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The bill is meant to be a firm counter to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court, the other facets of the government have been working to ensure that a woman’s federally-protected right to healthcare is maintained. To this end, the House of Representatives last night passed the Right to Contraception Act with a 228-195 vote. The bill received support from all Democratic members and eight Republican members, while every dissenting vote came from Republican members.

The bill is intended to enshrine the right to birth control and contraceptive methods and products, as well as ensure that medical practitioners can provide these products and services to patients seeking them without either they or the patients being subject to legal penalties.

“We are not willing to play defense on this critically important issue,” North Carolina Democratic Representative Kathy Manning said. “We are playing offense.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that “we are not going back,” directly referencing Republican lawmakers’ attempts to halt or criminalize access to safe birth control.

“This is their moment. Clarence Thomas has made that clear, right down to the fundamentals of privacy they want to erase,” Pelosi said. “With this passage, Democrats will make clear we will never quit in the fight against the outrageous right-wing assault on freedom.”

NEW: The House passed the Right to Contraception Act on Thursday despite 195 Republicans who voted against it. The bill would codify the right to birth control and other contraceptives. https://t.co/vVZBUKaP3O

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) July 21, 2022

“This rallying call by Justice Thomas and the actions of extremist Republican legislators are about one thing: Control,” Manning added. “These extremists are working to take away the rights of women, to take away our right to decide when to have children, to take away our right to control our own lives and our own bodies, and we will not let this happen.”

The bill is now on its way to the Senate, where it is expected to face an uphill battle toward securing enough Republican support to pass.