I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3326

To establish a public education and awareness program relating to emergency 

contraception. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2005

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. 

ALLEN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, 

Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, 

Mr. DICKS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HOLT, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. 

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. LOWEY, 

Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MILLENDERMCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

SHAYS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 

STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. WOOLSEY) 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Contracep3 tion Education Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) Each year, 3,000,000 pregnancies, or one 

7 half of all pregnancies, in the United States are un8 intended, and half of all of these unintended preg9 nancies end in abortion. 

10 (2) The Food and Drug Administration has de11 clared emergency contraception to be safe and effec12 tive in preventing unintended pregnancy. 

13 (3) The most commonly used forms of emer14 gency contraception are regimens of ordinary birth 

15 control pills. Taken within 72 hours of unprotected 

16 intercourse or contraceptive failure, emergency con17 traception can reduce the risk of pregnancy by as 

18 much as 89 percent. Recent medical evidence con19 firms that emergency contraception can be effective 

20 up to five days after unprotected intercourse or con21 traception failure. 

22 (4) Emergency contraception, also known as 

23 post-coital contraception, is a responsible means of 

24 preventing pregnancy that works like other hormonal 

25 contraception to delay ovulation, prevent fertilization 

26 or prevent implantation. 
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1 (5) Emergency contraception does not cause 

2 abortion and will not affect an established preg3 nancy. 

4 (6) It is estimated that the use of emergency 

5 contraception could cut the number of unintended 

6 pregnancies in half, thereby reducing the need for 

7 abortion. 

8 (7) New data from the Alan Guttmacher Insti9 tute estimates that 51,000 abortions were prevented 

10 by use of emergency contraception in 2000 and that 

11 increased use of emergency contraception accounted 

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

13 rates between 1994 and 2000. 

14 (8) Emergency contraceptive use in the United 

15 States remains low, and 9 in 10 women of reproduc16 tive age remain unaware of the method. 

17 (9) Although the American College of Obstetri18 cians and Gynecologists recommends that doctors 

19 routinely offer women of reproductive age a prescrip20 tion for emergency contraceptive pills during their 

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

22 emergency contraception with their patients, sug23 gesting the need for greater provider and patient 

24 education. 
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1 (10) A recent study conducted by Ibis Repro2 ductive Health found that less than 18 percent of 

3 hospitals provide emergency contraception at a wom4 an’s request without restrictions. At nearly 50 per5 cent of hospitals, emergency contraception is un6 available even in cases of sexual assault. Further7 more, among hospitals that said emergency contra8 ception was unavailable, approximately half either 

9 refused to give a referral or gave an invalid referral. 

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

11 the American Medical Association and the American 

12 College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have en13 dorsed more widespread availability of emergency 

14 contraceptive pills, and have recommended that dedi15 cated emergency contraceptive products be available 

16 without a prescription. 

17 (12) Healthy People 2010, published by the Of18 fice of the Surgeon General, establishes a 10-year 

19 national public health goal of increasing the propor20 tion of health care providers who provide emergency 

21 contraception to their patients. 

22 (13) Public awareness campaigns targeting 

23 women and health care providers will help remove 

24 many of the barriers to emergency contraception and 
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1 will help bring this important means of pregnancy 

2 prevention to American women. 

3 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION EDUCATION AND IN4 FORMATION PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION.—The term 

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

8 (as the terms are defined in section 201 of the Fed9 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321)) 

10 or a drug regimen that is—

11 (A) used after sexual relations; and 

12 (B) prevents pregnancy, by preventing ovu13 lation, fertilization of an egg, or implantation of 

14 an egg in a uterus. 

15 (2) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

16 ‘‘health care provider’’ means an individual who is li17 censed or certified under State law to provide health 

18 care services and who is operating within the scope 

19 of such license. 

20 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

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

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

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

25 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
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1 (b) EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION PUBLIC EDU2 CATION PROGRAM.—

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

4 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

5 Control and Prevention, shall develop and dissemi6 nate to the public information on emergency contra7 ception. 

8 (2) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary may dis9 seminate information under paragraph (1) directly 

10 or through arrangements with nonprofit organiza11 tions, consumer groups, institutions of higher edu12 cation, Federal, State, or local agencies, clinics and 

13 the media. 

14 (3) INFORMATION.—The information dissemi15 nated under paragraph (1) shall include, at a min16 imum, a description of emergency contraception, and 

17 an explanation of the use, safety, efficacy, and avail18 ability of such contraception. 

19 (c) EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION INFORMATION

20 PROGRAM FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.—

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

22 through the Administrator of the Health Resources 

23 and Services Administration and in consultation 

24 with major medical and public health organizations, 
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1 shall develop and disseminate to health care pro2 viders information on emergency contraception. 

3 (2) INFORMATION.—The information dissemi4 nated under paragraph (1) shall include, at a min5 imum—

6 (A) information describing the use, safety, 

7 efficacy and availability of emergency contra8 ception; 

9 (B) a recommendation regarding the use of 

10 such contraception in appropriate cases; and 

11 (C) information explaining how to obtain 

12 copies of the information developed under sub13 section (b), for distribution to the patients of 

14 the providers. 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

17 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.

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