“It’s time for you to put an end to the attacks on women’s health care and to work with the Senate to get back to the American people’s top priority: creating jobs and boosting our economy.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, all 12 Democratic women Senators sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner calling on him to rescind his pledge to push forward with efforts to restrict women’s access to contraception after the Blunt amendment was defeated in the Senate. The Senator’s letter comes in the wake of Speaker Boehner’s public pledge to continue efforts to limit birth control access in the House, where a similar version of the Blunt amendment has over 200 co-sponsors. Speaker Boehner’s promise to continue fighting also comes despite a national outcry from women, the overwhelming majority of whom have used contraception at some point in their lifetime.

“We are asking that you abandon the promise you have made to bring legislation to the House floor similar to the Blunt amendment, which was defeated in the Senate last week, and which would turn the clock back on women’s access to health care,” the Senators wrote. “At a time when 99% of sexually active women in the U.S. have used birth control, its role in the lives of women and their families is hard to understate…. That is why the recent Republican attacks on birth control access have been so eye-opening for American women. For most American women, the battle over contraception was settled a half century ago.”

The letter was sent by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

The full text of the Senator’s letter follows (PDF here):

Speaker Boehner,

We write to express our concerns over your recent statements pledging to continue efforts to put employers between American women and their access to birth control. Specifically, we are asking that you abandon the promise you have made to bring legislation to the House floor similar to the Blunt amendment, which was defeated in the Senate last week, and which would turn the clock back on women’s access to health care. Furthermore, we ask that you listen to the overwhelming outcry from American women who support access to contraception and drop all politically-charged efforts to deny them coverage.

Today, at a time when 99% of sexually active women in the U.S. have used birth control, its role in the lives of women and their families is hard to understate. Access to birth control is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality, can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, and is linked to overall good health outcomes. Nationwide, 1.5 million women use contraceptives only as treatment for serious medical conditions. And most importantly, access to birth control helps reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions, a goal we all share.

That is why the recent Republican attacks on birth control access have been so eye-opening for American women. For most American women, the battle over contraception was settled a half century ago. Yet, over the course of the past month alone, women have watched as panels on birth control have been convened without women, a young woman that dared to speak out in defense of birth control was subjected to vile name-calling, and extreme legislation, like the Blunt amendment, has been pushed to deny access.

Women have had enough. As we have heard from countless women in our home states and here on Capitol Hill, they are tired of being targets for a political strategy that endangers their health care and they want it to stop. We hope that you can answer their calls, and ours. It’s time for you to put an end to the attacks on women’s health care and to work with the Senate to get back to the American people’s top priority: creating jobs and boosting our economy.

As you may know, today is International Women’s Day, a day celebrated each year to mark the political, social, and economic progress women have made. We ask that on this day you join with us in working to ensure that we build on the progress of the past, not reverse it.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

“Today’s vote showed us a great deal about where Republicans’ priorities lie. Instead of working with Democrats to create jobs, Republicans are trying to deny women access to health care services like contraception. Democrats are trying to move forward with a bill that would create or save nearly two million American jobs. But at the urging of the Tea Party, Republicans are obstructing this jobs bill with unrelated amendments like the one we defeated today.

“Republicans’ proposal to let any employer deny women access to contraceptives would not create a single job. Under Republicans’ proposal, over 170,000 women could lose access to contraception coverage and other health services in Nevada alone.

“The American public wants us to work on bipartisan ways to create jobs – not re-fight the culture wars. I truly hope my Republican colleagues will get the message, and work with us on middle-of-the-road solutions to create jobs and grow our economy.”

Snowe: ‘Much Broader Than I Could Support’ … Murkowksi: ‘Don’t Know Where We Are Going With This Issue’

Sen. Olympia Snowe: “With Respect To The Blunt Amendment, It’s Much Broader Than I Could Support.” [MSNBC, 2/29/12]

Sen. Murkowski: “I Don’t Know Where We Are Going With This Issue.” “But other Republicans said that the party had other priorities and that they wanted more information about how the new requirement would work. ‘I don’t know where we are going with this issue,’ said Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. Ms. Murkowski said she did not want a vote on the issue this week. ‘We’ve got way too much else to be doing,’ Ms. Murkowski said, adding that her constituents were more concerned about energy policy.” [New York Times, 2/29/12]

Joe Scarborough Warns Republicans: In Debate Over Contraception, “Republicans Will Get Routed in Swing Areas.” Scarborough: “My warning last week was to the Obama administration this week it is to the Republicans… They need to be very careful about how they push forward on this issue, because if it stops being about freedom of religion and starts being about contraception then Republicans will get routed in swing areas.”  [MSNBC, 2/14/12]

Illinois GOP Party Chair: Contraceptive Debate “Hurts Us With Independents.”  Illinois Republican Party chair Pat Brady said of the contraceptive debate, “it hurts us with independents.” [Chicago Sun-Times, 2/28/12]

Top Senate GOP Aide: “There Could Be Consequences” For Taking Aim At Women’s Health. “But there’s worry even within his own party that his proposal goes too far and could unleash a voter backlash in a year the GOP hopes to wrest control of the White House and Senate from Democrats. ‘There is a concern his amendment was written too broadly,’ said a top Senate GOP aide. ‘There is fear that it will shift attention from religious freedom to women’s health. If that happens, there could be consequences.’” [Politico, 2/29/12]

Former Presidential Candidate Rudy Giuliani: “It Makes The Party Look Like it Isn’t a Modern Party.” “‘It makes the party look like it isn’t a modern party,’ Rudy Giuliani told CNN’s Erin Burnett, fretting about the candidates’ Cotton Mather attitude about women and gays. ‘It doesn’t understand the modern world that we live in.’” [NY Times, 2/25/12]

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson: Party Should “Move On” To More Pressing Issues. “Emerson said the party could be better served to accept the ruling and focus on more pressing issues. ‘I think getting the president to compromise on [the ruling] was a significant victory, and people should embrace it and move on,’ she said.” [USA Today, 2/17/12]

Republican Adviser Juleanna Glover: Women Will Think All Republicans Oppose Birth Control. “Republican adviser and hostess Juleanna Glover said on her Facebook page that women will think all Republicans oppose birth control ‘and none but the 1 percent of Catholic women who never used birth control will vote for (the) GOP nominee.’” [AP, 2/23/12]

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard Said “He Was Worried The Debate Over Such Issues Might Alienate Uncommitted Voters.”  “Some Republican governors voiced concern that social issues like contraception and gay marriage had at times eclipsed discussion of the economy in the primary race.  ‘I do agree those social issues are not as significant as some of the economic and fiscal issues that really threaten our way of life,’ South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard said, saying he was worried the debate over such issues might alienate uncommitted voters.” [AP, 2/25/12]

The legislation would allow employers to deny their employees’ contraception coverage, among other preventive services, merely on the basis of “moral objections.” Female senators voiced opposition to the measure today from the floor, and called on their Democratic and Republican colleagues to stand by them in favor of protecting women’s access to such services.

Watch a video clip to catch their remarks here.

This legislation would put 2 million hard-working Americans back on the job while at the same time investing in repairing our infrastructure.

With this bill, Republicans have an opportunity to show they can focus on job creation, and we hope they’ll seize it.  Unrelated legislation that would limit women’s access to health care has no place in a transportation bill.

Americans, especially the struggling middle class, have no appetite for political games.

As Nevada Senator Harry Reid said earlier today, “I would like to believe they [Republicans] share our goal, as Eisenhower and Reagan did, of rebuilding a world-class transportation system to support a world-class economy.”

Watch the video clip below to learn more about the bill, and how it would restore critical jobs.