State Reps. Morgan Cephas (D-Philadelphia), La’Tasha D. Mayes (D-Allegheny), and Gina H. Curry (D-Delaware) pose in front of a 20-foot-tall inflatable intrauterine device named “Freeda Womb” by Americans for Contraception. The display was part of an event to draw attention to a bill that would protect access to contraception that is pending in the state Senate. (Capital-Star photo by Peter Hall)
Democratic lawmakers called on leaders in the GOP-controlled state Senate to protect access to contraception in the wake of the Supreme Court that overturned the right to abortion and could erode other personal freedoms.
The state House in July passed House Bill 1140 sponsored by state Rep. Leanne Krueger (D-Delaware) that would protect access to contraception under Pennsylvania law, which currently has no such guarantee. The bill is awaiting action in the state Senate.
In a news conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday, Krueger said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade made clear the current threat to reproductive rights across the nation.
In a separate concurring opinion Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that he would do away with the legal doctrine of substantive due process, which limits government interference in fundamental rights. Thomas went a step further, saying that he would reverse the court’s decision Griswold v. Connecticut, which overturned laws restricting access to contraceptives.
“With our current U.S. Supreme Court signaling that access to contraceptives are in jeopardy across this country and with extremist politicians introducing bills at the federal level to threaten our reproductive health care, we must take action in Pennsylvania now to protect the rights that we have,” Krueger said.
The event was held in cooperation with Americans for Contraception, a national advocacy group that brought a 20-foot-tall inflatable intrauterine device, representing a highly effective type of long-term birth control, named Freeda Womb that was displayed in the Capitol’s east wing.
Krueger noted that a significant percentage of people who use contraceptives in the United States use them to prevent pregnancy in addition to managing other health conditions such as painful and severe menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and to reduce the risk of gynecological disorders.
“When we sign the Contraceptive Access Act into law, we will put a stake in the ground and say, ‘here in Pennsylvania, you and your health care are protected,’” Krueger said.
House Health Committee Chairperson Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) said he has helped battle legislation that sought to restrict or eliminate reproductive rights, but in the last two years, Democrats in the House have held the majority and passed a bill to protect and expand access to contraception.
“We all know that the right to plan your family is the key to your ability to protect your own health, to manage your own future,” Frankel said. “Clearly, if these rights should be protected by common sense, a bill made expanding access to contraception would easily become law, but no, despite bipartisan support in the House, House Bill 1140 can’t even get a committee vote in the Pennsylvania Senate.”
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) did not respond to an email seeking comment. House Bill 1140 was approved by a bipartisan 133-69 vote in the House on June 25. It was referred to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on July 12 and has not been put up for a vote.
Sen. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery) said birth control is under attack on multiple fronts, from the Supreme Court’s willingness to overturn well-established rulings to conservative attacks on the American Care Act, which requires health insurance companies to cover contraception in most cases.
In Pennsylvania, just before losing control of the state House in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans in the legislature tried to set up a referendum to change the state Constitution to eliminate abortion and reproductive rights, said Collett, who with Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D-Montgomery) cosponsored a companion bill to Krueger’s
“One thing is clear, Republicans talk a big game on liberty and freedom, but they do everything in their power to take liberty and freedom away from you. The stakes are still high, and we cannot afford to be caught off guard. We will not go back,” Collett said.