Chris Smith to Female Veterans: Your Body, My Choice.

Again and again, Chris Smith shows us that opposing reproductive rights is his highest priority.

For example, it was Smith’s anti-reproductive rights crusade that prevented him from supporting the American Rescue Plan, which included stimulus payments, aid to state and local governments, money for schools, money for small business and restaurants, and the child tax credit that will lift 89,000 NJ kids out of poverty and cut child poverty in half nationwide.

But Smith’s vote against the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, a bill endorsed by multiple veterans organizations, is a new low.

Under the Affordable Care Act, contraceptive coverage must be offered at no cost. The same is true under TRICARE, the health insurance plan for active duty service members and their families. However, veterans who get their health coverage through the VA may still be charged copays.The Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act fixes this, and makes the contraceptive coverage offered by the VA identical to that found in the Affordable Care Act. The bill includes no new drugs or procedures beyond what the VA, TRICARE, and the ACA already offer. It simply removes the cost. No more, no less.

26 Republicans voted for the law, but Smith did not. He made no statements on the bill, but Republicans who opposed it claimed two of the prescription contraceptives offered would lead to taxpayer funded abortions. This is not true, and Congressman Mike Bost, Republican of Illinois, pleaded with his colleagues to see reality:

“I have really weighed this out and prayed this out and sought the language and read the language. My life has been a pro-life life. I am not changing those positions, and this bill doesn’t change that position either. I have taken the counsel of doctors who are familiar with the mechanics of birth control that are being afforded here. They are not abortion.”

Apparently, this was not enough for Smith. But what makes matters worse is that Smith has voted to preserve these same benefits and contraceptive options in the past.

Smith despised the ACA for years, and voted to repeal or weaken the law multiple times. He claimed it was a “crippling blow to both healthcare in America and our economy,” that it would erode medicare, and lead to government rationed care. Additionally, the ACA’s contraceptive mandate includes the exact perscriptions proposed in the bill for veterans - drugs which Smith refers to as “early abortion drugs.” Considering his rhetoric and his record, one would have expected Smith to jump at the chance to finally dismantle the ACA. But in 2017, under pressure from his constituents, Smith voted to preserve the law.

This was the right thing to do, but if Smith could accept all of the no-cost contraceptive prescriptions of the ACA during a high-profile vote in 2017, why would he not allow our female veterans the exact same coverage and choices now?

Perhaps Smith’s 2017 vote, with national attention on the ACA repeal, was an act of self-preservation. Or, perhaps he wasn’t being honest while criticizing the law.
Regardless, that Smith inexplicably refuses to offer no-cost contraception for our veterans is despicable. As Congressman Bost said:

“Women seeking birth control in the private sector do not pay copays. Women seeking birth control on Active Duty do not pay copays. This bill will make it so women seeking birth control at VA do not pay copays either. That is all this bill does. Once again, that is all this bill does.”

With his vote against the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, Smith has sent a clear message that even though a veteran put her body on the line to defend us, she’s not entitled to the same rights as her peers when deciding what to do with it.