VIDEO: Senator Peters Delivers Remarks on Senate Floor in Support of Legislation Protecting Access to Contraception

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters spoke on the Senate floor in support of the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would guarantee the right to access contraceptives. This legislation, which Peters cosponsored, would prohibit government from restricting the use of – and health care providers’ ability to prescribe – contraception. The Right to Contraception Act was introduced in response to continued efforts across the U.S. to limit access to reproductive health care, including efforts to ban some or all forms of contraception despite overwhelming support among Americans. All but two Senate Republicans present voted against the legislation. Peters’ remarks come shortly before the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

“Birth control is a pillar of reproductive health care. It’s safe, it’s effective, it gives millions of women control over when they want to start a family,” Peters said.

“Every person should be able to receive this essential health care, and have the freedom to plan for their future however they see fit,” Peters continued. “Starting a family is one of the most important, and clearly one of the most personal, decisions that a person can make. Politicians should be absolutely nowhere near it. Let’s guarantee women the reproductive freedom that they deserve.”

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Peters has been a strong advocate for protecting access to essential care and the right of all Americans to make health care decisions privately with their doctors and family. Peters spoke on the Senate floor in February to urge his colleagues to support the Access to Family Building Act, legislation Peters cosponsored that would protect every American’s right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, as well as other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that families depend on to start a family. Last year, Peters joined his colleagues in introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023, legislation seeking to restore the right to comprehensive health care for millions of Americans following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which repealed Roe v. Wade. In 2020, Peters was the first U.S. Senator to publicly share his family’s personal abortion story. 

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