As she often does, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) took to the Twitter machine on Friday to post her thoughts for the day. Included on her thought list was a show of support for over the counter birth control.
Psst! đź—Ł Birth control should be over-the-counter, pass it on.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 7, 2019
There’s just one problem: She’ll probably have more trouble convincing her own side to support OTC birth control than she will Republicans – because Democrats have opposed previous Republican efforts to make this a reality, as Townhall‘s Katie Pavlich noted in a tweet to the freshman Congresswoman:
Republicans proposed this. Planned Parenthood said no. đź—Ł https://t.co/F4bV6XDHpq
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) June 7, 2019
Conservative commentator Stephen Miller pointed out this inconvenient truth as well:
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 7, 2019
Here’s the story from the 2015 Hill article Miller referenced:
Democratic senators are launching a push to protect ObamaCare’s contraception mandate, which they say would be in jeopardy if the upper chamber’s Republicans win approval for their own birth control bill.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Tuesday unveiled a bill to keep in place the rule that insurance companies must cover contraception, even if certain methods, like birth control pills, become available without a prescription.
The bill is a direct rebuke to Senate Republicans who are trying to champion the issue of over-the-counter birth control. That GOP bill has drawn fire from reproductive health groups like Planned Parenthood Action Fund, however, that warn the legislation would force women to again pay out of pocket for their birth control.
On the cost front, AOC is more in line with her party. She tacked on the “should be free” bit in another tweet soon after her first one, not explaining – of course – that it wouldn’t actually be free:
(It should be free, too – like in the UK!)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 7, 2019
In 2016, candidate Trump came out in support of birth control without a prescription, but Democrats have consistently been the barriers to making this a reality.
In March, Republican Senators Joni Ernst (R–IA) and Cory Gardner (R–CO) put forth the “Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act” which, according to Reason, “would help federal regulators fast-track the approval process for converting hormonal contraceptive pills from prescription to over-the-counter drug status.”
This is their second attempt at getting this act to pass. Ernst touted a similar bill on her website in January 2017. Gardner teamed up with former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) in 2015 for a similar bill, the one Democrats went on record opposing.
The March bill is now languishing in the Senate Finance Committee.
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—Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–
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