[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3971-S3979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

             RIGHT TO CONTRACEPTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume legislative session and resume consideration of the motion to 
proceed to S. 4381, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 400, S. 4381, a bill to 
     protect an individual's ability to access contraceptives and 
     to engage in contraception and to protect a health care 
     provider's ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, 
     and information related to contraception.

[[Page S3972]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.


                       Right to Contraception Act

  Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, I rise today in proud support of the 
Right to Contraception Act, straightforward legislation that would 
protect individuals' right to access contraception and providers' right 
to provide it.
  Our bill wouldn't force anyone to take or provide contraception if 
they don't want to, but it would help ensure that those who do can 
without the government getting in their way.
  As Republicans continue their assault on our fundamental reproductive 
rights, this bill is critical to safeguard the right of all Americans 
to access contraception.
  I look forward to saying more about this important legislation later 
on, but first I am glad to be joined by many of my Democratic 
colleagues who will come to the floor to speak on this bill. They know 
how vital it is that we protect the right to contraception, starting 
with my colleague from Massachusetts, my partner on this bill, Senator 
Markey.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, thank you to my partner Senator Hirono 
from Hawaii and to all of the Senators who today are going to lead on 
this issue of ensuring that people in the United States have access to 
contraception. I am joined by Senator Smith from Minnesota. But we will 
be joined by so many others out here on the floor because this Friday, 
June 7, will be 49 years since there was a decision made in the Roe v. 
Wade question before it got repealed in 2022--49 years, from 1973 to 
2022.
  And the Supreme Court, 59 years ago to this day, June 7--the Supreme 
Court recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut the right of Americans to 
use contraception. Just a few years later, in 1972, the Supreme Court 
expanded on that holding and wrote:

       If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of 
     the individual, married or single, to be free from 
     unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so 
     fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to 
     bear or beget a child.

  That was the Supreme Court in 1972.
  In recognizing the fundamental right to contraception, the Supreme 
Court affirmed what we know: The right to contraception is essential to 
Americans' health and freedom. This decision was a step toward freedom 
and away from decades of reproductive coercion rooted in this Nation's 
history.
  In 1927, the Supreme Court in Buck v. Bell approved forced 
sterilization in a decision steeped in ableism. Federal funds were used 
to sterilize 100,000 to 150,000 women, half of whom were Black. 
Teaching hospitals in New York and Boston experimented on Black and 
Puerto Rican women as practice for medical students. In recent history, 
immigrant women in detention faced forced sterilization, and Black, 
Brown, immigrant, disabled, LGBTQ, low-income and rural Americans still 
face significant--and sometimes insurmountable--barriers to getting 
reproductive care.
  Left up to the extremism of the far right, they would let this 
injustice grow deeper into the American soul. Just 2 years ago, the 
Supreme Court majority did so when they took settled precedent and 
placed it on shaky ground.
  In Dobbs, the Supreme Court majority overturned decades of settled 
precedent to strip away the constitutional right to abortion. On June 
24, 2022, Americans had one less right than they did on January 23, 
2022.
  In his concurring opinion in Dobbs, Justice Clarence Thomas distilled 
the threat to American freedom. He outlined a long-held rightwing 
reactionary belief that Americans had too many privacy rights under the 
Constitution, that the Supreme Court erred in recognizing those rights, 
and that the Court should take them away. The rights he was talking 
about? The right to marry whom you love and the right to contraception.
  Justice Thomas put that in his concurring opinion, a preview of what 
he wanted the Supreme Court to take up in future years.
  Emboldened by the Supreme Court, States across the country have 
limited or prohibited access to contraception. Texas Republicans gutted 
Medicaid coverage of emergency contraception. Idaho Republicans blocked 
health clinics in public schools from providing contraception. And 
Republican Governors are vetoing State efforts to protect the right to 
contraception.
  The threat to contraception is not hypothetical; it is a real threat 
that requires a real response here on the Senate floor. We must guard 
against efforts to oppress, suppress, and repress reproductive freedom 
for people and their healthcare providers.
  That is why I proudly introduced the Right to Contraception Act with 
my colleagues Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth.
  The Right to Contraception Act guarantees Americans have the freedom 
to get contraception and for health providers to give it; the right to 
contraception free from Federal and State government threats; and the 
dignity to choose what contraception works best for them and for their 
families.
  Passing the Right to Contraception Act would provide clear and 
unequivocal safeguards for a right that Americans have relied upon for 
nearly 60 years. It would keep government intrusion out of the deeply 
personal decisions people make about their health and their families. 
It would mean moving toward reproductive justice and freedom for 
everyone in our country.
  Now, my colleagues across the aisle are trying to argue that this 
legislation restricts parental rights and religious liberties. That is 
completely untrue. The only restrictions that are being debated today 
are the ones that Republicans and MAGA extremists want to place on 
access to contraception.
  Democrats are here today to defend reproductive freedom. This bill is 
about ensuring liberty, the liberty that comes with having full access 
to healthcare options.

