I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Strengthening Access 

5 to Contraceptive Care Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Nearly 9 in 10 women of reproductive age 

2 have used contraception, and nearly 9 in 10 adults 

3 agree that everyone deserves access to the full range 

4 of birth control methods, no matter who they are, 

5 where they live, or their economic status. 

6 (2) More than 19,000,000 women, plus more 

7 transgender and nonbinary individuals, of reproduc8 tive age in the United States live in contraceptive 

9 deserts, meaning they lack reasonable access in their 

10 county to a health center offering the full range of 

11 contraceptive methods. 

12 (3) Additionally, 1,200,000 of such women live 

13 in a county without a single health center offering 

14 the full range of contraceptive methods. 

15 (4) Research shows that Black women are more 

16 likely to live in a contraceptive desert, and face bar17 riers accessing pharmacies. 

18 (5) Systemic racism, discrimination, and lack of 

19 access to comprehensive sex education exacerbates 

20 severe health inequities and creates additional bar21 riers to accessing contraception. 

22 (6) Due to high uninsured rates and barriers, 

23 Hispanic women with low incomes experience a sig24 nificantly higher rate of unintended pregnancy, of 58 


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1 percent, compared to their White counterparts, with 

2 a rate of 33 percent. 

3 (7) A 2023 study found that among people who 

4 identified as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or 

5 Pacific Islander, Black or African American, Indige6 nous, Latina, or Latinx, 45 percent of respondents 

7 reported experiencing at least one challenge access8 ing contraception in the past year. 

9 (8) To address the challenges in accessing con10 traceptive care, proper investments need to be made 

11 to improve availability to such care nationwide, with 

12 a particular focus in the counties where health cen13 ters currently do not offer the full range of methods. 

14 (9) The family planning safety net has been 

15 chronically underfunded and is in dire need of sig16 nificant additional investment. The family planning 

17 program under title X of the Public Health Service 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.) has been funded at the 

19 same level for a decade, and needs more than 3 

20 times the current funding level to meet the dem21 onstrated need. However, even if such program were 

22 fully funded, there would still be factors that strain 

23 provider capacity and limit the ability to meet the 

24 needs of contraception patients. 


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1 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVE 

2 CARE. 

3 Subpart V of part D of title III of the Public Health 

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 340A–1. GRANTS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO CONTRA7 CEPTIVE CARE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

9 grant program consisting of awarding grants to eligible 

10 entities to increase their capacity to provide contraceptive 

11 care to individuals seeking to access contraceptive care 

12 within or outside of their States of residence. 

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 

14 a grant under this section, an entity shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) be a hospital, clinic, or other health care 

16 facility, university, nonprofit organization, commu17 nity-based organization, State or local governmental 

18 entity, or Tribal government that, through pro19 grams, services, or activities that are unbiased and 

20 medically and factually accurate— 

21 ‘‘(A) provides or refers for abortion serv22 ices; or 

23 ‘‘(B) provides unbiased information and 

24 counseling about abortion; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) be in a State, the District of Columbia, or 

2 a commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

3 United States. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec5 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities— 

6 ‘‘(1) in States that, as determined by the Sec7 retary, can demonstrate an increased unmet need for 

8 contraceptive services; and 

9 ‘‘(2) which, as of the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act, have received a grant under title X of the 

11 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.). 

12 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A grant under this 

13 section may be used for any of the following supplies, 

14 equipment, or services related to providing contraceptive 

15 care: 

16 ‘‘(1) Providing patient education on all methods 

17 of contraception approved, granted marketing au18 thorization, or cleared under the Federal Food 

19 Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or licensed under section 

20 351 of this Act. 

21 ‘‘(2) Purchasing of contraceptive supplies, in22 cluding emergency contraception. 

23 ‘‘(3) Providing person-centered contraceptive 

24 counseling. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Based on the outcome of counseling under 

2 paragraph (3), as the patient is interested, provide 

3 contraception free from coercion, including hormonal 

4 contraception medication and devices, barrier contra5 ception, and emergency contraception. 

6 ‘‘(5) Administering telehealth services, which 

7 may include audio, video, and text messaging serv8 ices. 

9 ‘‘(6) Contracting or hiring clinical and nonclin10 ical support staff, and other relevant health care 

11 personnel. 

12 ‘‘(7) Creating and disseminating medically-ac13 curate, culturally- and linguistically-appropriate, ac14 cessible educational materials and resources on con15 traception and contraceptive care for patients. 

16 ‘‘(8) Interpretation and translation services. 

17 ‘‘(9) Contraception referrals and counseling. 

18 ‘‘(10) Follow-up contraceptive care, including 

19 the management, evaluation, and changes, including 

20 the removal, continuation, and discontinuation, of 

21 contraception. 

22 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec23 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

24 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

25 such information as the Secretary may require, including 


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1 a plan for increasing capacity as described in subsection 

2 (a). 

3 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION AGAINST EXCLUSION OF QUALI4 FIED ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—No Federal agency, grantee, 

5 subrecipient, or other entity shall, in the course of admin6 istering or carrying out any program or activity under this 

7 section, act in a manner which has the effect of excluding, 

8 limiting, or restricting the participation of any entity that 

9 would otherwise be eligible to apply for funds, on the basis 

10 of any factor unrelated to the entity’s qualifications to ef11 fectively carry out the program or activity. 

12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) CONTRACEPTIVE CARE.—The term ‘con14 traceptive care’ means education, person-centered 

15 counseling, and provision of any method of contra16 ception approved, granted marketing authorization, 

17 or cleared under the Federal Food Drug, and Cos18 metic Act, or licensed under section 351 of this Act, 

19 including emergency contraception. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONTRACEPTION.—The term ‘contracep21 tion’ means a device, medication, procedure, or be22 havior that is intended to prevent pregnancy. Such 

23 term includes any device, medication, procedure, or 

24 behavior listed in the most recently published Birth 


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1 Control Guide published by the Food and Drug Ad2 ministration, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) sterilization surgery for women; 

4 ‘‘(B) implantable rods; 

5 ‘‘(C) copper intrauterine devices; 

6 ‘‘(D) intrauterine devices with progestin; 

7 ‘‘(E) injectable contraceptives; 

8 ‘‘(F) oral contraceptives (combined pill); 

9 ‘‘(G) oral contraceptives (progestin only); 

10 ‘‘(H) oral contraceptives (extended or con11 tinuous use); 

12 ‘‘(I) contraceptive patch; 

13 ‘‘(J) vaginal contraceptive rings; 

14 ‘‘(K) diaphragms; 

15 ‘‘(L) contraceptive sponges; 

16 ‘‘(M) cervical caps; 

17 ‘‘(N) condoms; 

18 ‘‘(O) spermicides; 

19 ‘‘(P) emergency contraception 

20 (levonorgestrel); 

21 ‘‘(Q) emergency contraception (ulipristal 

22 acetate); and 

23 ‘‘(R) any additional contraceptives ap24 proved, granted marketing authorization, or 

25 cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and 


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1 Cosmetic Act or licensed under section 351 of 

2 this Act. 

3 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

4 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro5 priated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

6 through 2029.’’. 

Æ 


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