I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2180 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that women members 

of the Armed Forces and their families have access to the contraception 

they need in order to promote the health and readiness of all members 

of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. DELBENE, Miss RICE of New 

York, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. CICILLINE, 

Mr. TAKANO, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MCNERNEY, 

Mr. HECK, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. KILMER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. ELLISON, 

Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. MOORE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. BERA, Ms. 

ESHOO, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HIMES, Mr. 

BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. PRICE

of North Carolina, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. LEE, 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. DELANEY, 

Ms. ESTY of Connecticut, Ms. TITUS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

CORREA, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. MATSUI, and Mr. SWALWELL of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that 

women members of the Armed Forces and their families 

have access to the contraception they need in order to 

promote the health and readiness of all members of 

the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Access to Contracep5 tion for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 

6 2017’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 

9 (1) Women are serving in the Armed Forces at 

10 increasing rates, playing a critical role in the na11 tional security of the United States. Women com12 prise just over 15 percent of military service mem13 bers and more than 200,000 women serve on active 

14 duty in the Armed Forces or in the Selected Re15 serve. 

16 (2) More than 95 percent of women serving in 

17 the military are of reproductive age. And approxi18 mately 1.1 million female spouses and dependents of 

19 active duty military personnel are of reproductive 

20 age. 

21 (3) TRICARE covered 1.4 million women of re22 productive age in 2015, including female spouses 

23 and dependents of active duty military personnel. 

24 For 900,000 of these women, TRICARE was their 

25 only source of coverage. 


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1 (4) Contraception is critical for women’s health 

2 and is highly effective at reducing unintended preg3 nancy. The Centers for Disease Control and Preven4 tion describe contraception as one of the 10 greatest 

5 public health achievements of the twentieth century. 

6 (5) Contraceptive access is strongly connected 

7 to women’s greater educational and professional op8 portunities and increased lifetime earnings. In9 creased wages and increased control over reproduc10 tive decisions provide women with educational and 

11 professional opportunities that have increased gen12 der equality over the decades since contraception 

13 was introduced. 

14 (6) Studies have shown that when cost barriers 

15 to the full range of methods of contraception are 

16 eliminated, and women receive comprehensive coun17 seling on the various methods of contraception (in18 cluding highly effective and more expensive Long19 Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs)), rates of 

20 unintended pregnancy decline. Costs can be prohibi21 tive, particularly for LARCs which can have high 

22 upfront costs. 

23 (7) Research has also shown that investments 

24 in effective contraception save public and private 

25 dollars. 


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1 (8) In order to fill gaps in coverage and access 

2 to preventive care critical for women’s health, the 

3 Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires, all non-grand4 fathered individual and group health plans to cover 

5 without cost-sharing preventive services, including a 

6 set of evidence-based preventive services for women 

7 supported by the Health Resources and Services Ad8 ministration (HRSA). These women’s preventive 

9 services include the full range of female-controlled 

10 U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved con11 traceptive methods, effective family planning prac12 tices, and sterilization procedures. HRSA has af13 firmed that contraceptive care includes contraceptive 

14 counseling, initiation of contraceptive use, and fol15 low-up care (e.g., management, and evaluation as 

16 well as changes to and removal or discontinuation of 

17 the contraceptive method). 

18 (9) Under the TRICARE program, service19 women on active duty have full coverage of all pre20 scription drugs, including contraception, without 

21 cost-sharing requirements. However, servicewomen 

22 not on active duty and female dependents of mem23 bers of the Armed Forces do not have similar cov24 erage of all prescription methods of contraception 


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1 approved by the Food and Drug Administration 

2 without cost-sharing. 

3 (10) Studies indicate that servicewomen need 

4 comprehensive counseling for pregnancy prevention, 

5 particularly in their predeployment preparations, 

6 and the lack thereof is contributing to unintended 

7 pregnancies among servicewomen. 

8 (11) Research studies based on the Department 

9 of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors 

10 Among Active Duty Military Personnel found a high 

11 unintended rate of pregnancy among servicewomen. 

12 Adjusting for the difference between age distribu13 tions in the Armed Forces and the general popu14 lation, the rate of unintended pregnancy among 

15 servicewomen is higher than among the general pop16 ulation. 

17 (12) The Defense Advisory Committee on 

18 Women in the Services (DACOWITS) has rec19 ommended that all the Armed Forces, to the extent 

20 that they have not already, implement initiatives 

21 that inform servicemembers of the importance of 

22 family planning, educate them on methods of contra23 ception, and make various methods of contraception 

24 available, based on the finding that family planning 


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1 can increase the overall readiness and quality of life 

2 of all members of the military. 

3 (13) Health care, including family planning for 

4 survivors of sexual assault in the Armed Forces is 

5 a critical issue, particularly given the prevalence of 

6 sexual assault in the military. Recent data show that 

7 women in the military are five times more likely to 

8 be victims of sexual assault than men. Servicewomen 

9 who are survivors of sexual assault should not be 

10 treated differently from civilian survivors. The De11 partment of Defense reported that there were over 

12 3,000 reported sexual assaults involving service 

13 members in fiscal year 2011. 