  Today, we have an opportunity to pass the historic piece of 
legislation, the Right to Contraception Act. This vote asks a simple 
question of each Senator and each American: Do you support Americans' 
freedom to make their own decisions about their health and social and 
economic freedom or not? Which side of that question are you on in our 
Nation?
  For many of my colleagues and for the vast majority of the American 
people, that answer is easy, and it should be easy. At its best, this 
institution has affirmed the rights of every American. On this floor, 
we have expanded access to healthcare, battled against racial 
segregation, and protected same-sex marriage.
  And today, we have the opportunity to protect the right to 
contraception. We have the opportunity to show the American people that 
we will fight with them and for them for reproductive freedom.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes to pass the Right to 
Contraception Act. Vote yes to ensuring that reproductive health 
freedom and justice is the law of our land.
  We cannot allow our country to go into the ``Wayback Machine,'' to go 
back to 1965, to go back to before Griswold was decided. That is what 
MAGA rightwing Republicans want to have happen in our country, and it 
is just absolutely unacceptable.
  So today is the day of reckoning. Today is the day we will have the 
vote out here on the Senate floor to show which direction you believe 
our country should be headed.
  I thank Senator Schumer for making it possible for us to have this 
debate today. I think it is going to be a very meaningful one that will 
ultimately help to clarify for the American people whose side each of 
the Senators are on in terms of their families, their family planning, 
the decisions they have to make for themselves.
  So I thank you. I thank Senator Hirono and Senator Duckworth for 
their leadership and Senator Murray, of course, historic leader on all 
of these issues. And I am looking forward to the discussion--the 
debate--today.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Ms. BUTLER. Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
calling for the passage of the Right to Contraception Act.
  I would like to start, of course, by thanking Senators Markey, 
Hirono, and Duckworth for their work in championing legislation that 
preserves

[[Page S3973]]

women and families' right to plan a pregnancy on their own terms.
  Now, basic reproductive and sexual healthcare tools like 
contraception, like STI prevention, and like fertility treatment are 
under immediate threat, further reducing patients' options when and 
whether to start or grow their families.
  In Arizona, every Republican in both legislative Chambers blocked 
legislation to protect access to contraception.
  In Oklahoma, we have seen the Republican legislature there advance 
legislation that could create a database of women who obtained an 
abortion and could make IUDs and emergency contraception inaccessible.
  In Tennessee, House Republicans voted down a bill in committee that 
would have made clear that the State's abortion ban would not 
jeopardize access to contraceptive care or fertility treatment.
  In short, at every opportunity, extreme MAGA Republicans haven't 
stopped their unconscionable campaign to chip away at a woman's access 
to basic healthcare.
  According to 2022 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 90 percent 
of females aged 18 to 64 have used contraception at some point during 
their reproductive years--90 percent. If we were to let those 
extremists have their way, it would mean millions of women in our 
country being left without options and forced into unwanted pregnancy 
and other situations that we may not be prepared for.
  Now, my State, California, has been a leader on the frontlines of 
reproductive freedom. Five months after the Dobbs decision, California 
voters overwhelmingly chose to amend the State constitution and 
unequivocally protect the right to abortion and contraception.
  This week, I heard from Martin Orea and Emily Oh from Southern 
California, first-year students attending Santa Monica College and 
Irvine Valley College, respectively. Together, they serve as the Youth 
Health Equity and Safety Ambassadors for Essential Access Health, a 
nonprofit dedicated to championing quality sexual and reproductive 
healthcare for all.
  They wrote to me saying:

       Access to contraception is not just a health issue--it's a 
     lifeline for our autonomy and future. Access to contraception 
     is about giving us the power to shape our destinies.
       When we have the tools to manage our health, we can stay in 
     school, build stable families, and contribute positively to 
     our communities. The ability to get contraception enables us 
     to lead healthier, more productive lives and achieve our 
     dreams.
       It is about fostering personal responsibility, stability, 
     and economic self-reliance.

  When I came to this Chamber, I made a promise. I made a promise to be 
urgent in my efforts to protect the rights of young people like Martin, 
Emily, and others in their generation who are tired of being ignored 
and dismissed. We cannot fail them or let them down in this moment.
  I close, urging my colleagues to join in and ensure that attacks on 
contraceptives do not go unchecked. We must support this legislation 
and safeguard contraceptive care for the millions of young girls, 
women, and patients across the country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. SMITH. Madam President, I rise today with my colleagues to urge 
all of my colleagues to vote in favor of the Right to Contraception 
Act.
  At its core, this bill is based on a very simple value. The value is 
that every individual should have the right to make decisions about 
their lives, their medical care, their families, and their bodies.
  Passing this bill would not only protect the right to get birth 
control free from government interference, but it would protect this 
core American value because if you don't control your reproductive 
life, you don't control anything about your life.
  This is a bipartisan issue at least in the Nation, if not in this 
Chamber. Over 80 percent of Americans support access to birth control, 
including over 70 percent of Republicans, but despite this overwhelming 
level of support, many of my Republican colleagues seem set to block 
this bill today. You know, I wish I could say that I was shocked, but 
there is a direct through line we see between Senate Republicans and 
Donald Trump in confirming Trump's extremist, anti-choice Justices, 
overturning Roe, and bringing us to this day. So this is not an 
accident; this is a plan.
  In the era of chaos ushered in by the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, 
the Republicans' refusal to protect access to birth control is just 
another example of this cruel and reckless approach to women's health, 
and every day, we are confronted with the grave consequences that 
overturning Roe has had for Americans.
  Today, one in three women of child-bearing age lives in States with a 
Trump Republican abortion ban, and from those States, we hear the 
stories of the impact of that on people's lives--women trying to get 
reproductive health care and being turned away, sometimes until their 
conditions become life-threatening; doctors trying to provide 
healthcare that they feel is best for their patients but they can't 
because of the fear of prosecution. It is clear that the people 
responsible for this either don't understand women's health and bodies 
or they just don't care.
  Now, people access contraceptive care--birth control--for a whole 
host of reasons, including to treat conditions like ovarian cancer, 
endometriosis, and migraines. Laws and regulations that restrict access 
to birth control harm people. They harm people, and they harm their 
families. That is why this is so important.
  The Right to Contraception Act protects more than just your right to 
make your own decisions about whether and when and how to become a 
parent; it protects your right to chart the course of your life and to 
make decisions without politicians and judges interfering. So when 
Republicans vote no, what they are saying is that they want to be in 
charge of your freedom, your autonomy, and your personal dignity.
  You know, you may be thinking as you are listening to this debate: I 
mean, why is this law necessary? I mean, what is out there? Who is out 
there who is actually trying to restrict access to contraceptives?
  Well, the reality, colleagues, is that this is happening. You can see 
it in Republican efforts to redefine some contraception, like IUDs or 
the morning-after pill, to redefine those kinds of contraception as 
abortion--based not on the science, not on the best medical expertise, 
but on their political views. You can see it in their relentless 
efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and to cut title X funding.
  Now, colleagues, title X is the bipartisan law that was signed by 
President Nixon. It is the only Federal program dedicated to providing 
comprehensive family planning and preventive healthcare. Title X helps 
low-income people afford wellness exams, cervical and breast cancer 
screenings, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. It 
also provides basic infertility services. It is a godsend for over 2.5 
million Americans. Most of them are without any health insurance and 
are under the age of 30. We should be supporting title X and not 
tearing it down.
  Many of you know that long before I came to this body, I worked at 
Planned Parenthood. When I was there, I saw every day what it means to 
get access to basic reproductive health care, how that frees people to 
be able to live the lives that they choose, and how much they depend on 
those services. Now Donald Trump and extreme Senate Republicans have 
created a healthcare crisis by banning abortion for one in three women 
of child-bearing age in this country.
  If my Republican colleagues are really interested, truly interested 
in helping women and families, you would vote for this bill, this Right 
to Contraception Act. You would vote for it today. I am here to tell 
you that actions speak louder than words. A ``no'' vote means that you 
don't trust women to make our own decisions about our bodies, our 
health, and our lives. So I urge you to join us in voting yes.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. SCHATZ. Madam President, for years, people were accused of being 
hysterical for saying Republicans would actually take away people's 
reproductive freedoms. The prevailing Republican position to ban 
abortions in almost every instance, with no exceptions, was so 
outrageous, so cruel, so unpopular that people said: Well, they

