House approves measure to protect right to contraception

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed legislation that would codify the federal right to contraception, although the measure faces slim odds in the Senate because of GOP concerns about the broadness of the bill.

Supporters say the bill, which passed largely along party lines, would enshrine the right to access contraception and the right of providers to prescribe and provide information about contraception into federal law. If it’s enacted, violators could be penalized for impeding access to birth control including oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, long-acting reversible contraceptives and other birth control methods.

The bill passed 228-195, with eight Republicans joining 220 Democrats. Two Republicans voted present.

Democrats who are worried about the potential implications of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June have pushed for weekly votes like this one to send the political message that they are exploring what options they can accomplish to protect reproductive rights.

“We want to put the Republicans on record — but we’d like to put them on record in support of contraception. We want this legislation to pass in a bipartisan way,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a Wednesday news conference in support of the bill.

Democratic Sens. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois introduced the measure’s Senate counterpart on Tuesday, though the razorthin margins in the Senate make passage more difficult.

House Democrats announced plans to hold votes to codify the right to contraception and to same-sex marriage during a hearing last week on the judicial implications of overturning the longstanding federal right to abortion under Roe v. Wade, fast-tracking both the contraception bill and the marriage equality bill to the House Rules Committee this week without a markup or legislative hearing. The marriage bill passed 267-157 on Tuesday.

Contraception, which refers to preventing ovulation or embryo fertilization or implantation, is distinct from abortion, which ends an existing pregnancy, and Kaiser Family Foundation survey data published last year found that 87% of women use contraception at some point in their lifetime.

OnMessage, a Republican political consulting firm, released polling Tuesday that found that 84% of likely Republican primary voters support access to contraception. That poll, conducted July 5-7, found that Republican support drops when looking at abortion, with 53.5% saying they oppose medication abortion drugs.

But some House Republicans who opposed the contraception bill sponsored by Rep. Kathy Manning, DN.C., said they worried the legislation was too broad and could limit protections under a religious liberty law known as the Religious Restoration Freedom Act of 1993. They also worried that the bill could violate other federal and state moral protection laws.

Other Republicans, meanwhile, feared the bill would increase funds for abortion providers and be interpreted to cover the right to medication abortion drugs.