Calif. Republican votes on marriage equality, contraception – SFGATE

July 21, 2022 News Editor

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills this week that were authored in direct response to an opinion from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who recently argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should revisit a number of past cases guaranteeing rights to large swaths of Americans.

The first bill, titled the Respect for Marriage Act, ensures that same-sex and interracial couples are treated equally to other married couples by the federal government. The second bill, called the Right to Contraception Act, guarantees access to contraception by protecting the right to buy and use birth control pills and other contraceptive methods without government restrictions. It also ensures health care providers have a right to provide contraception services to patients.

The Respect for Marriage Act passed the Democrat-controlled House Tuesday on a 267-157 vote, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the measure. The Right to Contraception Act passed the House Thursday on a 228-195 vote, with only eight Republicans crossing the aisle to vote with Democrats. The fate of both measures in the equally divided U.S. Senate is unclear.

House Democrats introduced the two bills in response to the concurring opinion Justice Thomas wrote in the Supreme Court’s June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade and tossed the issue of abortion back to the states. In that opinion, Thomas said the high court should reconsider “substantive due process precedents” in certain past decisions, which included Griswold v. Connecticut — a 1965 ruling that allowed access to contraception — and Obergefell v. Hodges, a 2015 decision that made same-sex marriage a constitutional right.

There are 11 Republicans in California’s congressional delegation. They are: Rep. Ken Calvert (District 42), Rep. Connie Conway (District 22), Rep. Mike Garcia (District 25), Rep. Darrell Issa (District 50), Rep. Young Kim (District 39), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (District 1), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (District 23), Rep. Tom McClintock (District 4), Rep. Jay Obernolte (District 8), Rep. Michelle Steel (District 48) and Rep. David Valadao (District 21).

In all, six of the 11 Calif. Republican congressmembers voted “no” on both bills, and none of the 11 voted “yes” on the Right to Contraception Act. Below is a full breakdown of the individual votes. A “yes” vote means they voted for the bill to pass, and a “no” vote means the opposite.

Ken Calvert

Respect for Marriage Act: Yes