Birth control access advocacy group launches ad campaign ahead of Senate vote

The advocacy group Americans for Contraception is launching a new ad campaign that highlights Republican opposition to expanded birth control access and pushes senators to vote for the Right to Contraception Act. 

According to an announcement from the group on Wednesday, the first wave of the campaign features two ads running in the District of Columbia market between now and the Senate’s vote on the Right to Contraception Act, slated for the first week of June. More than $5 million in ads will follow after the vote in battleground states across the country. 

The ads note that 195 House Republicans voted against the right to contraception when House Democrats passed their version of the legislation in 2022. 

They mention that Republican politicians have blocked or vetoed bills protecting birth control in at least 12 states, and that 13 states have introduced fetal personhood bills aimed at banning abortion and certain types of contraception. 

Democrats are leaning into protecting birth control as part of their election year push on reproductive rights, looking to emphasize Republican efforts opposing protections many voters say they support.  

Former President Trump earlier this month sparked an outcry from Democrats and the Biden campaign when he indicated in a television interview he would leave contraception policy to the states but was supportive of efforts to limit access, promising an “interesting” policy plan “very shortly.” 

Trump quickly backtracked on social media, saying, “I have never and never will advocate imposing restrictions on birth control or other contraceptives.” 

The Senate vote will likely be blocked, but Democrats want to get Republicans on the record on contraception, especially as the GOP struggles with how to message its stance on reproductive rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.  

Republicans blocked the same legislation last year, arguing it was written to protect abortion drugs rather than contraceptives. 

Most Republicans argue birth control isn’t at risk, and the people opposed to it are in a small minority. They say bills to protect access solve problems that don’t exist and are attempts to score political points.