I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7059 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program 

to increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual 

and reproductive health care, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2024 

Ms. CARAVEO (for herself, Ms. CHU, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. WILD, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. SALINAS, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. TITUS, Ms. 

CRAIG, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. MCCLELLAN, 

Ms. ADAMS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, 

Ms. ROSS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. TRONE, Mr. FROST, Ms. 

BROWNLEY, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. LEE of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. DAVIS

of Illinois, Ms. MENG, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. 

KHANNA, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mrs. SYKES, Mr. SORENSEN, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. IVEY, Mr. 

CARSON, Mr. COHEN, and Ms. BALINT) 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 increase capacity for providing abortion 

services and other sexual and reproductive health care, 

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 ‘‘Abortion Care Capac5 ity Enhancement and Support Services Act of 2024’’ or 

6 the ‘‘ACCESS Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) On June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson 

10 Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court 

11 overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed the 

12 constitutional right to abortion. Following the deci13 sion, States were able to increase restrictions or ban 

14 access to abortion, which has exacerbated the abor15 tion access crisis. Under this legal framework, abor16 tion access varies widely by State. 

17 (2) Compared to April 2022, the number of 

18 abortions per month by June 2023 had dropped to 

19 zero in at least 12 States with abortion bans in 

20 place, while other States saw increases of over 2,000 

21 abortions. 

22 (3) States that do not have an abortion ban or 

23 restrictions have experienced increased numbers of 

24 out-of-State patients seeking abortion services. Pa25 tients traveling for abortion services doubled in reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:38 Jan 25, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7059.IH H7059

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1 cent years with one in five patients crossing State 

2 lines to obtain an abortion in 2023, compared to one 

3 in ten in 2020. 

4 (4) Abortion providers in States where abortion 

5 is legal have experienced an increase in the number 

6 of patients from out of State. This influx in patients 

7 has increased the demand for abortion services and 

8 strained the reproductive health care systems in 

9 many States. 

10 (5) The influx of out-of-State patients has also 

11 increased the backlogs in services and wait times for 

12 appointments in multiple States following increases 

13 in abortion bans and restrictions. To date, many fa14 cilities across the country still have reported wait 

15 times of a week or longer for abortion services. 

16 (6) The challenges to access abortion dispropor17 tionately impact individuals of color, low-income in18 dividuals, LGBTQ+ individuals, youth, and others 

19 who face existing barriers to access health care in 

20 their communities. 

21 (7) Over 15 million reproductive-age women of 

22 color live in States that have banned or are likely to 

23 ban abortion following the Dobbs decision. Addition24 ally, women of color, low-income women, young 

25 women, and women living in rural communities have 


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1 been disproportionately impacted by travel for abor2 tion services. 

3 (8) To address the challenges in accessing abor4 tion services, proper investments need to be made to 

5 improve capacity to accommodate for both patients 

6 in State and those coming from out of State to re7 ceive comprehensive and high-quality abortion serv8 ices and other sexual and reproductive health serv9 ices. 

10 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE 

11 ABORTION SERVICES AND OTHER SEXUAL 

12 AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. 

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

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

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 340A–1. GRANTS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE 

17 ABORTION SERVICES AND OTHER SEXUAL 

18 AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. 

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

20 grant program consisting of awarding grants to eligible 

21 entities to increase their capacity to provide abortion serv22 ices and other sexual and reproductive health care to indi23 viduals seeking to access abortion within or outside of 

24 their States of residence. 


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

2 a grant under this section, an entity shall— 

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

4 facility, university, nonprofit organization, commu5 nity-based organization, local governmental entity, 

6 or Tribal government that, through programs, serv7 ices, or activities that are unbiased and medically 

8 and factually accurate, provides or refers for abor9 tion services; and 

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

11 a commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

12 United States where abortion services are permis13 sible outside of exceptions for the life and health of 

14 the pregnant person. 

15 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec16 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

17 in States that, as determined by the Secretary, have expe18 rienced the highest increases of out-of-State patients seek19 ing abortion services and other sexual and reproductive 

20 health care. 

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

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

23 equipment, or services related to providing an abortion or 

24 other sexual and reproductive health care: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Expanding the grantee’s facilities, such as 

2 by creating more examination rooms, operation 

3 rooms, recovery areas, and other additional locations 

4 for care. 

5 ‘‘(2) Purchasing medical supplies or equipment 

6 to provide reproductive health care services. 

7 ‘‘(3) Administering telehealth services, which 

8 may include audio, video, and text messaging serv9 ices. 

10 ‘‘(4) Contracting or hiring clinical and nonclin11 ical support staff, which may include intake coordi12 nators, health educators, doulas, midwives, coun13 selors, ultrasound technicians, and other relevant 

14 health care personnel. 

15 ‘‘(5) Training programs to increase clinical and 

16 nonclinical support staff, which may include intake 

17 coordinators, health educators, doulas, midwives, 

18 counselors, ultrasound technicians, and other rel19 evant health care personnel. 

20 ‘‘(6) Creating and disseminating medically ac21 curate, culturally and linguistically appropriate, ac22 cessible educational materials and resources for pa23 tients. 

24 ‘‘(7) Interpretation and translation services. 

25 ‘‘(8) Referrals and counseling. 


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1 ‘‘(9) Recovery care. 

2 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec3 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

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

5 such information as the Secretary may require, including 

6 a plan for increasing capacity as described in subsection 

7 (a). 

8 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION AGAINST EXCLUSION OF QUALI9 FIED ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—No Federal agency, grantee, 

10 subrecipient, or other entity shall, in the course of admin11 istering or carrying out any program or activity under this 

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

13 limiting, or restricting the participation of any entity that 

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

15 of any factor unrelated to the entity’s qualifications to ef16 fectively carry out the program or activity. 

17 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘abor18 tion services’ means a medical or surgical abortion and 

19 any medical or non-medical supplies, equipment, or serv20 ices related to and provided in conjunction with an abor21 tion. 

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

23 carry out this section, there is authorized to be approVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:38 Jan 25, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7059.IH H7059

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1 priated $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

2 through 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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