Washington — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the Senate will consider legislation next month to protect access to contraception reproductive rights take center stage heading into the November elections.
“Now more than ever, contraception is a critical part of protecting women's reproductive freedoms,” Schumer said from the Senate on Wednesday, adding that “Senate Democrats are committed to restoring women's freedoms and will fight to protect access to contraception.”
The New York Democrat said the chamber would consider the legislation, the Right to Contraception Act, in June. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, would codify the right to contraception into federal law.
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Democrats have tried to press Republicans on issues like IVF and contraception abortion after it became a key motivator for voters at the ballot box in the midterm elections.
The House of Representatives in 2022 approved birth control legislation shortly after the Supreme Court rolled back the constitutional right to abortion, raising concerns that contraception could be next. At the time, a small group of Republicans joined the then-Democratic majority to pass the legislation. But it faced headwinds in the Senate.
Even with a stronger Democratic majority in the Senate, the bill is still expected to fall short. But the vote will force Republicans to make the issue public ahead of the election.
The announcement came a day after former President Donald Trump told CBS News Pittsburgh that he was considering whether to support restrictions on contraception, before quickly walking back the comments. He said in a subsequent social media post that he has never advocated restricting contraceptives and never will.