[[Page S3974]]

would never actually go through with that.
  But, 2 years ago, it finally happened. Roe fell, and tens of millions 
of women across America lost their right to reproductive freedom 
overnight.
  Now, once again, people question whether Republicans will actually go 
through with the thing that they say they want to do: It is too morally 
extreme; it is too politically risky. But the fact is, Republicans have 
shown no restraint whatsoever when it comes to shredding people's 
reproductive rights.
  Overturning Roe was never going to be enough. The project also 
includes banning birth control and IVF. It doesn't matter how 
outrageous it is. It doesn't matter how unpopular it is. It doesn't 
matter that 92 percent of Americans support birth control and that 
almost 90 percent of women have used it at some point. It doesn't 
matter that women and families would lose the ability to plan whether 
and when to have kids. Dismantling reproductive freedoms is central to 
the Republican agenda. Aside from tax cuts for billionaires, it is kind 
of their main thing.
  No right or freedom, no matter how basic or popular, is off limits 
until Congress enshrines that right in Federal law. The Right to 
Contraception Act does exactly that. It enshrines in Federal law the 
right to birth control, and it protects doctors who are simply doing 
their jobs by providing it.
  This should not be controversial. No matter where you stand 
politically--if you want several kids or if you want none at all, 
whether you are religious or an atheist or somewhere in between--this 
is about the basic principle that people ought to be able to decide 
what is best for themselves, their bodies, and their families. Yet, 
over the past 2 years since the fall of Roe, Republican lawmakers in at 
least 17 States--Nevada, Arizona, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana--have 
repeatedly killed efforts to protect access to contraception, and 
Republican-led legislatures in States like Missouri and Idaho are 
pushing bills to block access to various forms of birth control, 
including Plan B and IUDs. All the while, you have Donald Trump openly 
toying with a national contraception ban.
  So to say the future of birth control in the United States is in 
serious jeopardy is not partisan spin. Republicans continue to work at 
this goal. They want fewer rights, less autonomy, less freedom. The 
only way to counter their crusade against people's fundamental freedoms 
is to enshrine this right in Federal statute.
  The really cool thing about the Senate floor is this: This is the 
place where you find out what people actually think. There was a memo 
from the NRSC--an interesting memo. A lot of people are talking to the 
media near the train about what they think about contraception, but in 
2 hours, we get to know what you think about contraception. We get to 
know whether you actually want to enshrine this right in Federal 
statute or you don't. That is the beauty of this place, and that is the 
beauty of this bill at this time. Everyone will go on the record.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I want to thank all of my colleagues 
who are here on the floor and thank Senator Hirono, who has led this 
legislation, along with Senator Markey.
  As you just heard, today, every Senator is going to be confronted 
with a very simple question: Should Americans have the right to 
contraception, the right to birth control--IUDs? Plan B?
  Now, that really should not be a hard question. In fact, most 
Americans thought this matter was settled. After all, nearly 60 years 
ago, the Supreme Court decided Griswold v. Connecticut and affirmed 
Americans' right to privacy, including the right to contraception.
  Today, the right to contraception is overwhelmingly popular. The vast 
majority of the American people, our constituents, supports this right. 
So this should be an easy vote. This bill should pass with flying 
colors. It almost shouldn't be necessary. Yet Republicans have been 
making clear that a bill like this is not only necessary but urgent.
  Not only has Justice Thomas signaled an interest in reconsidering 
Griswold and not only have Senators said Griswold was unsound, but 
there are Republican bills right now with large GOP support that would 
severely undercut the right to birth control, like the Life at 
Conception Act, which is supported by more than half of the Republicans 
in the House, including the Speaker. That GOP bill would enshrine the 
truly extreme doctrine of fetal personhood nationwide. That would not 
just ban abortion, it would outlaw emergency contraception like Plan B, 
and it would outlaw IUDs.
  You don't have to take my word for it. I chaired a HELP hearing 
yesterday on the damage of Republicans' anti-abortion attacks over the 
past 2 years, and I asked the Republicans' own witness directly: Do you 
view IUDs as abortion? The answer was yes.
  Let's be crystal clear. IUDs and Plan B do not cause an abortion. 
That level of disinformation is chilling, and it cuts to the heart of 
the issue about what many Republicans really think about contraception.
  So every time Republicans try to say no one is coming for your birth 
control, well, what about every Republican pushing for fetal 
personhood? Seriously. Let's say Republicans succeed in making fetal 
personhood the law of the land. I mean, they have already succeeded at 
overturning Roe. So if Republicans enact fetal personhood, what happens 
to all of the women with IUDs? Make no mistake, that isn't simply some 
provocative hypothetical. If Republicans actually pass the Life at 
Conception Act, this is a question millions of women will have to 
grapple with.
  Now, I don't expect an answer from Republicans, and I don't expect 
every Republican to be as forthcoming as their witness yesterday when 
it comes to where they stand on the right to birth control, but we are 
putting every single Senator on the record today when we vote on the 
Right to Contraception Act.
  This bill is as exactly straightforward and as common sense as it 
sounds. It simply codifies Americans' right to birth control into law. 
That is it. And you don't have to take my word for it; read it. It is 
11 pages.
  To me, this is not just a messaging bill; it is a meaningful way to 
protect a really fundamental right. But it is absolutely right that how 
each of us votes will send a message. So what message do my Republican 
colleagues want to send to the American people? What message do we want 
to send to our constituents: that we support their right to birth 
control--that we support access to IUDs, to Plan B--or that we are OK 
with taking that right away and letting politicians make medical 
decisions for women in this country?
  I know where I stand--with the overwhelming majority of people who 
support that right. Soon, we will know exactly where every Republican 
Senator stands as well.
  Whatever happens with this vote, Democrats are going to keep pushing 
in full force to hold Republicans accountable for their extreme 
policies and the harm they are causing. We will work to restore 
abortion rights in this country and to protect women's reproductive 
rights across the board.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I am here today with the same concern 
that we heard from my colleagues--that this country is failing women in 
New Hampshire and across the country when it comes to protecting our 
fundamental freedoms--fundamental freedoms like the right to 
contraception, which we thought was safe just a few short years ago.
  From the beginning, the right to full access to contraception was 
hard fought. Since that right was first recognized by the Supreme Court 
in Griswold v. Connecticut nearly 60 years ago to the Affordable Care 
Act's expansion of contraceptive coverage in 2010 requiring insurance 
companies to pay for it, there have been incremental yet vital steps 
forward for women to determine our own reproductive futures. It put us 
on a path to making sure our daughters and granddaughters had more 
fundamental rights, not fewer. But as with so many things, this 
progress has been met with resistance.
  In the year since the Affordable Care Act, attacks on contraception 
have increased at both the State and Federal levels.

