AOC blasts Lauren Boebert's claim that it's "cheaper to have a kid" than buy birth control

"Then she voted against the right to contraception so she could double this problem and give it to the next person"

By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Staff Writer

Published May 24, 2023 12:33PM (EDT)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Lauren Boebert (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Lauren Boebert (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., scoffed at Rep. Lauren Boebert's, R-Colo., statement that she opted not to purchase birth control because it was too expensive, pointing out online that Boebert voted against increasing access to it.

During a Tuesday congressional hearing, Boebert recounted an experience she had attempting to get birth control, according to Insider.

"I went to get birth control, and I was there at the counter and went to pay for it, and the price was very, very high," she said.

The conservative abortion opponent explained that she had asked the pharmacist if the birth control prescription was for three months or six months, but was informed that it was for one month only. 

Boebert said she told the pharmacist that it was "cheaper to have a kid" and left the prescription at the counter.

"And now I have my third son, Kaydon Boebert, and so it actually turned out to be a really great thing," she added.

Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter on Tuesday to criticize Boebert's comment, seemingly referencing the failed Right to Contraception Act that she co-sponsored in the last Congress.

"And then she voted against the right to contraception so she could double this problem and give it to the next person," she said.

Boebert was among the 195 Republicans who voted against the bill. Though the House passed the bill, it was killed by Senate Republicans. If made law, it would have protected a person's ability to use and access contraceptives while ensuring their to access information about contraception.


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Others joined Ocasio-Cortez in mocking the hardline Republican online Tuesday evening.

"Today's episode of "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., captioned Boebert's anecdote in a quote tweet Tuesday night. 

"You know, birth control is readily available at Planned Parenthood, but they don't want to talk about that..." The Lincoln Project tweeted.


By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Tatyana Tandanpolie is a staff writer at Salon. Born and raised in central Ohio, she moved to New York City in 2018 to pursue degrees in Journalism and Africana Studies at New York University. She is currently based in her home state and has previously written for local Columbus publications, including Columbus Monthly, CityScene Magazine and The Columbus Dispatch.

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