NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A bill meant to protect access to contraceptives and family planning healthcare in Tennessee failed in a House subcommittee on March 5.
HB 1943 was introduced by Rep. Gloria Johnson (D - Knoxville) and was otherwise named the Tennessee Contraceptive Freedom Act. She said it was meant to help make sure families could access family planning care and people could access contraceptives after the reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court and continuous attacks on abortion care access in the state.
The bill would have created language in the state code that would require licensed healthcare providers to provide contraceptives, contraception and information related to contraception to consenting patients, or refer them to providers that can do so.
"A person has a right to obtain contraceptives and engage in family planning and contraception," the bill said.
It also would have required health insurance carriers and public health agencies to ensure affordable access to contraceptive methods for all consenting people.
"Access to contraceptives shall not be limited by a person's sex, race, age, gender, income, ability to pay, number of children, marital status, citizenship, or motive," the bill said.
Republicans on the House Population Health Subcommittee voted against the bill, claiming it would have created ambiguous language in state law and added to confusion surrounding abortion care laws. They also said there have not been substantial threats to contraceptive access to warrant the bill.
Johnson pointed to a November 2022 report from ProPublica in response, a nonprofit focused on exposing abuses of power through investigative journalism. The report discussed a conversation between anti-abortion activists and Tennessee lawmakers that was centered around restriction abortion care and family planning healthcare.
The report said the Tennessee affiliate of National Right to Life held a webinar encouraging Republican lawmakers not to consider changes to the state's restrictions on abortion care. The report said a lawmaker spoke about the possibility of regulating contraception and in vitro fertilization after a few years.
Republican lawmakers on the subcommittee said again that there have not been attacks on contraception.
"My concern with this bill is that we are catering to folks who are uninformed, that this doesn't even exist yet," said Rep. Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro). "The reality is that we should educate our districts. This is not a threat. What we have is IVF, which is the other bill, and contraceptives. Nobody is going after them. With this bill, I think you add ambiguity."
Johnson said the House did not mind adding ambiguous language to the state code about vaccines and agriculture when it passed HB 1894, aimed at preventing vaccines from being used on food products.
Johnson also said that while access to contraceptives may not be restricted right now, there are contraceptive deserts in Tennessee due to both cost and the lack of an OB-GYN doctor. She also invited the subcommittee to pass the bill since many of its members said contraceptives were not under threat. It failed along party lines.
"I think you're justifying your point of view with something that is widely available, there is no threat to it," said Rep. Sabi "Doc" Kumar (R - Springfield). "Nobody is trying to ban it, so saying, 'Keep it widely available,' I don't know would do anything or would change anything."
When the bill failed, boos and shouts were heard from the attendees of the meeting. It was also the last meeting of the Population Health Subcommittee for the legislative session.