[[Page S3975]]

  Like many Americans--like those of us here today--I was very alarmed 
when Justice Thomas wrote in his concurring opinion in the Supreme 
Court's Dobbs ruling that the Court should ``reconsider'' its ruling in 
Griswold v. Connecticut--should reconsider women's rights to access to 
contraception. That is my editorial analysis of what Justice Thomas was 
saying.
  Then, of course, just last month, the former President, Donald Trump, 
implied that States should be allowed to decide access to 
contraception, potentially setting a dangerous precedent that would 
harm millions of women and families who rely on contraception. And we 
heard Senator Murray talk so eloquently about how the laws are being 
interpreted to raise concerns about access to contraception.
  And as Senator Schatz said so well, we have heard people suggest that 
our concern about access to contraceptives is really a scare tactic. 
But for all of us who worked for years trying to protect Roe v. Wade 
and the right for women to make our own healthcare decisions, we heard 
that same argument for decades on the Roe decision: The Supreme Court 
is never going to overturn that; we have already heard the Justices say 
that is settled law. Well, we saw what happened in the Dobbs decision.
  These threats against women are felt acutely in my home State of New 
Hampshire, where our critical family planning providers can't make ends 
meet because elected officials continue to block Federal and State 
funding vital to ensuring that Granite Staters have access to 
reproductive care.
  That care doesn't just encompass contraceptive services--though that 
is critically important--but it also includes basic reproductive 
education. It includes things like breast cancer screening and sexually 
transmitted disease screenings and treatment.
  By throwing up roadblock after roadblock, MAGA Republicans are 
showing that they don't really care about women's health or our 
personal freedoms. They are taking us backward when women want and 
deserve to go forward.
  These efforts follow a concerning pattern--that women's rights are 
negotiable; that they can easily be taken away; and that women's lives 
and our freedoms to decide our own futures are not valued.
  So to address the women and families who are on the frontlines of 
this partisan onslaught, let me just say that I understand the anxiety, 
the fear, and the hopelessness that comes from watching your rights be 
stripped away.
  To Zoe, who is a recent University of New Hampshire graduate--she 
wrote so powerfully about the positive experience she had with a family 
planning provider in New Hampshire, saying:

       Without access to birth control decisions about my future 
     would always have an element of uncertainty lingering.

  But because Zoe had access to a family planning provider, she was 
empowered to make her own decisions, to have control over her own 
future.
  To the women in New Hampshire who have written me--to say, for 
example: I'm worried about which rights would be taken away, or: I feel 
that women don't have equal rights, and: How did it come to this?--to 
the women not ready to start a family, to those whose families are just 
the right size, and to all the young women, like my granddaughters, who 
have fewer freedoms now than their mothers did at their age, I say to 
you: I hear you, and I feel that pain.
  As we vote today, history is watching us. We can't sit back and watch 
while reproductive freedoms backslide because access to contraception 
is a fundamental right, and no one--not a sitting Supreme Court 
Justice, not a Governor, not a Member of Congress--should be allowed to 
decide whether or not a woman chooses to use contraception and 
determine her own future. That highly important and deeply personal 
decision belongs to the woman and to the woman and her family--to the 
woman alone.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. PETERS. Madam President, we are living through a new era in a 
fight for reproductive freedom.
  This month marks 2 years since the extreme conservative majority on 
the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. This decision, which was 
enabled by Donald Trump and my Republican colleagues, has been an 
absolute disaster for our country.
  Republican lawmakers have stripped abortion access from millions of 
women. They have made clear that they won't stop until they get a 
national abortion ban. This is all part of an extreme agenda that will 
go even further--a mission to take away basic freedoms for women all 
across our country.
  We have to step up and protect reproductive health now. Contraception 
could be the next frontier in that fight.
  Republican Governors in Virginia and Nevada have vetoed bills to 
protect access to birth control. The Arizona legislature has blocked 
similar legislation. That is why I am proud to be a cosponsor of the 
Right to Contraception Act.
  This legislation is very simple. It guarantees every single American 
the right to access contraception and ensures that healthcare 
professionals can provide it without interference from extreme 
Republican politicians.
  Birth control is a pillar of reproductive health care. It is safe. It 
is effective. It gives millions of women control over when they want to 
start a family. And some contraceptives have an array of other health 
benefits, like helping to prevent certain kinds of cancer.
  Birth control also helps expand economic opportunity for women all 
across our country. Access to birth control is linked to better 
educational outcomes, more professional opportunities, and higher 
lifetime earnings.
  For all those reasons, access to contraception is an issue with 
overwhelming bipartisan support. More than 90 percent--90 percent--of 
Americans believe that everyone should be able to access the 
contraceptives they need.
  We must take every measure to prevent dangerous bans on birth 
control, especially because barriers and access disproportionately 
impact our most vulnerable communities. Black, Hispanic, low-income, 
and uninsured women are more likely to have issues accessing and 
affording contraception. Every person should be able to receive this 
essential care and have the freedom to plan for their future however 
they see fit.
  I call on my colleagues to vote in favor of the Right to 
Contraception Act. Republicans are bent on taking away reproductive 
freedoms for women everywhere, and we need to stop them from turning 
back the clock.
  We should also not stop at contraception. We must work to expand 
access to all sexual and reproductive health services. That means 
abortion, contraception, gender-affirming care, maternal healthcare, 
and so much more.
  Starting a family is one of the most important--and, clearly, one of 
the most personal--decisions that a person can make. And politicians 
should be absolutely nowhere near it.
  Let's guarantee women have the reproductive freedom that they 
deserve.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I rise at a very serious moment in our 
history. I want to thank Senator Hirono, Senator Markey, all of our 
colleagues, for joining together in really--not only speaking out but 
standing up for women across the country, for families, for everyone 
who wants the capacity to have their own freedom to make their own 
healthcare decision, their own personal decisions about their lives. 
That is really what this is all about.
  Let me first back up in the big picture because we know for 50 years, 
Roe v. Wade protected our freedom to make our own healthcare decisions. 
Then 2 years ago, because of a new Supreme Court majority appointed by 
Donald Trump--gone.
  I was a college student when Roe v. Wade was decided. I can't believe 
that women today--that my daughter; that my granddaughter, as she grows 
up--may have fewer freedoms than I did all those years ago.
  Today, 21 States now have near-total bans or severe restrictions on 
abortions. That means one out of three women now live under extreme and 
dangerous abortion bans.
  And we know who to blame because he said it. Donald Trump--MAGA 
Republicans--he said himself: I was proudly the person responsible for 
ending Roe, proud to put the lives of millions of women at risk, proud 
to take this freedom away.

[[Page S3976]]

