Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., speaks during a news conference with members of the House Republican Conference in the Cannon Building on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"I was the first Republican to support the Right to Contraception Act. Shame on @KathyManningNC who DENIED my MANY requests to cosponsor just so @JoshRileyUE could spin more lies in his desperate campaign built on lies. #ANewLow," Molinaro wrote. Molinaro’s staff emailed Manning on June 5 and on June 13 asking for him to be added as a cosponsor, per the screenshots.
Manning fired back and asked Molinaro if he would sign a discharge petition launched in June which would try to force a vote on her bill. The petition would force a vote on the bill if 218 House members sign on.
"Hey Marc, does this mean you’ll sign the petition to bring my Right to Contraception Act up for a vote? Or do you not want the bill to make it to the House Floor?" Manning wrote.
The discharge petition was launched June 4, one day before the first email from Molinaro's staff to Manning's, per Axios. At the time, Molinaro expressed openness to signing the petition but has not since signed on, according to the publication.
"How disgusting and short-sighted. LAWS are made by welcoming Republican AND Democrat support," Molinaro shot back.
REP. MOLINARO: PRESIDENT CONTINUES TO IGNORE THIS NATIONAL SECURITY CRISIS
North Carolina Rep. Kathy Manning speaks during a rally of Jewish voters for Vice President Kamala Harris at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 80 in Southfield, Michigan, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024 (Dominic Gwinn / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)
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Riley has accused Molinaro of voting "13 times to restrict access to abortion."
"The 13 votes are a lie, just a lie. They were procedural votes," Molinaro told the Cortland Standard. "I led the bipartisan commission to fund the expansion of access to women’s healthcare," he said.
Molinaro told the outlet that half the votes were bills where the language was inserted into bills on a different topic. The other half, he said, is to maintain the existing standard of access, which is that federal money does not fund abortions.
Meanwhile, Molinaro became one of the first GOP members of Congress to support the Access to Family Building Act. Democrats introduced the legislation defending in vitro fertilization treatment and holding frozen embryos to the same legal standard as children under state law.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-ny-congressman-accuses-dem-refusing-let-him-cosponsor-contraception-bill-political-reasons