Today, all 12 Democratic women Senators sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner calling on him to rescind his pledge to push forward with efforts to restrict women’s access to contraception after the Blunt amendment was defeated in the Senate. The Senator’s letter comes in the wake of Speaker Boehner’s public pledge to continue efforts to limit birth control access in the House, where a similar version of the Blunt amendment has over 200 co-sponsors. Speaker Boehner’s promise to continue fighting also comes despite a national outcry from women, the overwhelming majority of whom have used contraception at some point in their lifetime.

“We are asking that you abandon the promise you have made to bring legislation to the House floor similar to the Blunt amendment, which was defeated in the Senate last week, and which would turn the clock back on women’s access to health care,” the Senators wrote. “At a time when 99% of sexually active women in the US have used birth control, its role in the lives of women and their families is hard to understate…. That is why the recent Republican attacks on birth control access have been so eye-opening for American women. For most American women, the battle over contraception was settled a half century ago.”

The letter was sent by US Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

The full text of the Senator’s letter follows (PDF):

Speaker Boehner,

We write to express our concerns over your recent statements pledging to continue efforts to put employers between American women and their access to birth control. Specifically, we are asking that you abandon the promise you have made to bring legislation to the House floor similar to the Blunt amendment, which was defeated in the Senate last week, and which would turn the clock back on women’s access to health care. Furthermore, we ask that you listen to the overwhelming outcry from American women who support access to contraception and drop all politically-charged efforts to deny them coverage.

Pages: 1 · 2

More Articles

• Labor Day 2017: The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) Was Once One of the Largest in the US
• Janet Yellen: Financial Stability a Decade After the Onset of the Crisis
• The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: Compare Proposals to Replace The Affordable Care Act
• A C-Span Q&A With David McCullough: The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For
• Dianne Feinstein's Statement on Recent Statements by President Donald J. Trump
• A Sweet Valentine's Day Greeting
• Stream Protection Rule ... Passed and Overturned in a Few Weeks .... Sad
• Why the ‘Skills Gap’ Doesn’t Explain Slow Hiring
• Congressional Actions: Sexual Harassment & Gender Discrimination at Agriculture Department; Considering the 21st Cent.Cures Act
• Election 2016: What Do the Models Say About Who Will Win in November?