Ocasio-Cortez, Ted Cruz Consider 'Simple, Clean Bill' To Make Birth Control Over-The-Counter

In a second seemingly unlikely bipartisan partnership, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are discussing legislation to make birth control available without a doctor’s prescription.

On June 7, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Psst! Birth control should be over-the-counter, pass it one.” She later added, “It should be free, too - like in the UK!”

On Monday, Cruz offered to team up with the freshman congresswoman to create a “simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter,” the second time the two have agreed to partner on legislation within the last few weeks.

“Perhaps, in addition to the legislation we are already working on together to ban Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, we can team up here as well,” Cruz tweeted in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s earlier social media post.

In late May, Cruz responded to another Ocasio-Cortez tweet, where both agreed former members of Congress should not be allowed to become lobbyists after they leave office, often referred to as the revolving door between government service and private sector employment.

At present, access to birth control is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and requires a doctor’s prescription. The proposed legislation to make hormonal contraceptive pills available over the counter may go a long way to defuse the divisive discourse in many states choosing to restrict or eliminate access to abortion. The procedure became legal in 1973 after the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman’s choice to carry a child to term was a private matter.

Ocasio-Cortez has denounced proposed or passed legislation in at least seven states that restricts abortion, saying the bans result in “controlling women’s sexuality” and “owning” them.

"From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, US religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology," she tweeted in May.