[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3963-S3964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       RIGHT TO CONTRACEPTION ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, let me begin with a disturbing statistic. 
According to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in five 
U.S. adults worries that the right to contraception is under threat--
one in five U.S. adults. That is more people than live in Florida or 
Texas or California. In the same poll, less than half of the adults 
said they felt the right to use birth control was secure.
  Americans' uncertainty about using birth control is one of the many 
shameful consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade. This is the mess 
Donald Trump, the MAGA Supreme Court, and the Republican-led Senate has 
created.
  Today, we live in a country where not only tens of millions of women 
have been robbed of their reproductive freedoms, we also live in a 
country where tens of millions more worry about something as basic as 
birth control. That is utterly medieval. It is sickening. It should 
never happen here in the United States. But because of Donald Trump and 
the hard right, it is reality.

  Today, the Senate has the chance to protect reproductive rights by 
advancing the Right to Contraception Act. I thank my good friends 
Senators Hirono and Markey for championing this bill. I thank every 
Senator and every advocate and every concerned citizen who has raised 
their voice supporting this bill.
  In a perfect world, a bill saying you can access birth control 
without government interference should not be necessary, but given the 
erosion of reproductive rights in America, today, it is absolutely 
vital. So I will be proud to vote yes today. I urge all my colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle to do the same.
  Sometimes the right answer is the obvious one. If Republicans truly 
support protecting access to birth control, then they should vote yes 
on moving this bill forward.
  Now, we have heard a number of very anxious arguments from the other 
side against moving forward on the Right to Contraception Act. We have 
heard that it radically expands access to

[[Page S3964]]

abortion. We have been told it stomps all over religious liberties. We 
have heard that this issue is much ado about nothing. At best, these 
retorts are feeble and predictable, and at worst, they are dangerous. 
So let's set the record straight.
  To those who claim the Right to Contraception Act undermines 
religious liberties, if anything, the opposite is true. This bill 
absolutely protects religious liberties. There is nothing in the text 
forcing anyone to provide contraception if it contradicts their own 
beliefs. Should this bill pass, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 
would remain the law of the land.
  To those who say outlandishly that this bill expands abortion access, 
that is false, full stop. I invite Americans to read this bill for 
themselves. There is nothing--nothing--in this bill about abortion. To 
suggest this bill expands abortion is vulgar fearmongering, plain and 
simple.
  The reason we hear these claims is because Republican colleagues 
don't want to say the quiet part out loud: The GOP, the Republican 
Party here in the Senate, has been totally captured by the radical MAGA 
right, which is totally opposed to protecting reproductive rights, even 
birth control, which, of course, 90 percent of Americans support.
  Make no mistake, if Republicans get into power, the MAGA right will 
push for a national abortion ban and the total elimination of 
reproductive care.
  Finally, of course, there is the more devious claim that the Right to 
Contraception Act is much ado about nothing, that it is unnecessary, 
that birth control could never possibly fall under risk. Well, 
remember, people said the same thing about Roe--that it could never be 
overturned--and then tragically, unfortunately, it was because Donald 
Trump and the Republican Senate filled the Supreme Court with MAGA 
radicals who followed through with the hard right's goal of eliminating 
freedom of choice.
  And who knows how far the hard right will go. A few years ago, it was 
Roe. A few years from now, it could be something else. Justice Thomas 
himself opened the door to undoing protections for birth control in his 
dissenting opinion in Dobbs. We are kidding ourselves if we think the 
hard right is done with their attacks on reproductive rights.
  Let's be perfectly clear: Attacks against birth control aren't 
theoretical bugaboos; it is already happening at the State level.
  To those who argue Federal protections for birth controls are 
unnecessary, go ask the people of Virginia what they think after their 
Republican Governor vetoed--vetoed--a bill that would have protected 
contraceptives at the State level. Go ask the people of Nevada what 
they think after their Republican Governor also vetoed a bill to 
protect access to birth control.
  To those who say birth control will never fall at risk, go ask the 
people of Arizona or Florida or Idaho or Iowa or Missouri. In each of 
these States, Republican Governors or Republican State legislators are 
on record blocking protections for birth control access in one form or 
another.
  So let there be no mistake: In the aftermath after Roe's demise, the 
threat to birth control is very, very real, and that is why it is so 
important for the Senate to act.
  This is a simple bill and a simple vote. If you believe all women 
deserve to have contraception, then you should vote for this bill. That 
is all there is to it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.