BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is leading a group of Democratic chief executives in urging Congress to approve a bill that would protect access to contraception.
The Right to Contraception Act, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., would guarantee the legal right for individuals to get and use contraception and for health care providers to provide contraception, information, referrals and services related to contraception.
Democrats are leaning into efforts to protect access to birth control as part of their election year push on reproductive rights, warning that Republicans in Congress and former President Donald Trump will seek to set new nationwide restrictions on contraception if Trump is elected in November.
On Monday, Healey joined Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in calling on lawmakers to approve the plan, and blasting Republicans for opposing the proposed changes.
“This legislation would safeguard the fundamental right to contraception,” Healey said in remarks during a live streamed briefing on Monday, sponsored by groups pushing for the bill’s passage.
“It’s so important, especially at this time where reproductive rights as we’ve seen are under assault across this country.”
Healey cited comments by Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, suggesting that he is in favor of national restrictions on contraception.
“I think all we have to do is look at his track record as president to know what he will do if he’s elected again,” Healey said.
Trump said in a recent TV interview that he would leave contraception policy to the states but supports efforts to limit access. He later quickly backtracked on social media, saying he has “never and never will advocate imposing restrictions on birth control or other contraceptives.”
But Democrats see the issue of birth control and abortion access as a wedge that could help incumbent President Joe Biden win his reelection bid in November and possibly help them take over control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced over the weekend that the Democratic-controlled chamber will be taking up the bill during Wednesday’s session.
“There’s no question in the American people’s minds that Republicans have brought our country to this point,” Schumer said in a statement.
“And as Donald Trump reminded us recently, he is ‘proudly the person responsible’ for the annihilation of Roe v. Wade and the grotesque reversal of women’s personal freedoms.”
Republicans and even many anti-abortion groups say they are neutral on birth control and argue there’s no access problem. GOP lawmakers have accused Democrats of using the issue for political gain.
The proposal set to be taken up by the Senate would prohibit the federal government and any state from administering or enforcing any law, rule or regulation to prohibit or restrict the sale or use of contraception.
It would also allow the U.S. Department of Justice, health care providers and individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception to go to court to enforce those rights.
While the measure could pass with Democrats holding a slim majority in the Senate, it faces an uncertain path in the GOP controlled House of Representatives.
Polls have consistently shown that there is broad bipartisan support for birth control. A 2023 Gallup poll looking at the values and beliefs of Americans found that 88% of them believed birth control was morally acceptable.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.