WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark (MA-5) voted to pass the Right to Contraception Act to codify the right to access birth control into federal law. This vote is a direct response to Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization stating that the Court “should reconsider” its past rulings codifying rights to contraception access.

“The choice to use birth control should be yours and yours alone. But the Republican party is determined to take us back in time and take away our rights,” said Assistant Speaker Clark. “House Democrats won’t stand for it. We are voting to enshrine the right to contraception into federal law. We will continue to fight to ensure that every person who needs health care — including birth control and abortion — can access it and afford it.”

The Right to Contraception Act would:

• Create a statutory right for people to obtain and use contraceptives and engage in contraception;
• Establish a corresponding right for health care providers to provide contraceptives and information related to contraception;
• 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.

To see footage of Assistant Speaker Clark speaking on the House Floor about the Right to Contraception Act, click HERE.

This bill is endorsed by 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, Urge: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Jewish Women International, National Council of Jewish Women.

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