With Contraception Under Attack, Three Strategies for Protecting Access
A demonstration in Miami Beach using an inflatable IUD. Photo Credit: Americans for Contraception.
As women’s reproductive rights continue to come under attack across the United States, another frontline has emerged in the battle for bodily autonomy: access to contraception.
For those who think it’s far-fetched to imagine millions of women suddenly being prohibited from accessing their birth control pills, think again. Curtailing access to birth control—in many if not all its forms—is exactly what a sizeable number of legislators are pushing for. The time is now for donors and other changemakers to push back.
Americans across the political spectrum are uniformly supportive of contraception—91 percent of us, in fact, support the right to access birth control. It’s one of the most bipartisan issues out there. Even so, some members of the Supreme Court, many members of Congress, and a slew of state lawmakers—buoyed by their success rolling back abortion protections—have set their sights on dismantling another fundamental right.
In 2022, mere days after the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, 195 members of the House of Representatives voted against The Right to Contraception Act. The bill came up for a vote in the Senate earlier this month, and 39 senators voted against protecting your right to access contraception—effectively defeating the bill.
And, in state houses across the country, from Virginia to Arizona, state legislators continue to defeat legislation meant to protect access to contraception. Without these protections, current legislation could be interpreted in such a way that we could lose access to IUDs, hormonal birth control pills, and even condoms. State legislators in Louisiana seem unable to distinguish between contraceptives and abortifacients, spreading misinformation that contraception can cause an abortion to take place.
The reproductive rights movement saw this coming. In his concurring opinion on Dobbs, Justice Clarence Thomas urged the Supreme Court to also reconsider past rulings that codified Americans’ right to access contraception.
If we do not take action, people across the country may not be able to access basic birth control, and health care providers would not be able to prescribe these medications (or provide contraceptive devices) to their patients, regardless of their medical purpose. In some cases, even access to condoms could be compromised.
The momentum is building to continue curtailing Americans’ ability to plan their own families, and many of us aren’t even aware of it. How can we equip health care and reproductive rights advocates to fend off these attacks, discredit the opposition, and debunk the misinformation they are spreading? Philanthropy has an essential role to play.
Arabella was honored to host a discussion with the team at Americans for Contraception earlier this month about how best to protect access to birth control. AFC is leader in the movement, which is made up of Americans from every corner of the political ecosystem. The organization shared the following considerations for the philanthropic community:
- Invest Early: The Supreme Court has already indicated its willingness to consider this issue. State legislators who are not already engaged will have ample opportunity in 2025 as more bills get introduced, but there is hope. We are still at the beginning of this phase of the battle to protect contraception, which means we can derail this movement before it gains greater momentum. By investing early, we have the opportunity to define the stakes and combat disinformation before it takes hold. If advocates can highlight the fact that contraception is under threat and draw attention to those who are leading the charge—and hold them accountable—we can make exponential progress. But the window is closing; it’s important to take action as soon as possible in order to end the fight before it escalates and prevents people from exercising bodily autonomy.
- Support Social Welfare Organizations: When weighing how your resources can be useful in this space, consider investing in 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations in addition to traditional 501(c)(3) avenues. Due to the restrictions on (c)(3) dollars and the more flexible regulations on (c)(4) entities, supporting the latter group can have much more impact in their ability to highlight specific pieces of upcoming legislation, strongly advocate for how the public expects elected officials to vote, and hold lawmakers accountable for their actions. What’s unique about this issue is that it is universally popular: 91 percent of all Americans—Republican, Democratic, pro-life, and pro-choice—overwhelmingly support contraception. We therefore don’t need to educate folks on the importance of birth control; we just need to ensure they’re aware of what is happening in state legislative houses and Congress and who is responsible. So much of the important accountability work we need to do here is much easier to accomplish when working with more flexible philanthropic funds.
- Call Everyone In: Protecting a person’s right to access contraception is not just a women’s issue, it is a public health issue that affects us all, regardless of gender identity or family plans. Losing access to contraception would be disastrous for all Americans, not just women. Americans for Contraception has done a spectacular job of welcoming all to the conversation, through new ads like “Happy Hour.” Even if you have not traditionally invested in the reproductive rights movement, consider contraception as your entry point. Donors can use their voice and platform to raise awareness among their peers of the popularity of this issue and the urgency of the attacks. Funders of all kinds can discuss contraception access with their board, raise the idea among donor collaboratives they participate in, and even broach the topic among friends and family. The more Americans who are aware of the problem, the more of us who can mobilize to solve it.
To learn more, please check out these resources from our partners: