Following Vice President Harris’s meeting with university and college presidents on access to contraception, DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika released the following statement: 

“While Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and other MAGA Republicans are tripling down on their support for ripping away health care coverage from millions of Americans and undermine reproductive rights, President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting back against MAGA Republicans’ crusade against allowing women to make their own decisions about if and when they have a family. From backing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which guarantees women access to contraception coverage at no cost, to supporting extreme abortion bans, the 2024 Republican field is coming after women’s freedoms — it’s been a losing issue for Republicans and will continue to be one next year.” 

Yesterday, Vice President Harris attended a meeting with university and college presidents on access to contraception — which comes after President Biden signed an executive order on strengthening contraception access.

The White House: “Today, Vice President Kamala Harris met with officials from 68 colleges and universities in 32 states to discuss ongoing efforts to protect access to contraception for college students. … University leaders spoke about strides they are making in protecting and expanding access to contraception for their students and shared strategies that have been successful in improving access on campus. … Today’s convening also follows a series of meetings about reproductive rights that Vice President Harris has held with students and young leaders in every part of the nation.”

White House Fact Sheet: “President Biden Issues Executive Order on Strengthening Access to Contraception”

“Today, President Biden will issue an Executive Order on Strengthening Access to Affordable, High-Quality Contraception and Family Planning Services. This will be the third Executive Order on reproductive health care access that the President has signed since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and the first focused specifically on protecting and expanding access to contraception.”

Every 2024 Republican has suggested they would try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a move that would raise costs and jeopardize access to contraception coverage.

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

Jack Heath: “…They’re going ahead and saying you would repeal the Affordable Care Act, would you?”

Haley: “…It’s not about one small policy of, you know, Affordable Care Act. It’s about fixing the entire health care system.”

MSNBC: “Ron DeSantis joins the Republican campaign to tear down the ACA”

Christie: “It’s about delivering on issues that voters care about. So the fact is that they care deeply about Obamacare. And Donald Trump promised them he’d repeal and replace it. He had a Republican Congress. He didn’t do it.”

Ramaswamy: “I think Obamacare has been a disaster.”

The Affordable Care Act ensures all women have contraception coverage at no cost, and repealing this landmark legislation would affect birth control access and affordability for millions.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund: “In the days before Obamacare became law, many people had to pay out-of-pocket for basic preventive health care like breast cancer screenings, Pap tests, and birth control — costing them hundreds of dollars a year or more. In fact, before the ACA’s birth control benefit went into effect, contraception accounted for 30% to 44% of women’s out-of-pocket health care costs. Because of all this, much-needed preventive, reproductive health care was out of reach for far too many people. The ACA helped change that.

“One of the most immediate changes for reproductive health was the ACA’s birth control benefit, which ensured that nearly 63 million women now have birth control without a copay, and helped women save an estimated $1.4 billion on the pill in the ACA’s first year alone. Today, millions of women, families, and young people are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act — and millions more will benefit as the law continues to be implemented.”

Trump weakened the ACA’s contraception mandate as president, and his allies are drafting a plan to undermine it even further if he returns to power.

CNN: “Trump administration weakens Obamacare birth control coverage mandate”

New York Times: “Trump Administration Set to Roll Back Birth Control Mandate”

“In the new rules, the Trump administration says the Affordable Care Act does not explicitly require coverage of contraceptives. The administration lists health risks that it says may be associated with the use of certain contraceptives.”

Project 2025 policy agenda: “Restore Trump religious and moral exemptions to the contraceptive mandate (also a CMS rule). HHS should rescind, if finalized, the regulation titled ‘Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act,’ proposed jointly by HHS, Treasury, and Labor. This rule proposes to amend Trump-era final rules regarding religious and moral exemptions and accommodations for coverage of certain preventive services under the ACA.”

Project 2025 policy agenda: “Eliminate the week-after-pill from the contraceptive mandate as a potential abortifacient. One of the emergency contraceptives covered under the HRSA preventive services guidelines is Ella (ulipristal acetate). Like its close cousin, the abortion pill mifepristone, Ella is a progesterone blocker and can prevent a recently fertilized embryo from implanting in a woman’s uterus. HRSA should eliminate this potential abortifacient from the contraceptive mandate.”

DeSantis has used his gubernatorial power to block access to birth control for low-income Floridians.

Tampa Bay Times: “Amid abortion battle, DeSantis vetoes birth-control funding — again”

“When Gov. Ron DeSantis slashed $3 billion from the state’s budget Thursday, one ill-fated item sounded familiar: Just as he did last year, DeSantis vetoed $2 million meant to help low-income people access long-acting birth control.”

WTSP: “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. According to Planned Parenthood, an example of an HLARC would include contraceptives such as an IUC or implant. ‘LARCs are the most effective forms of reversible birth control. They’re safe and effective for most women and teens, and can be removed at any time at a health center if you’re ready to get pregnant,’ according to its website.”

Haley praised efforts to weaken and eliminate the ACA’s contraception mandate and suggested that women do not care about access to contraception.

Haley: “Women don’t care about contraception.”

Politico: “South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a tense appearance on ABC’s ‘The View’ Tuesday that peaked when she suggested that women don’t care about the politics of contraception and blamed the media for spotlighting the issue. ‘All of my policy is not based on a label,’ she said when ‘View’ co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck asked how the governor carries the torch for conservative Republican women.”

Post and Courier: “Gov. Nikki Haley praises U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial birth control decision”

“South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley praised this week’s U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that said a family-owned company does not have to offer birth control to its employees. Haley, a Republican running for re-election and the Palmetto State’s first female governor, said the court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case is one in a string of recent decisions that shows that Obama administration initiatives can’t be shoved down people’s throats … ‘This was a family-owned business,’ Haley said of Hobby Lobby. ‘They have the right to decide what they want to offer. This is what this country is all about.’”