WASHINGTON, D.C. — With reproductive rights coming front and center ahead of the November elections, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would bring a contraception rights bill up for a vote in June.

“Now more than ever, contraception is a critical piece of protecting women’s reproductive freedoms, standing as nothing short of a vital lifeline for millions of American women across the country,” Schumer said.

Though the bill is unlikely to pass, a vote would be an opportunity for Democrats to show voters they’re working to protect reproductive rights and emphasize Republican opposition.

The Right to Contraception Act passed the House in 2022, shortly after the Supreme Court rolled back the constitutional right to abortion.

It did not have enough Republican support to pass at the time—and still doesn’t. But by bringing it up for a vote, Democrats hope to show voters they’re protecting birth control as part of their election year push on reproductive rights.

Fourteen states have already passed legal protections for access to contraception, including four that have enshrined that right in their constitutions.

Democrats said a national law was still necessary, arguing that the same legal reasoning the Supreme Court used to end abortion rights could be used to end the right to contraception.

“When the people spoke, you would think that that would be where they would start,” said Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, referring to Ohio voters enshrining contraception access rights into the state constitution in a referendum last year. “But it seems like our Republican colleagues like to double down and, and sometimes do not present themselves as honest brokers. We are dealing with a Supreme Court who initially said that there wouldn't even be an overturning of the Roe versus Wade. And so when we consider that, everything is at stake.”

Former President Donald Trump triggered an uproar earlier this month when he said during an interview that he would leave contraception policy to the states. He later clarified his remarks, writing, “I have never and never will advocate imposing restrictions on birth control or other contraceptives.”

Many Republicans said they have no intention of limiting the right to contraception, and they dismissed the Senate vote on the Right to Contraception Act as a political ploy.

Democrats countered that the vote did more than just score political points because voters want more reproductive rights protections.

A survey by Impact Research found 81 percent of voters support the Right to Contraception Act.

“Every time we do it, it reinforces to the American people that we’re serious and if you give us enough votes, enough members of the House and the Senate that are willing to codify these rights, that we’ll get it done,” said Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio.

The Senate vote is part of a series of messaging bills both parties are advancing ahead of the November election.