II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 707 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in the Annual 

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices a section on reproductive 

rights, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

CARDIN, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

MARKEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mr. REED, Mr. COONS, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. 

HIRONO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MURPHY, 

Ms. ROSEN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include 

in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices a section on reproductive rights, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reproductive Rights 

5 are Human Rights Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The United States has joined the inter4 national community in identifying reproductive 

5 rights as human rights, including in connection with 

6 the 1994 International Conference on Population 

7 and Development, the 1995 Beijing World Con8 ference on Women, and through its ratification of 

9 the International Covenant on Civil and Political 

10 Rights (ICCPR). 

11 (2) General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 

12 6 of the ICCPR, which was adopted by the Human 

13 Rights Committee at its October to November 2018 

14 session, states that under Article 6 of the ICCPR, 

15 State parties have a duty to ensure that all persons 

16 have the right to receive— 

17 (A) evidence-based information and edu18 cation about sexual and reproductive health, 

19 and access to a range of affordable contracep20 tive methods; 

21 (B) safe, legal, and effective access to 

22 abortion where the life and health of the preg23 nant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying 

24 a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant 

25 woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, no26 tably where pregnancy is the result of rape or 


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1 incest or is not viable; and, access to quality 

2 prenatal and post-abortion health care; and 

3 (C) access by women and girls to safe 

4 abortion without the imposition of restrictions, 

5 which subject them to physical or mental pain 

6 or suffering, or which discriminate or arbi7 trarily interfere with their privacy, or place 

8 them at risk of undertaking unsafe abortions. 

9 (3) The Department of State’s deletion of the 

10 reproductive rights subsection from its 2017 Coun11 try Reports on Human Rights Practices dem12 onstrates an alarming level of politicization of 

13 human rights by the Trump Administration and un14 dermines the human rights of women around the 

15 world. 

16 (4) When women’s reproductive rights are lim17 ited, so are their pathways to economic, social, and 

18 political empowerment. 

19 (5) Sexual health and reproductive rights are 

20 essential for sustainable economic development, are 

21 intrinsically linked to gender equality and women’s 

22 well-being, and are critical to maternal, newborn, 

23 child, adolescent, family, and community health. 


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1 SEC. 3. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 

2 PRACTICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 

4 1961 is amended— 

5 (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))— 

6 (A) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (B) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking 

9 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

10 and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(13) the status of reproductive rights in each 

14 country, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) whether such country has adopted 

16 and enforced policies to— 

17 ‘‘(i) promote access to and prevalence 

18 of, safe, effective, and affordable methods 

19 of contraception and comprehensive and 

20 accurate family planning information; 

21 ‘‘(ii) promote access to appropriate 

22 health care services to prevent maternal 

23 deaths and ensure safe and healthy preg24 nancy and childbirth; 

25 ‘‘(iii) expand or restrict access to safe 

26 abortion services, including post-abortion 


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1 care, in accordance with the country’s 

2 laws; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) promote the prevention, detec4 tion, and treatment of sexually transmitted 

5 infections, including HIV, and of reproduc6 tive tract infections and of reproductive 

7 cancers; 

8 ‘‘(B) a description of the rates and causes 

9 of maternal deaths in such country, including 

10 deaths due to unsafe abortions, where applica11 ble; 

12 ‘‘(C) a description of the nature and extent 

13 of instances of discrimination, coercion, and vio14 lence against women and girls in health care 

15 settings in such country, and the actions, if 

16 any, taken by the government of such country 

17 to respond to such discrimination, coercion, and 

18 violence, where applicable; and 

19 ‘‘(D) wherever applicable, a description of 

20 the proportion of women of reproductive age 

21 (aged 15–49 years) who have their need for 

22 family planning satisfied with modern methods, 

23 the barriers to access, and the nature and ex24 tent of instances of denial of comprehensive and 

25 accurate family planning information and servVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707

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1 ices in such country, and the actions, if any, 

2 taken by the government of such country to re3 spond to such denials.’’; and 

4 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)— 

5 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

6 (i) (relating to child marriage status) as sub7 section (j); and 

8 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

9 subsection: 

10 ‘‘(k) The report required under subsection (b) shall 

11 include the status of reproductive rights in each country, 

12 including— 

13 ‘‘(1) whether such country has adopted and en14 forced policies to— 

15 ‘‘(A) promote access to and prevalence of 

16 safe, effective, and affordable methods of con17 traception and comprehensive and accurate 

18 family planning information; 

19 ‘‘(B) promote access to appropriate health 

20 care services to prevent maternal deaths and 

21 ensure safe and healthy pregnancy and child22 birth; 

23 ‘‘(C) expand or restrict access to safe abor24 tion services, including post-abortion care, in 

25 accordance with the country’s laws; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) promote the prevention, detection, 

2 and treatment of sexually transmitted infec3 tions, including HIV, and of reproductive tract 

4 infections and of reproductive cancers; 

5 ‘‘(2) a description of the rates and causes of 

6 maternal deaths in such country, including deaths 

7 due to unsafe abortions, where applicable; 

8 ‘‘(3) a description of the nature and extent of 

9 discrimination, coercion, and violence against women 

10 and girls in health care settings in such country, and 

11 the actions, if any, taken by the government of such 

12 country to respond to such discrimination, coercion, 

13 and violence, where applicable; and 

14 ‘‘(4) wherever applicable, a description of the 

15 proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15– 

16 49 years) who have their need for family planning 

17 satisfied with modern methods, the barriers to ac18 cess, and the nature and extent of instances of de19 nial of comprehensive and accurate family planning 

20 information and services in such country, and the 

21 actions, if any, taken by the government of such 

22 country to respond to such denials.’’. 

23 (b) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In preparing the 

24 Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices re25 quired under sections 116(d) and 502B of the Foreign AsVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707

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1 sistance Act of 1961 (as amended by subsection (a)), the 

2 Secretary of State, the Assistant Secretary of State for 

3 Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and other relevant 

4 officials, including human rights officers at United States 

5 diplomatic and consular posts, shall consult with— 

6 (1) representatives of United States civil society 

7 and multilateral organizations with demonstrated ex8 perience and expertise in sexual and reproductive 

9 health and rights or promoting women and girls’ 

10 human rights, including local civil society organiza11 tions whenever possible; and 

12 (2) relevant, local, non-governmental organiza13 tions in all countries included in such Reports, in14 cluding women and girls’ organizations focused on 

15 sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Æ 


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