy, as well.
  If a woman is not permitted to end a pregnancy, and she is not 
permitted to prevent a pregnancy, I ask, what rights to her body does 
she have left?
  Even before the barbaric Dobbs ruling, conservative lawmakers across 
the country have been moving to limit women's ability to make decisions 
about their own healthcare and bodies.
  In 2021 alone, at least 4 states attempted to ban access to some or 
all contraceptives by restricting public funding for these products and 
services.
  Those laws work in conjunction with actions conservative legislators 
in red states have taken to curtail funding for family planning 
services at reproductive health centers like Planned Parenthood.
  Such actions would limit access to birth control, particularly for 
Black and Brown low-income women.
  We cannot allow human rights to be so callously stripped away from 
the American people.
  We must fight back and codify these rights into law.

                          ____________________