Most Egregious Examples of Right-Wing Attacks on Contraception
Last Edited March 5, 2024
This document contains a comprehensive collection of the most egregious right-wing attacks on contraception. It covers legislative efforts, dissemination of false information, and attempts to limit or ban access to various forms of contraception like IUDs, emergency contraception, and hormonal birth control.
The document is organized in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent right-wing attacks on contraception and moving backward in time to reveal a widespread and coordinated right-wing campaign to restrict reproductive freedoms and the right to contraception in America.
Below are specific examples of these attacks, starting from the most recent:
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Iowa House Republicans Introduced Legislation That Compared Birth Control to Abortion:
Description: In Iowa, House Republicans introduced multiple amendments that compared birth control to abortion.
Specific quote(s): In one amendment, they even required “pharmacists to ask if the person getting the birth control has some connection to a pimp. One of the pimp amendments requires a person accompanying someone to get birth control to fill out a pimp form and pay a $10 tax.”
Source: [Iowa Starting Line, 2/27/24]
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Arguments Against IUDs in Indiana:
Description: The Republican-controlled state Senate in Indiana raised concerns about IUDs, falsely labeling them as "abortifacients," leading to legislative efforts that could threaten access to this form of birth control.
Specific quote(s): “IUDs without a hormonal component, a copper IUD, allow a woman to conceive, and then the embryo is not allowed to implant in the uterus, ‘thus aborting the fetus.’” - Rep. Cindy Ledbetter
Source: [WTHR, 2/26/24]
3. Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver's Remarks on Hormonal Birth Control:
Description: Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver advocated for potentially banning hormonal birth control, citing health concerns for women. He suggested that if doctors are sworn to "do no harm," lawmakers should consider banning hormonal birth control.
Original Tweet by Elon Musk: "Hormonal birth control 'makes you fat, doubles risk of depression & triples risk of suicide. This is the clear scientific consensus, but very few people seem to know it.'"
Response by State Rep. Josh Schriver: "If doctors are sworn to 'do no harm,' then lawmakers should look into banning hormonal birth control."
Source: [Gander Newsroom, 2/21/24]
4. Oklahoma Lawmakers Introduced Legislation That Could Ban Emergency Contraception:
Description: In February 2024, Oklahoma lawmakers introduced legislation that could ban common forms of birth control, including IUDs.
Quote: “A GOP-sponsored bill in Oklahoma, HB 3216, passed a legislative hurdle on Wednesday when it passed out of committee. HB 3216 would ban emergency contraception in the state and create a state database of people who have had an abortion. ‘If the bill doesn’t get changed with the current wording then IUDs and Plan B could be inaccessible to women,’ said State Rep. Trish Ranson (D).”
Source: [Truthout, 2/16/24]
5. Right-Wing Heritage Foundation Laying out the MAGA Plan Assaulting Reproductive Freedom:
Description: The Heritage Foundation is leading a coalition of Trump allies and extremist groups in a project called Project 2025, the MAGA plan laying out an unprecedented assault on reproductive freedom should Trump win a second term. The plan includes “reimposing restrictions on domestic and international clinics that provide contraception” and targeting Title X family planning programs that provide free and subsidized contraception. The Heritage Foundation also wants to use an 1870s law that defined contraceptives as “obscene” and “illicit” to justify rolling back reproductive rights.
Quote: In 2023, the Heritage Foundation tweeted, “It seems to me that a good place to start would be a feminist movement against the pill, & for... returning the consequentiality to sex.’ Conservatives have to lead the way in restoring sex to its true purpose, & ending recreational sex & senseless use of birth control pills.”
Source: [Politico, 1/29/24; Twitter, Heritage Foundation, 5/27/23]
6. Florida State Rep. David Borrero Introduced a Bill That Could Ban IUDs:
Description: In January 2024, Republican Florida State Representative David Borrero introduced a bill that could ban common forms of birth control, including IUDs.
