Birth control on the ballot as abortion bans increase barriers to family planning

Millions of Americans will be able to vote on November ballots whether to protect access to birth control such as IUDs, the pill and emergency contraception.

ST. LOUIS — Millions of Americans will be able to vote on November ballots whether to protect access to contraception. 

In states where tensions have long boiled over reproductive rights, family planning experts say women face mounting barriers to getting birth control. The fear, confusion and anxiety over abortion has extended to their ability to prevent a pregnancy. 

In June, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have enshrined a national right to birth control into law. States have been left to decide if they will protect access to birth control.

One of those states is Missouri, the first state to use a trigger law to ban all non-medically necessary abortions. Voters will decide on an amendment that would remove the ban. If passed, the amendment would also protect the right for women and their doctors to make decisions about their reproductive health care, including birth control, without government interference.

People in Maryland, where abortion is legal until a fetus is viable, will vote on a similar amendment that would establish “the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.” 

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/birth-control-access-abortion-vote-november-rcna176161

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