I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4418 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a demonstration 

program to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention screening initiatives by health care providers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 

Ms. BONAMICI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a demonstration program to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention screening initiatives by health 

care providers. 

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 ‘‘Enhancing Questions 

5 to Understand Intentions for Pregnancy Act of 2017’’ or 

6 the ‘‘EQUIP Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIATIVE 

2 DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

3 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new sections: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 399V–7. PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIA7 TIVE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, 

9 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

10 and Prevention, shall establish a demonstration program 

11 to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention 

12 screening initiatives by health care providers. 

13 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary may carry out the 

14 demonstration program through awarding grants to eligi15 ble entities to implement pregnancy intention screening 

16 initiatives, collect data, and evaluate such initiatives. 

17 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity under 

19 this section is an entity described in paragraph (2) 

20 that provides non-directive, comprehensive, medically 

21 accurate information. 

22 ‘‘(2) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 

23 paragraph (1), an entity described in this paragraph 

24 is a community-based organization, voluntary health 

25 organization, public health department, community 


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1 health center, or other interested public or private 

2 health care provider or organization. 

3 ‘‘(d) PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIA4 TIVE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘pregnancy 

5 intention screening initiative’ means any initiative by a 

6 health care provider to routinely screen women with re7 spect to their pregnancy intentions and goals to either pre8 vent unintended pregnancies or improve the likelihood of 

9 healthy pregnancies, in order to better provide health care 

10 that meets the contraceptive or pre-pregnancy needs of 

11 such women. 

12 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

15 Control and Prevention, shall, by grant or contract, 

16 and after consultation as described in paragraph (2), 

17 conduct an evaluation of the demonstration pro18 gram, with respect to pregnancy intention screening 

19 initiatives, conducted under this section. The evalua20 tion shall include: 

21 ‘‘(A) Assessment of the implementation of 

22 pregnancy intention screening protocols among 

23 a diverse group of patients and providers, in24 cluding collecting data on the experiences and 


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1 outcomes for diverse patient populations in a 

2 variety of clinical settings. 

3 ‘‘(B) Analysis of outcome measures that 

4 will facilitate effective and widespread adoption 

5 of such protocols by health care providers for 

6 inquiring about and responding to pregnancy 

7 intentions of women with both contraceptive 

8 and pre-pregnancy care. 

9 ‘‘(C) Consideration of health disparities 

10 among the population served. 

11 ‘‘(D) Assessment of the equitable and vol12 untary application of such initiatives to minor13 ity and medically underserved communities. 

14 ‘‘(E) Assessment of the training, capacity, 

15 and ongoing technical assistance needed for 

16 providers to effectively implement such preg17 nancy intention screening protocols. 

18 ‘‘(F) Assessment of whether referral sys19 tems for selected protocols follow evidence-based 

20 standards that ensure access to comprehensive 

21 health services and appropriate follow-up care. 

22 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT, EXPERT ADVISORY

23 PANEL.—In conducting the evaluation under para24 graph (1), the Director of the Centers for Disease 

25 Control and Prevention shall consult with physiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Nov 21, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4418.IH H4418

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1 cians, physician assistants, and nurses who spe2 cialize in women’s health, and other experts in clin3 ical practice, program evaluation, and research. 

4 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

5 the last day of the demonstration program under 

6 this section, the Director of the Centers for Disease 

7 Control and Prevention shall submit to Congress a 

8 report on the results of the evaluation conducted 

9 under paragraph (1) and shall make the report pub10 licly available. 

11 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 To carry out this section, there is authorized to be 

14 appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

15 2018 through 2020. 

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 25 percent 

17 of funds appropriated to carry out this section pur18 suant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal year may be used 

19 for purposes of the evaluation under subsection 

20 (e).’’. 

Æ 


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