A bill to safeguard access to contraceptives faces a U.S. Senate vote on Wednesday, part of a push by congressional Democrats to focus public attention on reproductive rights ahead of the November election but with little chance of passage.
The Right to Contraception Act, which would protect birth control access nationwide, is unlikely to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to pass in the chamber, where Democrats hold a narrow 51-49 majority.
The fight over reproductive rights is a flashpoint in U.S. politics, especially since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to end the constitutional right to abortion access.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last month came under fire after comments that political rivals said suggested he would consider banning birth control, leading him to respond publicly that he would not support such a move.
"I would hope that protecting access to birth control would be the definition of an easy, uncontroversial decision here in the Senate, but the vote will tell all when we gavel in tomorrow," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday.
U.S. House of Representatives Democrats said on Tuesday they would attempt a legislative maneuver to force a vote on the same bill the Senate is taking up, though they faced slim chance of success in the Republican-controlled chamber.
Here are the top political news stories for today.
I’m a not a single issue voter. But this single issue, bodily autonomy, is the most important issue to me and the majority of women i know.
@SolidHouseDemocrat2yrs2Y
I don't think it's even a single issue. It's so many issues- the right to live, the right to not undergo unnecessary physical or mental injury, the economic impact, the social impact it has on society, the idea of privacy for medical procedures. So many aspects of our society depend on having abortion and birth control available
@Freedom762yrs2Y
This is unconstitutional, due to the Tenth Amendment. The powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for States.
The Republicans insist that women may not have abortions and they favor a ban on contraception.The only solution remaining to limit procreation-insist that men have vasectomies!
@CentristHaileyForward2yrs2Y
There are a lot of reasons why I vote Democrat and why I will vote for President Biden again. Yet, this insistent, egregious, and downright amoral ambition of the Republicans to take away a woman's very human rights over her own essence has become a single-issue voting entity for me. What on earth is wrong with this Trumpian Party on the wrong side of the "Right? What is wrong with a large segment of that religion into which I was born? Now contraception? To my President, to my Vice-President, to our Democratic Congress people, keep on speaking out loudly and clearly that it is against our human rights as women to rob from us our very identity and who we are. We are Dignity personified. We are Equal personified. And to put it bluntly: Stop messing with us, Republicans. Never, never underestimate our just power.
@Tr3atySadieVeteran2yrs2Y
This is a solid plan. Keep the GOP on the defensive here. A large swath of male voters also rely on women’s ability to choose their own method of birth control. To be frank, most of the contraceptives women use (i.e. the pill or IUD ) makes the experience better for both partners. All voters need to understand the potential threat here.
I can’t believe my 16 year old daughter and I are witnessing any of this. Women, please vote in the interest of your daughters and granddaughters. Because none of these men have any idea what they’re doing.
Help me out here. Republicans opposed abortion, which is an unfortunate remedy for an unwanted or unviable pregnancy. Ok, let's prevent unwanted pregnancies. Contraception would seem to fill the bill. What's wrong with these people? Are they determined to keep women barefoot and pregnant?
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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