Lankford Pushes Back on Democrats’ Attempts to Play Political Games with Contraception

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Rick Scott (R-FL), along with their colleagues, issued a joint statement calling out Senate Democrats for pushing stunt legislation, the so-called Right to Contraception Act, which misleads the public on the accessibility of contraception and threatens the religious freedoms and parental rights of millions of Americans:

“There is no threat to access to contraception, which is legal in every state and required by law to be offered at no cost by health insurers, and it’s disgusting that Democrats are fearmongering on this important issue to score cheap political points. This bill infringes on the parental rights and religious liberties of some Americans and lets the federal government force religious institutions and schools, even public elementary schools, to offer contraception like condoms to little kids. It’s just another way for Democrats to use activist attorneys and our courts to advance their radical agenda and that is why we oppose this bill.”

This bill was first passed by Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat-controlled House in 2022 and now Senate Democrats tried to revive it in a desperate attempt to deceive the American people. 

Lankford and Scott were joined on their statement by Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Budd (R-NC), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Katie Britt (R-AL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Steve Daines (R-MT).

Background

Following the vote, Lankford called for real support of moms and babies instead of show votes by Democrats. He led the fight to protect Oklahoma’s health care funding from the Biden Administration’s pro-abortion agenda. He sounded the alarm on a rule that targets funding for pregnancy centers and the Administration’s push to impose an abortion mandate on employers. 

Lankford challenged attempts to use taxpayer dollars intended for COVID relief on abortions or to pay for abortions for minors at the border. He introduced the Women’s Public Health and Safety Act to exclude abortion providers from Medicaid funds and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act to establish a permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion.

Ahead of a decision from the Supreme Court on the deregulation of chemical abortions, Lankford introduced the Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act to fight efforts by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to loosen restrictions on the use of chemical abortion drugs. Lankford also put pressure on pharmacies to stop distributing DIY abortion drugs, and called out the Department of Justice for failing to enforce long-standing laws prohibiting the mailing of abortion drugs. He recently published an op-ed detailing the dangers of chemical abortions, as well as an episode of The Breakdown with James Lankford podcast on the same topic.

Lankford also introduced the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to protect infants who survived an abortion attempt. 

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