Quote: “The language banning abortion at ‘fertilization’ would outlaw abortion in cases of non-viable pregnancy, miscarriage, and most notably ectopic pregnancy, which is a highly fatal condition. It is also a stepping stone to banning contraception. Republicans have repeatedly falsely claimed in court, such as in the Hobby Lobby case, that IUD's and other contraception that prevent fertilization are forms of abortion.”
Source: [MSN, 1/11/24]
7. Mississippi State Rep. Joey Fillingane Claimed the Right to Contraception Act was a Way to Allow “Morning-After Abortions”:
Description: In October 2023, Mississippi State Rep. Joey Fillingane spoke out against the Mississippi Right to Contraception Act.
Quote: “I think this is again, a very cynical ploy on behalf of very woke Democrats across the country, and now trying to infiltrate here into Mississippi saying that are very strict law. And they’re looking for exceptions. They’re looking for expansions of how to get around and an end run around if you will, to allow morning-after abortions. And that’s not what the law says.” - Mississippi State Rep. Joey Fillingane
Source: [WLBT, 10/14/23]
8. Kentucky AG and Gubernatorial Candidate Daniel Cameron Called For Restricting Contraception Access:
Description: In 2023, Kentucky gubernatorial candidate and current Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he supported criminal penalties “to perform, to assist with, or to pay for” commonly used forms of contraception like the pill. He also supported legislation that could ban emergency contraception and some IUDs.
Quote: “Earlier this year, Cameron filled out a survey from Northern Kentucky Right To Life that asked if he would “actively support” legislation that would make it a criminal offense “to perform, to assist with, or to pay for an abortion.” In a separate question, the survey defines “abortion” as including the emergency contraceptive Plan B and three other types of birth control: Norplant, Depo Provera, and the pill. (Northern Kentucky Right to Life did not respond to multiple inquiries about the survey.) Cameron answered yes. He answered yes to several other questions as well, ranging from whether he would support amendments to the U.S. and Kentucky constitutions declaring that personhood begins at the point of fertilization (which would effectively outlaw emergency contraception and some IUDs and represents a much more aggressive amendment than the one decisively defeated last year), to whether he would support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.”
Source: [Rolling Stone, 9/16/23]
9. Wisconsin State Rep. Chuck Wichgers' Remarks on Contraception:
Description: Wisconsin State Rep. Chuck Wichgers' Wichgers argued that contraception leads to “infidelity,” a “proliferation of STDs,” and is "unnatural," suggesting that it could lead to government mandates on contraceptives for married couples.
Quote: “It opens up the door to marital infidelity, and it did. The government might force contraceptives upon married couples; that’s happened in other countries.” - Chuck Wichgers.
Source: [Newsweek, 6/22/23]
10. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo Vetoed the Nevada Right to Contraception Act:
Description: In April 2023, Nevada became one of the first states to put forth a bill to protect the right to contraception. It would have protected the right to basic contraception for all Nevadans and ensure healthcare providers can prescribe contraception to anyone who wants it. The bill passed the Nevada Assembly and Senate with bipartisan support, but Governor Lombardo vetoed the bill with no explanation.
Quote: “As a pastor committed to justice and the well-being of my community, I am deeply troubled by Gov. Joe Lombardo’s recent veto of Assembly Bill 383, which would have established the right to contraception in Nevada. [...] Yet, in his veto statement, Lombardo conflated contraception with abortion, a falsehood that flies in the face of the facts and the impassioned floor speech from Gansert in support of the bipartisan bill.”
Source: [Las Vegas Sun, 6/25/23]
11. Iowa AG Brenna Bird Decided the State Would Stop Paying for Emergency Contraception for Rape Victims:
Description: In 2023, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird decided that her office would stop its longstanding practice of paying for emergency contraception for rape victims.
Quote: "The Iowa Attorney General's Office has put on hold its longstanding practice of paying for emergency contraception, and in rare cases abortions, for victims of sexual assault.”
Source: [Des Moines Register, 4/07/23]
12. TN Senator Marsha Blackburn Questions Constitutionality of Birth Control Rights in Landmark 1965 Supreme Court Decision:
Description: Senator Marsha Blackburn criticized a landmark 1965 Supreme Court ruling that legalized access to contraception, labeling it "constitutionally unsound."
