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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9807 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9807

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program to 
 provide surge capacity for providers faced with increased unmet need 
                        for contraceptive care.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2024

Ms. Caraveo (for herself, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Williams of 
Georgia, Ms. Manning, Mrs. Peltola, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Norton, Ms. Bush, 
Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Allred, Ms. Pettersen, and Ms. Titus) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program to 
 provide surge capacity for providers faced with increased unmet need 
                        for contraceptive care.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Access to 
Contraceptive Care Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Nearly 9 in 10 women of reproductive age have used 
        contraception, and nearly 9 in 10 adults agree that everyone 
        deserves access to the full range of birth control methods, no 
        matter who they are, where they live, or their economic status.
            (2) More than 19,000,000 women, plus more transgender and 
        nonbinary individuals, of reproductive age in the United States 
        live in contraceptive deserts, meaning they lack reasonable 
        access in their county to a health center offering the full 
        range of contraceptive methods.
            (3) Additionally, 1,200,000 of such women live in a county 
        without a single health center offering the full range of 
        contraceptive methods.
            (4) Research shows that Black women are more likely to live 
        in a contraceptive desert, and face barriers accessing 
        pharmacies.
            (5) Systemic racism, discrimination, and lack of access to 
        comprehensive sex education exacerbates severe health 
        inequities and creates additional barriers to accessing 
        contraception.
            (6) Due to high uninsured rates and barriers, Hispanic 
        women with low incomes experience a significantly higher rate 
        of unintended pregnancy, of 58 percent, compared to their White 
        counterparts, with a rate of 33 percent.
            (7) A 2023 study found that among people who identified as 
        Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander, Black or 
        African American, Indigenous, Latina, or Latinx, 45 percent of 
        respondents reported experiencing at least one challenge 
        accessing contraception in the past year.
            (8) To address the challenges in accessing contraceptive 
        care, proper investments need to be made to improve 
        availability to such care nationwide, with a particular focus 
        in the counties where health centers currently do not offer the 
        full range of methods.
            (9) The family planning safety net has been chronically 
        underfunded and is in dire need of significant additional 
        investment. The family planning program under title X of the 
        Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.) has been 
        funded at the same level for a decade, and needs more than 3 
        times the current funding level to meet the demonstrated need. 
        However, even if such program were fully funded, there would 
        still be factors that strain provider capacity and limit the 
        ability to meet the needs of contraception patients.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVE CARE.

    Subpart V of part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 256 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 340A-1. GRANTS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVE CARE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a grant program 
consisting of awarding grants to eligible entities to increase their 
capacity to provide contraceptive care to individuals seeking to access 
contraceptive care within or outside of their States of residence.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an entity shall--
            ``(1) be a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility, 
        university, nonprofit organization, community-based 
        organization, State or local governmental entity, or Tribal 
        government that, through programs, services, or activities that 
        are unbiased and medically and factually accurate--
                    ``(A) provides or refers for abortion services; or
                    ``(B) provides unbiased information and counseling 
                about abortion; and
            ``(2) be in a State, the District of Columbia, or a 
        commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.
    ``(c) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities--
            ``(1) in States that, as determined by the Secretary, can 
        demonstrate an increased unmet need for contraceptive services; 
        and
            ``(2) which, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        have received a grant under title X of the Public Health 
        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.).
    ``(d) Authorized Activities.--A grant under this section may be 
used for any of the following supplies, equipment, or services related 
to providing contraceptive care:
            ``(1) Providing patient education on all methods of 
        contraception approved, granted marketing authorization, or 
        cleared under the Federal Food Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or 
        licensed under section 351 of this Act.
            ``(2) Purchasing of contraceptive supplies, including 
        emergency contraception.
            ``(3) Providing person-centered contraceptive counseling.
            ``(4) Based on the outcome of counseling under paragraph 
        (3), as the patient is interested, provide contraception free 
        from coercion, including hormonal contraception medication and 
        devices, barrier contraception, and emergency contraception.
            ``(5) Administering telehealth services, which may include 
        audio, video, and text messaging services.
            ``(6) Contracting or hiring clinical and nonclinical 
        support staff, and other relevant health care personnel.
            ``(7) Creating and disseminating medically-accurate, 
        culturally- and linguistically-appropriate, accessible 
        educational materials and resources on contraception and 
        contraceptive care for patients.
            ``(8) Interpretation and translation services.
            ``(9) Contraception referrals and counseling.
            ``(10) Follow-up contraceptive care, including the 
        management, evaluation, and changes, including the removal, 
        continuation, and discontinuation, of contraception.
    ``(e) Application.--To seek a grant under this section, an eligible 
entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
require, including a plan for increasing capacity as described in 
subsection (a).
    ``(f) Prohibition Against Exclusion of Qualified Eligible 
Entities.--No Federal agency, grantee, subrecipient, or other entity 
shall, in the course of administering or carrying out any program or 
activity under this section, act in a manner which has the effect of 
excluding, limiting, or restricting the participation of any entity 
that would otherwise be eligible to apply for funds, on the basis of 
any factor unrelated to the entity's qualifications to effectively 
carry out the program or activity.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Contraceptive care.--The term `contraceptive care' 
        means education, person-centered counseling, and provision of 
        any method of contraception approved, granted marketing 
        authorization, or cleared under the Federal Food Drug, and 
        Cosmetic Act, or licensed under section 351 of this Act, 
        including emergency contraception.
            ``(2) Contraception.--The term `contraception' means a 
        device, medication, procedure, or behavior that is intended to 
        prevent pregnancy. Such term includes any device, medication, 
        procedure, or behavior listed in the most recently published 
        Birth Control Guide published by the Food and Drug 
        Administration, including--
                    ``(A) sterilization surgery for women;
                    ``(B) implantable rods;
                    ``(C) copper intrauterine devices;
                    ``(D) intrauterine devices with progestin;
                    ``(E) injectable contraceptives;
                    ``(F) oral contraceptives (combined pill);
                    ``(G) oral contraceptives (progestin only);
                    ``(H) oral contraceptives (extended or continuous 
                use);
                    ``(I) contraceptive patch;
                    ``(J) vaginal contraceptive rings;
                    ``(K) diaphragms;
                    ``(L) contraceptive sponges;
                    ``(M) cervical caps;
                    ``(N) condoms;
                    ``(O) spermicides;
                    ``(P) emergency contraception (levonorgestrel);
                    ``(Q) emergency contraception (ulipristal acetate); 
                and
                    ``(R) any additional contraceptives approved, 
                granted marketing authorization, or cleared under the 
                Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or licensed under 
                section 351 of this Act.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2025 through 2029.''.
                                 <all>
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