In response to Donald Trump’s VP contenders voting against a bill to protect access to contraception, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“Today’s vote is another terrifying reminder that the MAGA Republicans vying to be Donald Trump’s running mate are all on board with his extreme anti-choice agenda to rip away women’s reproductive freedoms. Just weeks after Trump left the door open to restricting access to contraception, his VP contenders in the Senate voted to block legislation to protect this basic right for millions of Americans across the country. Our fundamental freedoms are on the line in this election, and whoever joins Trump on his ultra-MAGA ticket will put them at risk.”

NEW: The majority of Senate Republicans present voted against protecting access to contraception, including many of Trump’s MAGA VP contenders.

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block bill to protect Americans’ access to contraception”

“The vote on the Right To Contraception Act was 51-39, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster and move forward in the chambers [as] Republicans said the bill is unnecessary as the use of birth control is already protected under Supreme Court precedent.”

Republicans who voted against include: Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Tom Cotton, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, and Joni Ernst.

Trump’s VP contenders have previously opposed legislation to protect access to contraception, railed against access to birth control and Plan B, and backed legislation that could jeopardize access to forms of contraceptives. 

Right to Contraception Act: “This bill sets out statutory protections for an individual’s right to access and a health care provider’s right to provide contraception and related information.”

Republicans who voted against in the 117th Congress include: Elise Stefanik, Byron Donalds, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Michael Waltz, and Lee Zeldin 

Life At Conception Act: Republicans who have cosponsored include: Tim Scott, Bill Hagerty, Marsha Blackburn, Wesley Hunt, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Michael Waltz 

Mother Jones: “Marco Rubio’s Plan Could Cut Off Birth Control Coverage for Millions”

“A new bill introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a rising conservative star and leading contender for the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 2012, could cut off birth control coverage for millions of women who receive it through their health plans.”

CBS News: “Earlier this year, Rubio co-sponsored the Blunt Amendment, a measure that would allow any employer to stop providing insurance coverage for items such as birth control if the employer finds those items morally objectionable.”

Sarah Huckabee-Sanders: “[Donald Trump] believes that the freedom to practice one’s faith is a fundamental right in this country, and I think all of us do. And that’s all that [Trump’s ACA rule allowing more limits to contraception coverage] was about.”

WWNY: “Stefanik votes against bill guaranteeing right to contraceptives”

Associated Press: “Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed bills from the Democratic-controlled Legislature that would have protected the right to contraception…”

NBC News: “In March, Blackburn sparked speculation about where she stands on birth control when she took issue with the 1965 Supreme Court ruling known as Griswold vs. Connecticut, which legalized access to contraception.”

Vox: “Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went so far as to proclaim that Plan B emergency contraception ‘kills a baby in the womb once a woman is already pregnant.’”

Reminder: Trump recently left the door open to restricting access to contraceptives like Plan B. 

Interviewer: “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?

Trump: “Well we’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly and I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting.”

Interviewer: “That suggests that you may want to support some restrictions? Like the morning after pill or something?

Trump: “We are also– You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states. And some states are going to have different policies than others.”