Republican spending bill implodes over 'embarrassing' birth control spat

Another government funding bill from Republicans was pulled on Thursday morning after many leaders refused to back several pieces of the bill, including one aimed at overturning a law that barred companies from discriminating against employees who use birth control.

The birth control plank was just one of dozens of amendments that were added to the bill from Republican lawmakers, as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pledged to pass the budget by the Nov. 17 shutdown deadline.

According to Politico, there were more than 100 amendments proposed in all, including some that drew rebukes from swing-district Republicans.

Rep. Max Miller (R- OH) called it “embarrassing" and "incredibly upsetting” that House GOP leadership had to pull the final passage of the funding bill, reported CNN's Annie Grayer. He went on to bash his colleagues for hyper-partisan amendments to bills that must pass to keep the government open.

The law being targeted by the House GOP is a local Washington, D.C. ordinance that prevents any employer from discriminating against a worker who seeks contraception or family planning services. The GOP bill would block that from taking effect.

In an interview Sunday, Johnson was asked by Fox's Shannon Bream about some of his extreme opinions and bills regarding birth control.

"I really don't remember any of those measures," he told her.

Speaker Johnson agreed to sponsor HR 431, which would ban birth control using the idea of "personhood," giving full legal rights to fertilized eggs. It would ban IUDs and other forms of birth control.

After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision, activists warned that birth control would be targeted, with far-right leaders seeking to block coverage of it or ban it entirely.