The vote was 228-195, with eight Republicans joining every Democrat in favor. All 195 “no” votes came from Republicans.
The Republican members who voted for it were Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Maria Salazar of of Florida and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio.
The bill, called the Contraceptive Right Act, now goes to the Senate, where it is unlikely to attract the support of 10 Republicans needed for passage. The measure would create a statutory right for individuals to access birth control and protect a range of contraceptive methods, as well as ensure that health care providers have the right to provide contraceptive services to patients.
“We are not prepared to defend this critical issue,” Rep. Kathy Manning, a North Carolina Democrat who sponsored the measure, said during a press conference to promote the bill on Wednesday. “We play aggressively.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans of trying to turn back the clock on American women by limiting access to birth control, but said “we’re not going back.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters ahead of a scheduled House vote to write the right to use contraceptives into law, a response to the conservative Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 21, 2022 J. Scott Applewhite / AP
“This is their moment. Clarence Thomas has made it clear, right down to the basics of privacy that they want to delete,” Pelosi said of Republicans. “With this passage, Democrats will make it clear that we will never give up the fight against the right’s outrageous assault on freedom.”
The White House supported the passage of the plan to protect the right to contraception and said in a statement that access to birth control is “essential to ensuring that all people are in control of their personal decisions about their own health, their lives and families”.
Along with a pair of bills aimed at ensuring access to abortion that passed the House last week and a measure protecting same-sex and interracial marriages, the proposal that includes access to contraceptive services is the Democratic response in the Supreme Court decision last month. to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.
Five conservative justices, including three appointed by former President Donald Trump, voted to overturn the nearly 50-year-old precedent, raising fears that other rights recognized by the court, including same-sex marriage and contraception, could face similar challenges. fate.
While Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority that “nothing in this opinion should be understood to call into question non-abortion precedents,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a separate concurrence urging his colleagues to reconsider landmark decisions which recognized rights regarding contraception and same-sex relationships.
No other justices joined Thomas, but his opinion, combined with rulings this term by the court’s conservative majority on the environment, religion, guns and abortion, spurred Democrats to push back legislatively.
“This rallying call by Justice Thomas and the actions of extremist Republican lawmakers is about one thing: control,” said Manning, D-North Carolina. “These extremists are working to take away women’s rights, take away our right to decide when to have children, take away our right to control our lives and our bodies, and we won’t let that happen.”
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill called the Respect for Marriage Act that would protect marriage equality by repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and providing federal protections for same-sex and interracial couples. While the Supreme Court struck down parts of the Clinton-era law in two rulings dealing with same-sex marriage, it remained on the books.
The marriage equality legislation passed with the support of all House Democrats and 47 Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 3 House GOP, and Tom Emmer of Minnesota, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee .
Like the measure protecting access to contraceptive services, it is unclear whether the marriage equality bill can win the Republican support needed to overcome a Senate showdown. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to say Tuesday whether he plans to support the Respect for Marriage Act, but a growing number of Republicans have signaled plans to vote for it. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is co-sponsoring the Senate version of the measure, his office said, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he “will probably vote” to enshrine same-sex marriage in federal law. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also said they favor protecting marriage equality.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday he wants to bring the bill to the floor and spoke with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, about gauging Republican support.
