In Tennessee, Sen. Marsha Blackburn has taken issue with legal access to contraception—she called the landmark 1965
Griswold v. Connecticut case that secured that right “
legally unsound,” a phrase Americans will be hearing a lot as Republicans chip away at our remaining privacy and reproductive health rights.
Blackburn isn’t alone. Blake Masters, a Republican Arizona senate candidate
backed by right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel, recently pledged to only vote for judicial nominees who oppose the Supreme Court’s decision in support of legal birth control. Describing himself as “100% pro-life,” Masters drew a red line, vowing to oppose any potential judge who doesn’t “understand
Roe and
Griswold and
Casey were wrongly decided.” In Masters’ world, contraception would exist only at the whim of red state lawmakers.
Republicans’ efforts are even outpacing the Supreme Court, which hasn’t yet delivered its official decision on the future of abortion. That hasn’t stopped Louisiana from amending its anti-abortion legislation to
ban the practice from the moment of egg fertilization (it would also ban in vitro fertilization, which has been utilized by thousands of Louisiana families)—an extremist position out of step with both modern medicine and most Americans’ beliefs.
Idaho Republicans are going even further, after state Rep. Brent Crane confirmed he would hold hearings to
consider banning IUDs and the contraceptive pill Plan B. In Tennessee, not even your mailbox is safe. A new law signed by Gov. Bill Lee makes it a felony, complete with a $50,000 fine,
to receive abortion pills through the mail. So much for small government.