Quote: "Constitutionally unsound rulings like Griswold vs. Connecticut… confused Tennesseans and left Congress wondering who gave the court permission to bypass our system of checks and balances," Blackburn said in the video address.
Source: [The Tennessean, 3/21/23]
13. 125 U.S. House Republicans Sponsored Legislation That Could Ban IUDs and IVF:
Description: In January 2023, Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia introduced the Life at Conception Act. The bill is a “gateway for restricting contraception” and could ban common forms of birth control, including IUDs, and IVF. According to NARAL, the legislation goes after our “fundamental, basic, everyday medication like birth control.” The bill is co-sponsored by 124 Republicans, which is more than 57% of all Republicans in the House.
Quote: “Mini Timmaraju, President of NARAL, sees Mooney’s bill as a slippery slope. I think life starts at conception is a line that’s used by extremist right-wing folks to really attack issues like contraception and even fertility treatments like IVF (in vitro fertilization). So, look, we know that that’s not based on science. However, that rhetoric is used to go after a much broader range of reproductive rights and services. So it’s really important that Americans understand what that’s code for. That’s code for going after your fundamental, basic, everyday medication like birth control. It’s code for going after something that we know more and more American women rely on to expand their families and to have children, which is IVF. It’s very dangerous. And we’re going to do everything we can to block any efforts at legislation that tries to do that,’ said Timmaraju.”
Source: [Gray DC, 1/25/23]
14. Texas Judge Ruled That Texas Teens Would Need Parental Consent To Get Birth Control:
Description: In 2022, a Texas judge ruled that Texas teens would need parents’ permission to get birth control at federally funded clinics. Relatedly, Texas has banned coverage of emergency contraceptives from state-funded family planning programming for over a decade.
Quote: Texas teens will now need their parents’ permission to get birth control at federally funded clinics, following a court ruling late last month. These clinics, funded through a program called Title X, provide free, confidential contraception to anyone regardless of age, income or immigration status; before this ruling, Title X was one of the only ways teens in Texas could obtain birth control without parental consent.”
Source: [Texas Tribune, 1/03/23]
15. Virginia Lawmakers Introduced a Personhood Bill That Could Ban IUDs:
Description: In 2022, Virginia legislators introduced bills that could have banned common forms of birth control, including IUDs.
Quote: “Delegate Marie March (R-7 ) has made it her mission to bring the most extreme version of an abortion ban to the Commonwealth. Delegate March’s bill, HB1395, puts the lives of pregnant people at risk and strips them of control over their bodies. This bill also bans access to critical forms of contraception, such as IUDs.” - Virginia Reproductive Equity Alliance
Source: [13 News Now, 12/12/22]
16. Idaho Universities Restricted From Providing Contraception Referrals To Students:
Description: In 2021, Idaho lawmakers passed a law that included a ban on access to emergency contraceptives. Specifically, the law prohibited “health clinics at public schools, including higher education institutions, from counseling or referring for abortion services or dispensing emergency contraception.” This resulted in universities in Idaho telling employees not to tell students how to get emergency contraception, including Plan B, because they could be charged with a felony.
Quote: “Idaho universities are warning staffers not to refer students to abortion providers or tell them how to get emergency contraception because they could be charged with a felony under a new state law. One of the universities is also barring employees from telling students how to get birth control, because of a separate law first written more than 150 years ago that was last updated nearly half a century ago.”
Source: [PBS, 9/27/22]
17. Michigan AG Candidate Matt DePerno Called for Banning Plan B:
Description: In 2022, Michigan Republican Attorney General candidate Matt DePerno declared that Plan B “emergency contraception” should be banned.
Quote: "DePerno said, "You gotta figure out how to ban the pill from the state.” When asked about ideas on how to ban the contraceptive, DePerno said: “But you have to stop it at the border. It would be no different than fentanyl. [...] The state has to ban it, and it should be banned. But it’s just an issue of how do you enforce it; how do you make sure that it stops?”
Source: [Heartland Signal, 9/20/22]
18. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp Open to Banning Contraception:
Description: In 2022, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was caught on audio saying he was open to banning contraception.
Quote: Kemp was asked, "Could you ban Plan B?" Kemp responded, "You could take up pretty much anything."
Source: [Heartland Signal, 9/15/22]
19. 90% of U.S. House Republicans Voted Against the Right to Contraception Act:
Description: In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, 195 House Republicans, more than 90% of Republicans, voted against the Right to Contraception Act.
Quote: HuffPost Headline: “195 House Republicans Voted Against Birth Control Protections.” Rolling Stone Headline: “All But 10 House Republicans Voted Against Ensuring the Right to Contraception.”
Source: [U.S. House Clerk, 7/21/22]
20. National Anti-Abortion Groups Lobbied Against the Right to Contraception Act:
Description: National anti-abortion groups -- like Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), National Right to Life (NRLC), and the Catholic Medical Association -- lobbied against the Right to Contraception Act.
SBA Background & Quotes: SBA refers to the ACA’s contraceptive coverage guarantee as an “abortion drug mandate” and also falsely asserts that “all emergency contraceptives can cause early abortions,” including copper IUDs and the morning-after pill.
NRLC Background & Quotes: NRLC conflates emergency contraception with abortion, stating it opposes “any device or drug that would destroy a life already created at fertilization,” which could include common forms of birth control like IUDs.
Source: [SBA Pro-Life America, 7/20/22]
21. Ohio Lawmakers Introduced a Personhood Bill That Could Ban IUDs:
Description: In 2022, Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill that could have effectively banned common forms of birth control, including IUDs.
Quote: “Click's bill, which is being co-sponsored by seven other lawmakers, could also potentially ban other forms of birth control such as certain intrauterine devices (or IUDs) that interfere with an already fertilized ova.”
Source: [The Columbus Dispatch, 7/11/22]
22. Justice Clarence Thomas Calls for Reconsideration of Contraception Rights:
Description: In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas called for the court to “reconsider” the previous ruling establishing the right to contraception.
Quote: “The Supreme Court ‘should reconsider’ its past rulings codifying rights to contraception access.” "In future cases, we should ‘reconsider’ all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, [that established rights to contraception access].
Source: [Politico, 6/24/22]
23. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Vetoed Funding for Birth Control:
Description: In Florida, Governor DeSantis has repeatedly blocked funding for contraception -- specifically for LARCs (long-acting reversible contraception, or IUDs and the implant) for low-income constituents -- under pressure from conservative Catholic leaders and donors.
Quote: “Among the many line items vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis was $2 million for a birth control program aimed at helping low-income women. The Hormonal Long-acting Reversible Contraception (HLARC) Program was struck from the state budget. The program would have been used to provide contraceptive care to women and girls from low-income areas across Florida. [...] The program also failed to make it into last year's budget. When the line item was in last year's budget, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote a letter to DeSantis asking him to veto it, citing concerns about what the group called ‘abortifacients.’”
Source: [WTSP, 6/07/22]
24. Louisiana State Rep. Danny McCormick Suggested IUDs are an Abortifacient:
Description: In May 2022, Louisiana State Rep. Danny McCormick got into an argument with Rep. Barry Ivey over whether IUDs could be considered abortions.
Quote: When McCormick was told that IUDs are not an abortificient, McCormick said, “Well that is your opinion. I don’t think that is the opinion of others. I don’t know.”
Source: [CNN, 5/13/22]
25. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves Refused to Rule Out Banning Contraception:
Description: In 2022, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception
Quote: “When asked if Mississippi might next target the use of contraceptives such as the Plan B pill or intrauterine devices, Reeves demurred, saying that was not what the state was focused on at this time.’ ‘My view is that the next phase of the pro-life movement is focusing on helping those moms that maybe have an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy,’ Reeves said. ‘And while I’m sure there will be conversations around America regarding [contraceptives], it’s not something that we have spent a lot of time focused on.’”
Source: [Washington Post, 5/08/22]
26. Louisiana Lawmakers Introduced a Personhood Law That Could Restrict the Use of Contraception:
Description: In 2022, Louisiana lawmakers attempted to pass a law that would define life as starting “from the moment of fertilization.”