  And if you think Donald Trump and Republicans are going to stop 
there, then you haven't been listening to them.
  First, their ultimate goal is to have a nationwide ban. Under a 
nationwide ban, all of Michigan's hard work--our election to protect 
our freedoms in the Michigan Constitution that we passed 2 years ago--
will be gone. None of that will matter, and we can't let that happen.
  But as we are here talking about today, Republicans have indicated 
they want to go even further in their assault on reproductive freedoms. 
Rightwing judges and Republicans across the country are attacking 
access to contraception.
  I never thought, Madam President, in my wildest dreams that I would 
be standing on the floor of the U.S. Senate talking about efforts to 
take away my right, your right, any woman's right, any person's right 
to make their own decision on when to have a family, on contraception. 
But right now, in States like Virginia--not very far from here--Nevada, 
and Arizona, Republicans are working to block protections for birth 
control right now.
  Justice Clarence Thomas, as has been quoted on this floor today, has 
called on the Supreme Court to reconsider the constitutional freedom to 
access contraception in America.
  Let's be clear: Birth control is a key part of a woman's healthcare. 
It is important for reproductive decisions, for treating medical 
conditions, for decreasing the risk of cancer, and, most importantly, 
it is a personal decision.
  This is a personal decision. Americans don't want politicians--
anybody here--or judges and their doctor's office in their medicine 
cabinet or in their bedroom.
  They want to make their own decisions. They have every right, in 
America, to make their own decisions about their healthcare, their 
life, and their future. That is as basic as it gets in America. We talk 
about the freedoms that we have in this country, and that is pretty 
basic: to make your own decisions on your own healthcare.
  Well, we are here on the floor as Democrats to say: We couldn't agree 
more. We could not agree more. This is absolutely fundamental. And that 
is why we need to pass the Right to Contraception Act now. Everybody on 
this floor is going to have a chance to either vote to do that or not.
  This critical legislation will guarantee the right--the freedom--to 
contraceptives, a right that was decided by the Supreme Court nearly 60 
years ago. We can't let Republicans turn back the clock. We need to 
defend Americans' freedom to make decisions about our own healthcare, 
our own lives, our own futures. Protecting contraceptives is an 
essential part of that. It is a basic part of that for us, and that is 
why we are here. Reproductive freedom is something we should all 
embrace as a basic American freedom.
  I hope colleagues will join us in moving forward on this essential 
legislation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise in support of the Right to 
Contraception Act.
  I would like to thank Senators Markey, Hirono, Murray, and Duckworth 
for their leadership on this bill. Senator Hirono is here. Senator 
Cantwell is also with us, who has been such a strong supporter of this 
bill.
  We are at a pivotal moment for women's rights in this country. This 
month marks 2 years since the Supreme Court issued the ruling shredding 
half a century of precedent protecting a woman's right to make her own 
healthcare decisions. This ruling was against the wishes of somewhere 
between 70 and 80 percent of Americans, who believe that a woman's most 
personal decisions about her healthcare should be made not by 
politicians but by a woman, her doctor, her family.
  In the wake of this disastrous ruling, women have been at the mercy 
of a patchwork of State laws that are creating chaos when it comes to 
accessing reproductive health care. Since the Dobbs decision came out, 
extremist judges have attempted to ban mifepristone, undermine IVF, and 
even criminalize doctors. Legislatures have introduced bills to 
criminalize doctors for simply doing their jobs. Twenty-one States have 
fully or partially banned abortion, and the number of U.S. patients 
traveling to other States for abortion care has skyrocketed to one in 
five.
  This is unacceptable. My daughter should not have fewer rights than 
her mother or her grandmother.
  So what is next? Well, what we must do is to codify Roe v. Wade into 
law, but as we work to do that, we have something else we have to watch 
out for, and that is that some Republican political leaders have called 
for restrictions even on contraception.
  In his concurring opinion in the Dobbs case, Justice Thomas actually 
laid out a roadmap for how the Court could overturn the right to 
contraception. He said that the Supreme Court ``should reconsider'' 
whether the Constitution protects the right to access contraception.
  This Friday marks 59 years--59 years--since the Supreme Court 
recognized the right to access contraception, but the current Court has 
made it clear that it won't hesitate to overturn decades of precedent 
in other contexts.
  This threat is not hypothetical. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, 
nearly 20 million American women live in what we call contraceptive 
deserts, where they struggle to access birth control. I am thinking 
about Delilah, who lives in northern Texas. There are no health centers 
in her county and the dozen surrounding counties. To talk to a doctor 
about birth control, she has to travel more than 400 miles, nearly 7 
hours. There is Maya, who lives in Arizona. The wait times at her 
nearby health centers are so long that she needs to request an 
appointment at least 3 weeks in advance. Then there is Leah, who lives 
in Ohio. She has access to a clinic but has to take time off work to go 
to appointments--something she can't always afford to do.
  State-level efforts, including recent Governor vetoes of right-to-
contraception bills, are making the problem worse. We saw this in 
Nevada and just 2 weeks ago in Virginia. In Wisconsin, we saw the 
Republican-controlled State legislature refuse to hold a vote on the 
Right to Contraception Act. We have seen Missouri and other State 
legislatures attempt to cut off public funding for widely used 
contraceptives like IUDs and Plan B.
  While 14 States, including my home State of Minnesota, protect the 
right to contraception, that is simply not enough. We cannot settle for 
a situation where women in Minnesota have more rights than women in 
Missouri.
  With so many extremists racing to the State capitols to see who can 
be the first to take women's rights away, it is clear that we must 
explicitly protect the right to contraception. The American people 
agree. Recent data shows that more than 90 percent of Americans support 
access to contraception. That is why we are calling on our colleagues 
to pass the Right to Contraception Act.

  This legislation is hardly radical. It simply ensures that women will 
be in the driver's seat when it comes to their health by codifying the 
right to contraception outlined by the Supreme Court nearly six decades 
ago--the same right Justice Thomas and others want to strip away. 
Specifically, this bill safeguards a patient's ability to seek 
contraception and a healthcare provider's ability to provide these 
critical services. Because the right to contraception cannot be an 
empty promise, it gives the Justice Department, patients, and doctors 
the power to make clear that no one can infringe upon the right to 
contraception.
  I will note that 2 years ago, the House passed this legislation on a 
bipartisan basis. It is time for this body to do the same.
  For the last 2 years, women in this country have faced an 
unacceptably uncertain future. These attacks on reproductive freedoms--
on freedom for healthcare--have no place in America. Women are not 
second-class citizens.
  The bill we are considering today represents a better path forward, a 
better future. The question that we must all answer is, Will we take 
that path or are we going to turn this over to this Supreme Court which 
has created a patchwork of laws that have allowed some States to try to 
criminalize doctors; that have allowed some States, through their 
courts, to ban mifepristone, a drug that has been found safe in dozens 
and dozens and dozens of countries? We have to decide.

[[Page S3977]]

