ICYMI: Republicans Block Birth Control Bill, Cite ACA Despite Repeal Efforts [American Journal News]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

American Journal News: Republicans block birth control bill, cite ACA despite repeal efforts
By Jesse Valentine
June 26, 2024 

• On June 5, Senate Republicans blocked a bill to protect birth control access, claiming the bill was unnecessary because of a federal law requiring insurance companies to provide no-cost contraception coverage. That law is a part of the Affordable Care Act, which many of these same Republicans have tried to repeal.

• The Right to Contraception Act would have codified birth control access into federal law. The bill needed 60 votes to pass. All but two Republicans voted against it. Democrats unanimously supported the legislation.

• Ahead of the June 5 vote, Florida Sen. Rick Scott put out a statement dismissing the legislation as a political stunt. A handful of other Republicans signed onto the statement, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana.

• In December 2016, when Scott was serving as Governor of Florida, he urged staffers of the incoming Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

• “I want to have a repeal as quickly as we can get it done,” Scott told reporters. “Day one would be nice for me.”

• Daines’ official website includes similar language.

• “I support full repeal of Obamacare…” the page states.

• Daines […] celebrated the Supreme Court decision gutting Roe v. Wade.

• Cruz has practically branded himself as an anti-Obamacare crusader. In 2013, he spoke on the Senate floor for 21 hours and forced a government shutdown in a failed gambit to kill the Affordable Care Act. In 2017, Cruz authored portions of the American Health Care Act, a bill that would have eliminated Obamacare.

• On Nov. 25, when former President Donald Trump suggested he will repeal Obamacare if he returns to the White House, Cruz was one of the first prominent Republicans to endorse that effort.

• Each of these lawmakers were asked if they would still oppose the Right to Contraception Act if the Affordable Care Act provisions did not exist. No responses were provided at the time of publication.

• The Congressional Budget Office estimates that at least 23 million Americans would lose their insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed.

See also: GOPonAbortion.com; DSCC: THE HEADLINES SAY IT ALL: “Senate Republicans block bill to protect access to contraception”; DSCC: VOTE ALERT: Cruz, Scott Vote Against Protecting Contraception Access; DSCC: DSCC Statement on Anniversary of Supreme Court Ruling Protecting the Right to Access Contraceptives.

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