Could the right to birth control be decided by next week’s election? We’re not trying to scare you, but the answer is yes.
This is one reason why women are expected to turn out to the polls in record numbers, which some analysts see as a positive for Democrats as reproductive rights appear to be driving many people to vote.
To many, the phrase reproductive rights boils down to a woman’s right to an abortion. However, there is potentially a lot more on the line for women, including the right to birth control.
Women are understandably nervous about the future of birth control, and some are looking at IUDs for the first time for long-term protection, while the politics around reproductive rights plays out.
Republican legislators say there is “no way” birth control availability would change and argue that anyone saying anything different is just using a a scare tactic to get more women voters to choose Democratic candidates.
But can women trust the same Republican lawmakers who also said Roe v. Wade was not in jeopardy only to see the conservative court overturn the precedent?
Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch said at their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade was a legitimate precedent before using their power to send the issue back to the states to decide something Donald Trump takes credit for.
Justice Clarence Thomas, a Republican and appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, is on the record suggesting the conservative Court “should reconsider” other legal precedent including Griswold v. Connecticut, which protects the right to use contraceptives without government restriction.
If the Supreme Court overturns the right to birth control, who do you want as president? Who do you want in Congress? Who do you want in the General Assembly?
Who do you trust to step in and protect your right to contraception? Hint: It isn’t Republicans.
In the uproar after Roe, legislators scrambled to ensure women have the legal right to voluntary contraception through a bill introduced in Congress. Senate Republicans blocked the passage with 195 Republicans voting against it, including Virginia Republicans Ben Cline, Bob Good, Morgan Griffith and Rob Wittman.
At the state level, Virginia legislators passed a Right to Contraception Act, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed it.
In stark contrast to the Project 2025 agenda and Donald Trump, the Biden-Harris administration has proposed that birth control access not only be available to women but also be available over the counter at no cost.
A national poll shows that 80 percent of voters want to protect access to contraception. The poll, conducted by Americans for Contraception, also shows that 72 percent of Republican voters have a favorable view of birth control.
“This election, Americans have a clear choice: give Trump and Vance unlimited power over our bodies and futures by tearing away access to Plan B and birth control and raising health care costs, or elect Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to defend our freedoms and fight to make access to affordable reproductive care a reality for all,” said Emilia Rowland, DNC National Press Secretary.
On the record: Justices on Roe v. Wade
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Chris Graham