  So we have an opportunity today to make clear where we stand as a 
nation. I call on my colleagues to do what the American people 
overwhelmingly support and pass this bill into law.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I join my colleagues out here on the 
floor. I thank the Senator from Minnesota for her unbelievable advocacy 
on behalf of women and healthcare and for her constant leadership on 
this issue, and I am glad to be joined by my colleague from Hawaii, who 
also has been such a great leader--both of them serving on the 
Judiciary Committee, the frontline of making sure that women's rights 
are protected. I thank them so much.
  Most Americans alive probably don't remember a time when they didn't 
have the freedom to use birth control. We hear a lot about family 
planning. Well, what is family planning if you don't have access to 
contraception? Most people don't remember a time when they didn't have 
the freedom to decide whether and when to have children.
  In Idaho recently, they have banned abortion. Now several of the 
State's colleges have banned their staff from even speaking to students 
about contraception. Imagine keeping college students in the dark about 
something as basic as a healthcare service.
  We heard from an OB/GYN doctor from Idaho who moved away from their 
State after their reproductive care law, like so many other physicians 
have done in other States, and one thing really stuck out about what 
she told us. She said that anti-choice activists really stood out to 
her because they told her that ``they're not done.''
  After Texas banned abortion, the State's Governor said women should 
just use emergency contraception to avoid getting pregnant, but Texas 
had already stopped covering emergency contraception under their State-
funded family planning programs.
  Madam President, when they say they are not done, I believe them.
  In Iowa, the abortion ban is blocked for now, but the State attorney 
general temporarily paused a public funding program that helped pay for 
emergency contraception for rape victims, and 362 reimbursements have 
been delayed.
  Madam President, I believe them when they say they are not done.
  In Arizona, where abortion rights have been in legal chaos due to a 
practically Civil War-era ban, Republicans there unanimously blocked a 
vote to protect the right to access contraception.
  In Virginia, people still have abortion rights, but the Governor 
chose to veto a bill to protect and expand birth control access just 
hours before the deadline.
  So, yes, they are not done.
  In Florida, where a near-total abortion ban just went into effect, 
lawmakers granted so-called crisis pregnancy centers a fivefold funding 
increase. These centers pretend to be real clinics while spreading 
misinformation about reproductive care, including contraception.
  Across the country, anti-choice organizations are pushing false 
claims about contraception, fighting access to contraception, and 
basically even saying that birth control should be illegal.
  So they are not done, and that is why we are here today.
  The Supreme Court took away our constitutional right to abortion, and 
according to one Justice, they said they are not done.
  So the point is that a woman cannot even be sure she can depend on 
the miracle of IVF to start a family.
  America needs to know where people in this institution today stand on 
the reproductive rights of women, on family planning, on giving us 
access to contraception.
  Today in my State, the State of Washington, abortion and 
contraception are protected by law, but this bill is important to my 
State because healthcare laws in nearby States affect our delivery-of-
care system.
  The University of Washington just this week released a study that 
showed that our State's abortion providers have seen a 50-percent 
increase in out-of-State patients since the Dobbs decision. Now, if you 
think about it, if you have seen a 50-percent increase in out-of-State 
patients, it means you are seeing more patients. What is the effect of 
seeing more patients? The study also found that all patients are 
getting abortions about 1 week later than they were before the Dobbs 
decision, which is dangerous on the healthcare delivery side.
  Washington saw the largest increase in patients from those States who 
had banned abortion, States like Texas and Idaho, Louisiana and 
Florida. Now imagine if they carry this further and ban contraception 
too.
  Our State doesn't want to be impacted in the delivery of care. It 
wants people to be able to see a physician when they need to see a 
physician, get the care when they need to get the care.
  If we want to keep the right to contraception, if we want to keep the 
freedom to choose when people want to start their families, if we want 
to keep OB/GYNs in our national network system, we need to codify this 
right here today. We have to protect this right so the Supreme Court 
can't take it away.
  I am glad to be a cosponsor of the Right to Contraception Act. I 
certainly look forward to voting on this legislation and urge my 
colleagues to do the same.
  It seems not that long ago when our country recognized, in 
Connecticut v. Griswold, that we had this right. When we have been 
talking about it for the last many years now, really, as so many people 
came before Congress to be a nominee for a judicial branch, they have 
all said: This is all settled law--oh, yeah--Connecticut v. Griswold.
  We always ask that question. Why? Because Griswold v. Connecticut was 
a decision based on contraception that gave you this right to privacy.

  Now, all of a sudden, not only was that ignored by the Supreme 
Court--it was amazing when you think about the time before that. People 
didn't have access to contraception. It became such a day-to-day part 
of our lives. If it is such a day-to-day part of our lives and the 
delivery of healthcare, then we should have the courage to say so and 
vote this way today. If people don't, it is because they aren't done, 
and they don't want to protect this. And I guarantee you, families 
deserve the privacy of knowing when and how they want to start their 
families.
  I ask my colleagues to support this legislation and support our 
healthcare system that has been working very well with the support of 
contraception.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, I want to thank all my colleagues who 
came to the floor of the Senate yesterday and today with the fierce 
urgency of now to urge passage of the Right to Contraception Act.
  This month marks almost 2 years since the Supreme Court's disastrous 
Dobbs decision, resulting in women in half the country having fewer 
rights than women in the other half of the country. What kind of a 
country is that?
  I thought this was a country founded on equal protection and equal 
rights--not according to this Supreme Court.
  Dobbs wreaked chaos in its own right, overturning Roe v. Wade and 
eliminating a constitutional right that I had for almost 50 years. But 
it also foretold more chaos to come. In his concurrence in the Dobbs 
case, Justice Thomas specifically called for ``reconsidering'' Griswold 
v. Connecticut, the 1965 case protecting the right to contraception. 
When a Supreme Court Justice says he wants to ``reconsider'' a case, 
that is a signal that he wants to overturn it. It is bad enough that 
they overturned Roe v. Wade's 50 years of a constitutional protection. 
Now they want to overturn Griswold. That is a 59-year precedent 
protecting our right to contraception.
  We have what I have described as an out-of-control Supreme Court 
majority that has no problem overturning decades here, there, and just 
about everywhere based on their ideological agenda.
  Justice Alito, meanwhile, respects his wife's right to make her own 
decisions, but he has no problem telling millions of women--the rest of 
us--what to do with our bodies. I mean, just think about it. Do you see 
the irony of it? Do you see the hypocrisy of it?
  And just this year, both of those Justices--I am talking about 
Justices

[[Page S3978]]