14 (14) Servicewomen on active duty report rates 

15 of unwanted sexual contact at approximately 16 

16 times those of the comparable general population of 

17 women in the United States. Through regulations, 

18 the Department of Defense already supports a policy 

19 of ensuring that servicewomen who are sexually as20 saulted have access to emergency contraception. 

21 SEC. 3. CONTRACEPTION COVERAGE PARITY UNDER THE 

22 TRICARE PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1074d of title 10, United 

24 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘FOR MEM2 BERS AND FORMER MEMBERS’’ after ‘‘SERVICES

3 AVAILABLE’’; 

4 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub5 section (d); and 

6 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol7 lowing new subsections: 

8 ‘‘(b) CARE RELATED TO PREVENTION OF PREG9 NANCY.—Female covered beneficiaries shall be entitled to 

10 care related to the prevention of pregnancy described by 

11 subsection (d)(3). 

12 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON COST-SHARING FOR CERTAIN

13 SERVICES.—Notwithstanding section 1074g(a)(6), section 

14 1075, or section 1075a of this title or any other provision 

15 of law, cost-sharing may not be imposed or collected for 

16 care related to the prevention of pregnancy provided pur17 suant to subsection (a) or (b), including for any method 

18 of contraception provided, whether provided through a fa19 cility of the uniformed services, the TRICARE retail phar20 macy program, or the national mail-order pharmacy pro21 gram.’’. 

22 (b) CARE RELATED TO PREVENTION OF PREG23 NANCY.—Subsection (d)(3) of such section, as redesig24 nated by subsection (a)(2) of this section, is further 

25 amended by inserting before the period at the end the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Apr 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2180.IH H2180

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1 lowing: ‘‘(including all methods of contraception approved 

2 by the Food and Drug Administration, contraceptive care 

3 (including with respect to insertion, removal, and follow 

4 up), sterilization procedures, and patient education and 

5 counseling in connection therewith)’’. 

6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

7 1077(a)(13) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘section 

8 1074d(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1074d(d)’’. 

9 SEC. 4. EDUCATION ON FAMILY PLANNING FOR MEMBERS 

10 OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

11 (a) EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary of Defense shall establish a uniform standard 

15 curriculum that will be used in education programs 

16 on family planning for all members of the Armed 

17 Forces, including both men and women members. 

18 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

19 Congress that the education programs should use 

20 the latest technology available to efficiently and ef21 fectively deliver information to members of the 

22 Armed Forces. 

23 (b) ELEMENTS.—The uniform standard curriculum 

24 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 


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1 (1) Information for members of the Armed 

2 Forces on active duty to make informed decisions re3 garding family planning. 

4 (2) Information about the prevention of unin5 tended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infec6 tions, including human immunodeficiency virus 

7 (HIV). 

8 (3) Information on the importance of providing 

9 comprehensive family planning for members of the 

10 Armed Forces, and their commanding officers, and 

11 on the positive impact family planning can have on 

12 the health and readiness of the Armed Forces. 

13 (4) Current, medically accurate information. 

14 (5) Clear, user-friendly information on the full 

15 range of methods of contraception and where mem16 bers of the Armed Forces can access their chosen 

17 method of contraception. 

18 (6) Information on all applicable laws and poli19 cies so that members are informed of their rights 

20 and obligations. 

21 (7) Information on patients’ rights to confiden22 tiality. 

23 (8) Information on the unique circumstances 

24 encountered by members of the Armed Forces, and 


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1 the effects of such circumstances on the use of con2 traception. 

3 SEC. 5. PREGNANCY PREVENTION ASSISTANCE AT MILI4 TARY TREATMENT FACILITIES FOR WOMEN 

5 WHO ARE SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS. 

6 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro7 vide in statute, and to enhance, existing regulations that 

8 require health care providers at military treatment facili9 ties to consult with survivors of sexual assault once clini10 cally stable regarding options for emergency contraception 

11 and any necessary follow-up care, including the provision 

12 of the emergency contraception. 

13 (b) IN GENERAL.—The assistance specified in sub14 section (c) shall be provided at every military treatment 

15 facility to the following: 

16 (1) Any woman who presents at a military 

17 treatment facility and states to personnel of the fa18 cility that she is a victim of sexual assault or is ac19 companied by another individual who states that the 

20 woman is a victim of sexual assault. 

21 (2) Any woman who presents at a military 

22 treatment facility and is reasonably believed by per23 sonnel of such facility to be a survivor of sexual as24 sault. 

25 (c) ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The assistance specified in 

2 this subsection shall include the following: 

3 (A) The prompt provision by appropriate 

4 staff of the military treatment facility of com5 prehensive, medically and factually accurate, 

6 and unbiased written and oral information 

7 about all methods of emergency contraception 

8 approved by the Food and Drug Administra9 tion. 

10 (B) The prompt provision by such staff of 

11 emergency contraception to a woman upon her 

12 request. 

13 (C) Notification to the woman of her right 

14 to confidentiality in the receipt of care and 

15 services pursuant to this section. 

16 (2) NATURE OF INFORMATION.—The informa17 tion provided pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) shall be 

18 provided in language that is clear and concise, is 

19 readily comprehensible, and meets such conditions 

20 (including conditions regarding the provision of in21 formation in languages other than English) as the 

22 Secretary may provide in the regulations under this 

23 section. 

Æ 


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