U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (FL14) is defending women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions in the face of abortion bans and limits on birth control. She voted in support of three bills to protect women’s access to comprehensive health care this week and championed the fundamental right to make reproductive health decisions in the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing examining the impact of the Supreme Court’s rollback of the right to abortion and the implications on health care access for all Americans.

Representative Castor spoke on the House Floor in support of the Right to Contraception Act. Video of her remarks can be found here.

“We are at a perilous moment in history, where extremist Republicans and a GOP-controlled Supreme Court are rolling back the rights of our neighbors and the legal guarantee for women to control their own bodies. Women, families, and their doctors—not politicians and judges—should make their own personal reproductive health decisions, including whether or when to have a child. In his concurrence in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Thomas threatened the future of other fundamental rights, including the right to access contraception.

“Floridians are no strangers to these attacks on women. Our governor has instituted a cruel 15-week abortion ban, a mandatory 24-hour waiting period for abortions, and, for the second year in a row, has defunded a program meant to help low-income women and girls access contraceptive care. Everyone deserves the fundamental freedom to decide their own pathways in life, regardless of where they live, which is why Democrats are taking action to protect access to health care, including contraception and abortion care. On behalf of my neighbors in Florida and across America, I was proud to vote for legislation to give people the right to control their own futures. Now, these three bills head to the Senate – I implore all Senators to act with courage and vote to ensure that Americans have the freedom to make the decisions that are best for them.”

In the past week, U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (FL14) has voted in support of:

• The Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 8296), which would restore the right to have an abortion nationwide, and for health care providers to provide that care.
• The Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act (H.R. 8297), which would protect the constitutional right to travel across state lines to obtain a lawful abortion.
• The Right to Contraception Act (H.R. 8373), which would establish a right to obtain contraceptives, and for health care providers to provide contraceptives and information related to contraception.