Alito and Thomas--suggested that the Comstock Act, a Civil War-era 
law--Civil War, I mean how far back are they going to go--could be used 
to restrict access to reproductive care nationwide. This crusade 
against reproductive rights by these Justices and the rest of their 
cohorts, I have to say, really comports with the Republicans' obsession 
with power and control over women's bodies.
  As they work toward a national abortion ban, Republicans and their 
allies on the Supreme Court have given us every reason to believe 
contraception is also on their hit list. Republican States across the 
country have already blocked or rolled back access to contraception.
  You have heard from my colleagues. Virginia's Governor vetoed a 
right-to-contraception bill just last month. Earlier this year, Arizona 
Republicans blocked a similar bill in their State. Oklahoma's 
Legislature advanced a bill that could ban access to IUDs and emergency 
contraception.
  The list goes on. They are very specific about the kinds of 
contraceptives that we should have access to.
  So this whole desire that I really can't figure out on the part of 
the MAGA Republicans and their supporters on the Supreme Court really 
comes down to power and control over women's bodies. That is what it 
is.
  Madam President, contraception is healthcare--essential healthcare--
that millions of people across the country rely on, not only to decide 
if and when to become pregnant but also to treat medical conditions, 
regulate hormone levels, and more. And that is why the vast majority of 
Americans support the right to contraception.
  The current assault on women's rights is horrifying, but it is not 
new. Our country has a long and dark history of exerting control over 
women. For much of our country's history, women were denied a 
fundamental right to vote. They didn't have a right to own property. 
They couldn't open bank accounts. The list goes on. Some women of color 
faced forced sterilization and coercive contraception testing. That is 
the dark history in our country of controlling women and our bodies.
  These attacks on women and our freedoms were wrong then, and you 
would think, by now, we would have learned a thing or two to protect 
all of our rights--but not this MAGA-majority Supreme Court. The 
attacks we are facing today are a reality.
  The right to control one's own body, free from government 
interference, is as fundamental as it gets. That is why it is critical 
that the Senate pass the Right to Contraception Act.
  Our bill is simple. It would protect an individual's right to access 
contraception and a provider's right to provide it. It wouldn't force 
anyone to take or provide contraception if they don't want to, but it 
would ensure that those who do can, without the government getting in 
their way. It would ensure people can access the healthcare they need, 
from IUDs and birth control pills to emergency contraception, like Plan 
B, and more, especially for women of color, women with disabilities, 
LGBTQ people, and those from rural communities who have difficulty 
accessing this kind of care. They already face increased barriers to 
accessing contraception.

  This bill shouldn't be controversial, but Republicans have become so 
obsessed with controlling women's bodies that they refuse to protect 
even the most basic freedoms.
  To my Republican colleagues, I ask: What is with this obsession with 
power and control over women's bodies?
  Democrats know that women, not politicians, should be the ones making 
decisions about our bodies and our healthcare, and we are doing 
everything we can to protect and strengthen the reproductive rights of 
all Americans, including the right to contraception.
  We are going to vote on this bill today, and I urge all of my 
colleagues, with the fierce urgency of now, to stop taking away ever 
more rights of women in this country--women and others in this 
country--and vote for this bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Madam President, I am thrilled to be joining 
Senators Markey, Hirono, Duckworth, and all of my colleagues today in 
support of the Right to Contraception Act.
  This month marks the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision 
overturning Roe v. Wade, which upended a woman's right to choose and 
paved the way for former President Trump and anti-choice politicians to 
further erode women's rights in this country.
  We knew these anti-choice Republicans wouldn't stop attacking 
reproductive rights after Roe fell. We knew they would keep trying to 
diminish our freedom to make decisions about our own bodies, including 
the right to attain and use birth control.
  You don't have to take my word for it. Look at what is happening in 
States across the country, as you heard from my colleagues. Even though 
the right to birth control has strong bipartisan support, anti-choice 
lawmakers are passing bills left and right to chip away at access to 
contraception.
  And listen to the leader of the Republican Party. Just 2 weeks ago, 
former President Trump said he was open to restricting women's right to 
contraception if he wins another term. For the anti-choice right, this 
is about controlling women.
  On the other hand, my fellow pro-choice colleagues and I believe in 
reproductive freedom. We are working every day to protect access to 
birth control and other basic forms of women's healthcare, and we are 
making real progress here.
  Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved Opill, the 
first-ever over-the-counter birth control pill. Once it was approved, 
Senators Murray, Hirono, and I, along with others, pushed the 
manufacturers to make sure that Opill is widely accessible without a 
prescription. It is now available online and in stores across the 
country.
  We are not alone in this fight. The Biden-Harris administration has 
worked hard to expand access to contraception and make it more 
affordable for American women. We have made important progress, and we 
have seen that the anti-choice movement won't stop coming after our 
reproductive rights. That is why we have to pass the Right to 
Contraception Act and protect access to birth control in every State 
across our country.
  We know that, despite dishonest efforts from anti-choice politicians 
to label it as dangerous, birth control is an essential part of 
healthcare. And for me, contraception was about my healthcare, as it is 
for millions of women in America.
  I will tell you what, to my female colleagues here, if a man were 
able to give birth, we would have universal healthcare by now. But we 
don't because they don't feel it; they don't see it. So they disregard 
it, and they disregard the impact to women and the essential care that 
we need when it comes to our bodily health.
  That is why this legislation is so important. It would protect the 
fundamental right to access essential healthcare. It would empower 
women in Nevada and across the country to make decisions about their 
own lives on their own terms. And it would make it clear to anti-choice 
candidates, like Donald Trump and his anti-choice followers, that 
messing with the right to contraception is not on the table.
  My colleagues here and I will never stop fighting to reinstate the 
rights anti-choice politicians have stripped away from millions of 
women, and we will fiercely--fiercely--defend the rights women still 
have, including access to birth control. That is why we are here today.
  I get asked quite often: What are you doing about it?
  This is it. There is a role for Congress to play, and we are doing 
it. But there is a role for everyone who cares about this issue--no 
matter your station in life--to do something about it, to advocate, to 
be a part of a solution or policy change in your State or in your local 
community. There is a role for everybody and a responsibility. This is 
about women's rights. This is about women's freedoms in this country, 
and that is worth fighting for.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The junior Senator from Iowa.

[[Page S3979]]

  

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