Senate Republicans have blocked a invoice supplied by their Democratic colleagues geared toward codifying authorized protections for contraception entry.
The invoice, the Proper to Contraception Act, was put to a vote on Wednesday after languishing in committee for months. Conservative lawmakers known as the transfer a political stunt in anticipation of the 2024 basic election.
Majority Chief Chuck Schumer stated {that a} vote for the invoice ought to be “simple.”
“If you believe all women deserve to have contraception then you should vote for this bill. That’s all there is to it,” he stated forward of the vote.
The ultimate vote fell alongside occasion traces, with 51 senators voting for it and 39 in opposition to. The invoice wanted 60 votes to maneuver ahead.
The Bay State’s junior senator and the invoice’s sponsor, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, stated that his Republican counterparts aren’t being sincere on the difficulty.
“At this time, we requested each Senator whether or not or not they assist the precise to contraception. Republicans resoundingly stated no, whereas Democrats confirmed unequivocally that they are going to battle for Individuals’ well being, freedom, and equality. Republicans will mislead, they usually’ll disguise behind excuses. When given the chance to guard the precise to contraception, they selected as an alternative to pursue the MAGA anti-freedom, anti-choice agenda,” Markey stated in a press release.
The senate majority chief concurred.
“Thanks to Donald Trump and the right-wing MAGA Supreme Court, Americans now have to question whether or not they’ll have access to something as basic and widely supported as birth control. We could have eliminated that worry in one fell swoop by passing the Right to Contraception Act, but Senate Republicans showed the American people where they truly stand,” Schumer stated in a press release after the vote.
The invoice’s failure within the Senate on Wednesday calls into query any likelihood the same invoice supplied within the Republican managed Home might need.
On Tuesday, Home Whip Katherine Clark filed a Discharge Petition to convey that invoice to the ground and out of committee, however hasn’t discovered the assist from conservative members of Congress she would want to maneuver the invoice ahead.
