Arizona GOP refuses to pass contraception protections as party leader tells women to put aspirin ‘between your knees’

EDITOR’S NOTE (3/8): A paragraph has been added detailing Sonny Borrelli’s 2001 arrest over a domestic violence charge against his now-ex-wife.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ (D) efforts to enshrine contraception access into state law appear to have hit a wall of opposition as the Republican leaders in the state Senate and House refuse to advance the bill known as “The Right to Contraception Act.”

If passed, the legislation would protect the ability for Arizonans to acquire and use all forms of birth control as well as guarantee the right for doctors to provide information and prescribe birth control medication to patients. When asked by Arizona Mirror’s Gloria Rebecca Gomez whether he would oppose future efforts to restrict contraception, Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City) implied that women wouldn’t need contraception if they didn’t have so much sex.

“Like I said, Bayer Company invented aspirin. Put it between your knees,” Borrelli said.

Borrelli’s comments echo those made by late Wisconsin pastor and former GOP mega donor Foster Freiss. In 2012, while Freiss was the head of a super PAC that backed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Freiss contended that women putting aspirin between their knees was a cheaper alternative to contraception.

“On this contraceptive thing, my gosh it’s such inexpensive,” Freiss said. “You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”

In 2001, Borrelli plead guilty to a domestic violence charge. His then-wife’s child told police he witnessed Borrelli rapidly punch his mother three times in the mouth before shoving her to the ground. Borrelli said he only plead guilty to keep custody of his children, and he later blamed his wife for the incident, claiming she was having a “stress-induced meltdown.”

Republicans currently hold slim two-seat majorities in both chambers of the Arizona Legislature. Despite refusing to pass protections, Borrelli also told reporters that “nobody has any kind of plan to ban any contraceptives.”

On the federal level, Republican senators blocked a right to contraception bill introduced by Sens. Edward Markey (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in 2022. The bill passed a then-Democrat-controlled House of Representatives with just ten GOP congresspeople in favor. Prior to his career in public office, House Speaker Mike Johnson contended that certain types of birth control are the same as abortion and should be restricted.

In his concurring opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which overturned federal abortion right protections, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should also reconsider the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut ruling, which upheld the right for married couples to use contraceptives without government restriction. Thomas also suggested the court reconsider the rulings which upheld same sex marriage and the right to privacy in same sex relationships.