As promised from a discussion we had yesterday, here are the results from the House of Representatives vote on Right to Contraception Act. The Act will codify the right to birth control amid fears of the GQP seeking to take them away and after Uncle Clarence stating the Extreme Court should overturn Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark case that prohibited states from banning contraceptives.
It should come as NO shock that 195 Republicans voted against the bill in a final vote of 228 to 195. In other words, only eight Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the measure, and two Republicans voted present. The eight GQPers include: Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), John Katko (N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.) and Fred Upton (Mich.). Reps. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) voted present. Six Republicans did not vote.
Who knows the fate of the bill in the Senate or if the Senate will even schedule a vote on it. Apparently, the Senate has some bill in the works but the fate of it is unknown.
The Right to Contraception Act, introduced by Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), codifies the right to birth control into federal law by creating a statutory right for people to obtain and use contraceptives, as well as codifying protections for physicians who provide contraceptives. The bill protects a range of contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration and defines contraception as any “action taken to prevent pregnancy, including the use of contraceptives or fertility-awareness based methods, and sterilization procedures.”
The bill authorizes the Department of Justice to take civil action against any federal or state official who attempts to restrict birth control access, and it allows those affected to also take civil action against anyone who attempts to enforce any restriction on contraception.
“It is clear that their attempts to roll back the clock on contraception is again another plank on their extreme agenda for American women,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a Wednesday news conference before the vote.
HuffPo:
