Bill Text (PDF) | Watch: Senator Markey’s Remarks
Washington (February 5, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee’s Subcommittee on Primary Health & Retirement Security, along with Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), today reintroduced the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would create a statutory right to obtain and use contraceptives and ensure health care providers have a right to provide contraceptives, contraception, and share information about this essential care. The legislation is led by Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) in the House.
In July 2022, the Right to Contraception Act passed the House (220-195). That same month, Republicans blocked an attempt in the U.S. Senate to pass the bill by unanimous consent. They did the same in June 2023. In June 2024, Republicans blocked Senate Democrats’ attempt to pass the bill on the floor.
“The right to contraception is essential for people’s freedom to make decisions about their lives and their health without politicians getting in the way,” said Senator Markey. “Contraception is essential not only for sexual and reproductive health, but also to treat a wide array of medical conditions and decrease the risk of certain cancers. The Right to Contraception Act will protect the right for people to get contraception and for providers to give it in the face of President Trump and Republicans’ relentless attacks on reproductive justice.”
“I am proud to introduce the Right to Contraception Act in the 119th Congress in response to the real threats to accessing birth control in Texas and across our country,” said Congresswoman Fletcher. “With 200 original co-sponsors in the House, the Right to Contraception Act reflects the position of the vast majority of Americans who rely on contraception of all kinds to plan their families and their lives. Efforts to restrict access to birth control are not about reflecting the will of the people, they are about taking away the freedom, dignity, and autonomy of all Americans. As a representative from a state intent on taking our reproductive rights away, I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress and do everything I can to protect and restore the health, privacy, dignity, and autonomy of women and families across our country. We will not give up.”
“Contraception is essential health care that millions of people across the country rely on,” said Senator Hirono. “The Right to Contraception Act simply protects patients’ right to access contraception, as well as providers’ right to provide it. I’m proud to join Senator Markey and Representative Fletcher in reintroducing this important bill. The right to control your own body, free from government interference, is as fundamental as it gets, and we’ll continue doing everything we can to protect the reproductive rights of all Americans.”
“Ever since the Supreme Court threw out Roe v. Wade, we’ve seen extreme MAGA Republicans across the country work to roll back health care and tear reproductive freedom away from Americans—which has cruelly threatened birth control, plan B, IUDs and other forms of contraception,” said Senator Duckworth. “I refuse to let my daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than I had. As MAGA Republicans continue their anti-choice, anti-science crusade, it is as important as ever that the Senate acts to codify the right to contraception into law so that every American in every state—regardless of their skin color, zip code or income—has equal access to basic, necessary health care. I’m proud to join Senators Markey and Hirono in reintroducing our Right to Contraception Act to do just that.”
“Nobody wants Donald Trump rifling through their medicine cabinet,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05). “Democrats’ Right to Contraception Act is as clear-cut as it gets. This is about the health, freedom, and dignity. Republicans once again have a chance to show us where they stand: on the side of health care bans or on the side of the American people.”
“Affordable, accessible contraception is one of the building blocks for people to be able to make ends meet and get what they want out of life. And now that the Supreme Court has eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, Republicans at every level of government are targeting contraception access – including by threatening to gut Medicaid, the country’s biggest payer of reproductive health care coverage like contraception. We will keep fighting to pass the Right to Contraception Act to keep the government out of our business and out of our exam rooms,” said Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51).
“It feels like every day we wake up to someone trying to take away another fundamental right. We have an extremist president, a submissive Republican Congress, and a radical Supreme Court that wants to undo decades of progress. That means it is up to us to protect the rights we once believed were secure—including access to contraception,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05). “I am co-leading the Right to Contraception Act to protect the millions of people who use contraception every day to safeguard their health, the health of others, or manage medical conditions. We must continue to protect the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions.”
“Access to birth control should be a given, but with extreme Republicans chipping away at women’s reproductive rights by the day, we have no choice but to enshrine this protection into law,” said Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-02). “I will always stand up for our fundamental rights and freedoms, and that’s why I’m proud to be co-leading the Right to Contraception Act.”
“Everyone, no matter their ZIP code, should be able to get the birth control they need, when they need it. At a time when reproductive freedom is under attack across the country, this bill will help people make their own health care decisions and get birth control without government interference. We’re grateful to Sens. Markey, Hirono, and Duckworth and Reps. Fletcher, Jacobs, Craig, and Williams for reintroducing the Right to Contraception Act and for their continued leadership in the fight to make sexual and reproductive health care more accessible. Now is the time to safeguard birth control for our freedom and well-being,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
“Republicans promised on the campaign trail that they wanted to protect contraception, but there isn’t a single Congressional Republican who has signed on to the Right to Contraception Act. Actions speak louder than words and refusing to back this commonsense bill is a refusal to listen to what voters overwhelmingly support across party lines. No matter what they say, Republicans never had any intention of protecting the fundamental right to contraception. Thank you to Senators Markey, Duckworth, and Hirono and Representatives Fletcher, Craig, Williams, and Jacobs for introducing this essential legislation, and to all of our champions in Congress for reaffirming their commitment to protecting reproductive freedom,” said Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All.
“The Right to Contraception Act is a vital safeguard for the fundamental freedom to make personal health decisions. As a physician, I see daily how contraception empowers patients to protect their health, plan their families, and shape their futures. Rep. Fletcher’s leadership in advancing this legislation is critical to securing this essential right for all Americans,” said Dr. Dara Kass, Emergency Medicine Physician and Board Member for Americans for Contraception.
“As an OB-GYN, I’ve seen firsthand that the right to birth control is essential for the well-being of my patients, their families and their communities. For nearly six decades, birth control has allowed millions of people to manage health conditions, plan if and when to have children and achieve their career and educational aspirations. Not surprisingly, birth control is incredibly popular and those who attack it are spreading misinformation and disinformation in order to justify their attacks. If policymakers truly mean what they say regarding support for contraception, there is no clearer way to meaningfully demonstrate that support than by co-sponsoring and passing the Right to Contraception Act,” said Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH, CEO of Power to Decide.
“Threats to contraceptive access are on the rise—misinformation, distortion of science, funding cuts, restrictions on young peoples’ access, and more. Plus, the network of family planning providers who deliver reproductive health care to thousands is facing unprecedented attacks. Contraception helps people who want to have a baby have well-timed, healthier pregnancies, and more agency in their relationships, education, work life, and finances. That’s why Americans overwhelmingly support contraceptive access. Congress must meet the moment and enshrine the right to contraception into law,” said Clare Coleman, President and CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.
“The Right to Contraception Act is needed now more than ever as an essential safeguard to protect birth control rights and access. President Trump and extremist members of Congress, state legislators, and judges have all made it clear — they are intent on going after contraception. In just the last two weeks, President Trump unraveled efforts to expand access to birth control, and critical guidance on prescribing contraception has vanished from federal websites. And we are seeing more targeted efforts against birth control in state legislatures, the courts, and on social media. This legislation is critical to push back against these attacks and ensure everyone maintains the right to access the birth control they need, when they need it,” said Gretchen Borchelt, Vice President for Reproductive Rights and Health at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC).
The Right to Contraception Act is endorsed by Power to Decide, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Women's Law Center, Guttmacher Institute, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), Population Connection Action Fund, Americans for Contraception, Advocates for Youth, National Partnership for Women & Families, American Public Health Association, American Humanist Association, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health , Center for Biological Diversity, Ibis Reproductive Health, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Upstream USA, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Health Law Program, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Reproductive Health Access Project, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Upstream USA, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, Center for American Progress, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, All* Above All, and Center for Reproductive Rights.
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