Quote: According to the Washington Post, that language could "restrict the use of emergency contraception."
Source: [Washington Post, 5/08/22]
27. Montana U.S. Representative Called the Morning After Pill an Abortifacient:
Description: In 2021, Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana called morning-after pills abortifacients on the House floor.
Quote: “Let me be clear, drugs like Plan B and Ella are not contraception; they are abortifacients. These chemical drugs prevent a newly conceived embryo. A human embryo from implanting in the uterus and continuing to develop as a child. Again, that is not contraception. That is abortion.” - Rep. Matt Rosendale
Source: [C-Span, Rep. Matt Rosendale, 6/24/21]
28. MAGA Extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene Called Plan B an Abortifacient:
Description: In 2021, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called Plan B an abortifacient.
Quote: “Contraception stops a woman from becoming pregnant. The Plan B pill kills a baby in the womb once a woman is already pregnant. You see, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act is not contraception, it is providing, with taxpayer dollars, the ability for women to have an abortion.” - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Source: [C-Span, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, 6/24/21]
29. A Missouri State Senator Attempted to Ban State Funding for Emergency Contraception:
Description: In 2021, a Missouri state senator nearly succeeded in banning state funding for emergency contraception and IUDs, which could have prevented Medicaid participants from accessing those methods of birth control.
Quote: “Last year, conservative Republicans in the Missouri legislature took a run at blocking Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood, a frequent and prominent target of anti-abortion activists and politicians. But in the fine print of their measure, those Republicans revealed that their ambition wasn’t only to target a familiar abortion foe. They were going after specific forms of birth control as well, notably, emergency contraceptives, often sold under the brand name Plan B, and intrauterine devices, known as IUDs. GOP lawmakers tried to stop Missouri’s Medicaid agency from paying for those forms of contraception. Missouri state Sen. Paul Wieland, one of the Republicans who led that effort, explained his position this way: ‘The bottom line is there is only one time something definitively happens and that’s the moment of conception. Once that happens, anything that happens should not be state funded.’”
Source: [Stateline, 5/19/22]
30. Trump Administration Effectively Eliminated The ACA’s Contraception Mandate:
Description: In 2017, the Trump administration effectively eliminated the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, which required employers to pay for birth control coverage. In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s rollback.
Quote: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Trump administration regulation that lets employers with religious or moral objections limit women’s access to birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act and could result in as many as 126,000 women losing contraceptive coverage from their employers. The 7-to-2 decision was the latest turn in seven years of fierce litigation over the “contraception mandate,” a signature initiative of the Obama administration that required most employers to provide cost-free coverage for contraception and that the Trump administration has sought to limit.”
Source: [New York Times, 7/08/20]
31. Supreme Court Sides with Hobby Lobby in Allowing Companies to not Cover Birth Control in Health Insurance Plans:
Description: In 2014, Hobby Lobby won a case before the US Supreme Court where it “argued it shouldn’t have to provide employees with IUDs or emergency contraception since its ownership viewed such things as abortion.”
Quote: “The Supreme Court narrowed Obamacare's requirement that all employer-sponsored health insurance cover birth control, ruling that "closely-held corporations" did not have to comply with the regulation. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the court ruled 5-4 that it will allow some business owners to exclude birth control from their insurance plans if coverage would violate their religious beliefs.”
Source: [Vox, 6/30/14]
32. Speaker Mike Johnson Called the Morning After Pill an Abortifacient:
Description: In 2013, Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana promoted the falsehood that some forms of birth control are methods of abortion.
Quote: “The morning-after pill, as we know, is an abortifacient.” - Speaker Mike Johnson.
Source: [YouTube, American Bridge, Louisiana Right to Life Forum, 11/15/13]
33. Nikki Haley Said, “Women Don’t Care About Contraception”:
Description: In 2012, Haley said, “Women don't care about contraception. They care about jobs and the economy and raising their families and all those things. [...] The media wants to talk about contraception.”
Quote: “Women don’t care about contraception” - Nikki Haley
Source: [Mediaite, 4/03/12]
