IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 915 

Expressing the sense of the Congress in support of protecting patients’ 

access to medically appropriate, evidence-based healthcare and information, and the ethical and professional obligations of healthcare professionals to provide that care and information. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2018 

Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Ms. LEE, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mrs. 

LOWEY, and Mr. CROWLEY) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Congress in support of protecting 

patients’ access to medically appropriate, evidence-based 

healthcare and information, and the ethical and professional obligations of healthcare professionals to provide 

that care and information. 

Whereas since its creation nearly half a century ago, the family planning program under title X of the Public Health 

Service Act has provided family planning and related preventive healthcare services to those most in need, and the 

program has enjoyed broad bipartisan support; 

Whereas the title X program was created to assist in making 

comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily 

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•HRES 915 IH 

able public and nonprofit private entities to plan and develop comprehensive programs that provide these family 

planning services; 

Whereas the title X family planning program serves 4 million 

people each year, many of whom would otherwise be unable to access this healthcare; 

Whereas the title X family planning program helps ensure 

that every person, regardless of where they live, how 

much money they make, their background, or whether or 

not they have health insurance, has access to basic, preventive reproductive healthcare, such as birth control, 

cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and wellwoman exams; 

Whereas title X serves a racially and ethnically diverse patient base: at least 1⁄3 of patients are people of color and 

13 percent have limited proficiency in English; 

Whereas for decades, people receiving services supported by 

the title X program have been given the full range of information they need to make fully informed decisions 

about their own pregnancy options, including access to 

safe and legal abortion; 

Whereas efforts to stigmatize abortion care and providers of 

abortion care undermine patients’ ability to make fully 

informed healthcare decisions; 

Whereas the American Medical Association states in its Code 

of Medical Ethics that providers should ‘‘present relevant 

information accurately and sensitively, in keeping with 

the patient’s preferences’’ and that ‘‘withholding information without the patient’s knowledge or consent is ethically unacceptable’’; 


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Whereas the seminal 1982 Report of the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and 

in Biomedical and Behavioral Research states that ‘‘a 

physician is obliged to mention all alternative treatments, 

including those he or she does not provide or favor, so 

long as they are supported by respectable medical opinion’’; 

Whereas any policy that denies patients seeking care from 

title X-supported providers full and accurate information 

on and referral for healthcare services including abortion 

care violates basic medical ethics by forcing providers to 

withhold healthcare information from patients, and by 

denying patients’ basic right to informed consent; 

Whereas healthcare providers participating in the title X family planning program must not have limitations on providing full and accurate information in order to communicate freely and exercise the provider’s medical judgment 

to provide the safest and most beneficial medical treatment to the individual patient; and 

Whereas any policy that seeks to prevent healthcare providers 

participating in the title X family planning program from 

providing full and accurate information and referral for 

healthcare services threatens patient health, discourages 

honest conversation, and undermines the vital relationship between providers and patients, who rely upon their 

providers for complete and accurate information: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes that patients’ health should al3 ways come first, including that patients be able to 

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1 rate and evidence-based information about their full 

2 range of healthcare options, including information 

3 about access to safe and legal abortion; 

4 (2) urges the development and maintenance of 

5 trust between patients and healthcare providers by 

6 protecting providers’ ability to give complete medical 

7 advice and information, in order to ensure no harm 

8 to patient health; 

9 (3) encourages efforts to enhance patient qual10 ity of care and access to confidential and safe care 

11 for all patients; 

12 (4) supports efforts to promote the healthcare 

13 safety net; 

14 (5) recognizes that any nationwide gag rule 

15 prohibiting information flow between patient and 

16 provider represents a radical departure from how 

17 healthcare has operated in the United States, which 

18 fundamentally erodes patients’ right to informed 

19 consent, and providers’ ability to provide appropriate 

20 and adequate healthcare and information; and 

21 (6) opposes efforts seeking to limit access to 

22 and full information on reproductive healthcare op23 tions in contradiction with congressional intent for 


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•HRES 915 IH 

1 the family planning program under title X of the 

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

Æ 


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