(Washington) Republican senators on Wednesday blocked a law guaranteeing the right to contraception, which Democrats proposed in order to draw attention to the threats weighing, according to them, on abortion and reproductive rights a few months before the election presidential election in the United States.
This law would have guaranteed Americans the right to obtain and use condoms, IUDs and other methods of contraception, and health care providers the right to prescribe them and provide advice without interference from authorities.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that one in five adult Americans fear that contraception is “a right under threat that is at risk of being taken away” after severe limitations on abortion rights put in place in Conservative states for two years.
“In a perfect world, a law guaranteeing a right to contraception without interference from authorities should not be necessary, but given the erosion of reproductive rights in America today, it is absolutely vital,” said the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
PHOTO AMANDA ANDRADE-RHOADES, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
In a preliminary vote, the bill failed to receive the support of at least 60 senators (out of 100), preventing it from being considered. The Democrats have a very narrow majority in the Senate.
The latter have particularly insisted on the question of reproductive rights since the Supreme Court, dominated by conservative judges since the presidency of Donald Trump, abolished the federal guarantee of the right to abortion in June 2022.
“Fears around the right to contraception are one of the many scandalous consequences” of this Court decision, assured Chuck Schumer.
Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville said Wednesday that “contraception was available everywhere in the United States and that there were no plans to change that,” accusing Democrats of using this issue for purposes of electoral purposes.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement that the blocking of Republican elected officials was “unacceptable” and promised to fight to improve access to “affordable, high-quality contraception”.