One month after the Supreme Court struck down the right to an abortion, Democrats who then controlled the House pushed through a bill aimed at ensuring access to contraceptives nationwide. All but eight Republicans opposed it.
Alabama House Democrats filed a bill in the House last week to protect access to birth control.
HB 279, sponsored by House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, would establish the right of individuals to use contraception and allow healthcare providers the right to distribute contraceptives and offer guidance on their usage.
This bill outlines measures for enforcing these rights by allowing the state attorney general, health care providers, and individuals to initiate civil lawsuits related to implementing any laws, regulations, or policies that prevent the distribution and usage of contraceptives.
The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee but has not been heard yet. Rep. Jim Hill, R-Odenville, chair of the committee, could not be reached for comment.
The legislation is unlikely to come to a vote in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Still, it reflects the emergence of reproductive issues in the 2024 election and Democrats’ growing willingness to push on the topic. Daniels, who is running for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, was the first Alabama lawmaker to introduce a bill to address the state’s Supreme Court ruling before introducing a constitutional amendment that he argued is the only way to address the issue.
Daniels said that he doesn’t see IVF treatment as a partisan issue. Still, he does want other states to understand “warning shots” from Republicans, such as when they passed the near-total abortion ban that became law as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, when asked why not address an embryo’s personhood in the legislation, said that he didn’t want to put fellow lawmakers in an uncomfortable position.
A recent survey by Americans for Contraception suggests that 80% of voters from across the political spectrum view access to birth control as being under threat. In comparison, 72% expressed a positive attitude towards birth control.
With Alabama’s near-total abortion ban, access to contraception is a challenge as the state lacks policies making contraception easier. This disproportionality affects uninsured and low-income women, who have limited options for affordable birth control.
Reproductive health organizations in the state have struggled to provide services due to cost barriers. Although some clinics offer reduced-cost services, they face financial strain without access to discounted pharmacy programs.
Robin Marty, executive director of the West Alabama Women’s Center, a former abortion clinic that now provides reproductive health care to low-income individuals, said this is an important bill to ensure that birth control isn’t the next thing that becomes illegal.
Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the IVF ruling from the Supreme Court “has opened up a whole can of worms” and that since Roe v. Wade was overturned, there’s been “a hodgepodge of anti-choice legislation come through that would prohibit certain measures and controls and bodily autonomy.”
“In the meantime, we need to be on the ball and making sure that all these family planning options that are once again very popular with all the people of Alabama stay legal and are not taken away from these families,” Rafferty said.