Representative Angie Craig Introduces Federal Legislation to Protect Access to Contraception

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig helped introduce legislation to defend women's ability to access contraception and to protect health care providers' ability to provide contraceptives. The Right to Contraception Act would codify the legal right for women to access devices and medication designed to prevent pregnancy – such as birth control pills, IUDs and condoms – and grant the Attorney General the ability to take civil action against any state or government official that implements or enforces legislation preventing access to contraceptives.

Craig introduced the bill alongside her colleagues Kathy Manning (NC-06), Nikema Williams (GA-05) and Sara Jacobs (CA-53).

"Access to contraception is a fundamental right that advances women's health and economic opportunity. Despite that, contraceptives are under fire from activist judges and partisan politicians across the United States who wish to further roll back the freedoms enjoyed by American women," said Representative Craig. "Especially in the wake of the Supreme Court's calamitous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, I will not stand idly by while widely-supported, long-established rights are ripped away from millions of American citizens. I am proud to introduce this critical bill to defend women's access to contraception and prevent government overreach into the private, personal decisions of American families."

In a concurring opinion released last month following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the Supreme Court should reconsider past rulings guaranteeing rights to contraception access – as well as same-sex marriage and other previously-recognized constitutional rights. In 2021 alone, at last four states tried to ban access to some or all contraceptives – while other states have targeted contraception by restricting Medicaid funding for providers of birth control.

The Right to Contraception Act has been endorsed by the National Women's Law Center, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, Power to Decide, National Partnership for Women & Families, Reproductive Health Access Project, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Catholics for Choice, National Organization for Women, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Women's Health Network and Urge: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity.

Specifically, the Right to Contraception Act would:

• Create a statutory right for people to obtain and use contraceptives
• Establish a corresponding right for health care providers to provide contraceptives and information related to contraception;
• Allow the Department of Justice, as well as providers and individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception access made unlawful under the legislation, to go to court to enforce these rights; and
• Protect a range of contraceptive methods, devices, and medications used to prevent pregnancy, including but not limited to oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, and intrauterine devices.

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