3 MN Republicans Vote Against 'Right To Contraception' Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — All three of Minnesota's current Republican members in the House of Representatives voted against the federal 'Right to Contraception' Act Thursday. Minnesota's four Democrats supported the measure.

The act aims to "Protect a person’s ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception."

The bill passed the House 228-195, and the vote was mostly split along party lines. The measure is less likely to pass the Senate.

Here's how Minnesota's representatives voted:

Rep. Angie Craig — YEA
Rep. Tom Emmer — NAY
Rep. Michelle Fischbach — NAY
Rep. Betty McCollum — YEA
Rep. Ilhan Omar — YEA
Rep. Dean Phillips — YEA
Rep. Pete Stauber — NAY

Eight Republicans from other states, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, supported the bill.

Much like the "Respect for Marriage" act, House Democrats said the birth control measure was necessary after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade earlier this summer.

The June decision in the case that reversed Roe — Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization — was one of the few times in history the Supreme Court has invalidated an earlier decision declaring a constitutional right.

The ruling sparked fears among Democrats that other landmark cases, including the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, could fall next.

In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that because the Constitution's Due Process Clause doesn't guarantee the right to an abortion, it doesn't guarantee other substantive rights, either, such as a right to birth control.

Read the text of the "Right to Contraception" act here.