I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1812

To establish a public education and awareness program relating to emergency 

contraception. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

DINGELL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. KILPATRICK, 

Ms. LEE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. OLVER, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. SHERMAN, Mrs. LOWEY, 

Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. KUCINICH) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To establish a public education and awareness program 

relating to emergency contraception.

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 ‘‘Emergency Contracep5 tion Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) Each year, 3,000,000 pregnancies, or one 

2 half of all pregnancies, in the United States are un3 intended, and half of all of these unintended preg4 nancies end in abortion. 

5 (2) The Food and Drug Administration has de6 clared emergency contraception to be safe and effec7 tive in preventing unintended pregnancy. 

8 (3) The most commonly used forms of emer9 gency contraception are regimens of ordinary birth 

10 control pills. Taken within 72 hours of unprotected 

11 intercourse or contraceptive failure, emergency con12 traception can reduce the risk of pregnancy by as 

13 much as 89 percent. Recent medical evidence con14 firms that emergency contraception can be effective 

15 up to five days after unprotected intercourse or con16 traception failure. 

17 (4) Emergency contraception, also known as 

18 post-coital contraception, is a responsible means of 

19 preventing pregnancy that works like other hormonal 

20 contraception to delay ovulation, prevent fertilization 

21 or prevent implantation. 

22 (5) Emergency contraception does not cause 

23 abortion and will not affect an established preg24 nancy. 
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1 (6) It is estimated that the use of emergency 

2 contraception could cut the number of unintended 

3 pregnancies in half, thereby reducing the need for 

4 abortion. 

5 (7) New data from the Alan Guttmacher Insti6 tute estimates that 51,000 abortions were prevented 

7 by use of emergency contraception in 2000 and that 

8 increased use of emergency contraception accounted 

9 for up to 43 percent of the total decline in abortion 

10 rates between 1994 and 2000. 

11 (8) Emergency contraceptive use is the United 

12 States remains low, and 9 in 10 women of reproduc13 tive age remain unaware of the method. 

14 (9) Although the American College of Obstetri15 cians and Gynecologists recommends that doctors 

16 routinely offer women of reproductive age a prescrip17 tion for emergency contraceptive pills during their 

18 annual visit, only 1 in 5 ob/gyns routinely discuss 

19 emergency contraception with their patients, sug20 gesting the need for greater provider and patient 

21 education. 

22 (10) In light of their safety and efficacy, both 

23 the American Medical Association and the American 

24 College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have en25 dorsed more widespread availability of emergency 
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1 contraceptive pills, and have recommended that dedi2 cated emergency contraceptive products be available 

3 without a prescription. 

4 (11) Healthy People 2010, published by the Of5 fice of the Surgeon General, establishes a 10-year 

6 national public health goal of increasing the propor7 tion of health care providers who provide emergency 

8 contraception to their patients. 

9 (12) Public awareness campaigns targeting 

10 women and health care providers will help remove 

11 many of the barriers to emergency contraception and 

12 will help bring this important means of pregnancy 

13 prevention to American women. 

14 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION EDUCATION AND IN15 FORMATION PROGRAMS. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION.—The term 

18 ‘‘emergency contraception’’ means a drug or device 

19 (as the terms are defined in section 201 of the Fed20 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321)) 

21 or a drug regimen that is—

22 (A) used after sexual relations; and 

23 (B) prevents pregnancy, by preventing ovu24 lation, fertilization of an egg, or implantation of 

25 an egg in a uterus. 
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1 (2) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘health care provider’’ means an individual who is li3 censed or certified under State law to provide health 

4 care services and who is operating within the scope 

5 of such license. 

6 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the same 

8 meaning given such term in section 1201(a) of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)). 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

12 (b) EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION PUBLIC EDU13 CATION PROGRAM.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

15 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

16 Control and Prevention, shall develop and dissemi17 nate to the public information on emergency contra18 ception. 

19 (2) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary may dis20 seminate information under paragraph (1) directly 

21 or through arrangements with nonprofit organiza22 tions, consumer groups, institutions of higher edu23 cation, Federal, State, or local agencies, clinics and 

24 the media. 
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1 (3) INFORMATION.—The information dissemi2 nated under paragraph (1) shall include, at a min3 imum, a description of emergency contraception, and 

4 an explanation of the use, safety, efficacy, and avail5 ability of such contraception. 

6 (c) EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION INFORMATION

7 PROGRAM FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

9 through the Administrator of the Health Resources 

10 and Services Administration and in consultation 

11 with major medical and public health organizations, 

12 shall develop and disseminate to health care pro13 viders information on emergency contraception. 

14 (2) INFORMATION.—The information dissemi15 nated under paragraph (1) shall include, at a min16 imum—

17 (A) information describing the use, safety, 

18 efficacy and availability of emergency contra19 ception; 

20 (B) a recommendation regarding the use of 

21 such contraception in appropriate cases; and 

22 (C) information explaining how to obtain 

23 copies of the information developed under sub24 section (b), for distribution to the patients of 

25 the providers. 
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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

3 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.

Æ