I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6503 

To facilitate services and support to prevent the abandonment of women 

and children by alleviating the physical, financial, social, emotional, and 

other difficulties that may be encountered during pregnancy and 

childrearing. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2016 

Mr. FORTENBERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To facilitate services and support to prevent the abandonment of women and children by alleviating the physical, 

financial, social, emotional, and other difficulties that 

may be encountered during pregnancy and childrearing. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Care for Life Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purpose; findings. 

TITLE I—PREGNANCY AND PARENTING SUPPORT SERVICES 

Sec. 101. Pregnancy and parenting support services. 

Sec. 102. Incentives for Workplace Solutions Awareness Campaign. 

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Sec. 201. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 202. Fund for the improvement of postsecondary educational establishments. 

3 SEC. 2. PURPOSE; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) PURPOSE.—This Act seeks to achieve a consistent 

5 standard of informing newly pregnant women of all serv6 ices and support that are available to them and to ensure 

7 that such women are not abandoned. Women at the point 

8 of learning about an unplanned pregnancy often ask them9 selves what society will to do support them. A myriad of 

10 services and support is available, but often pregnant 

11 women, and even providers, are unaware of such services 

12 and support. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that 

13 newly pregnant women are aware of all the services and 

14 support that are available to them and this Act furthers 

15 the authority to make specialized grants in this regard. 

16 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 

17 (1) Many women do not know where to turn for 

18 available assistance during pregnancy, childbirth, 

19 and child-rearing, particularly when facing financial, 

20 social, emotional, and other life challenges. 


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1 (2) Women who are pregnant and in fear of 

2 being abandoned during pregnancy should have ac3 cess to available local, State, and Federal govern4 mental, as well as civil society, pregnancy and par5 enting resources. 

6 (3) In a study of how women in the United 

7 States face challenging circumstances during preg8 nancy that affect a woman’s willingness to carry a 

9 child to term, research shows that of women who do 

10 not carry their child to term— 

11 (A) 44 percent are college-aged; 

12 (B) 61 percent have at least one child; 

13 (C) 69 percent are facing economic chal14 lenges; 

15 (D) 75 percent feel they cannot afford a 

16 child; and 

17 (E) 75 percent say that having a baby 

18 would interfere with work, school, or the ability 

19 to care for other dependents. 

20 (4) When a woman discovers she is pregnant 

21 while facing physical, financial, social, emotional, 

22 and other life challenges, the people around her can 

23 help to mitigate anxiety in the face of uncertainty by 

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1 sociated with pregnancy, birth, and motherhood, 

2 particularly in the context of her concerns about— 

3 (A) family, paternity, and community sup4 port during pregnancy and following the birth 

5 of a child or children; 

6 (B) securing opportunities that a woman 

7 may require, including the completion of edu8 cation that leads to employment; and 

9 (C) workplaces that accommodate pregnant 

10 and parenting women. 

11 (5) Often pregnant women are unaware of the 

12 support that may be available to them from private 

13 and public sources at the local, State, and national 

14 levels. 

15 TITLE I—PREGNANCY AND 

16 PARENTING SUPPORT SERVICES 

17 SEC. 101. PREGNANCY AND PARENTING SUPPORT SERV18 ICES. 

19 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con20 gress that women who are pregnant and fear being aban21 doned under difficult life circumstances, and recipients of 

22 care funded through title X of the Public Health Service 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.), title XX of the Social Security 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.), and other Federal, State, 

25 and local health care programs, should be aware of the 


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1 services available, during and after pregnancy, that will 

2 support them while carrying their children to live birth 

3 as well as supporting women who are raising their children 

4 following birth or giving their children up for adoption. 

5 (b) SUPPORT SERVICES.—Part D of title III of the 

6 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating section 330F as section 

9 330F–1; and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 330E the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 330F. PREGNANCY AND PARENTING SUPPORT SERV13 ICES. 

14 ‘‘(a) DATABASE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

16 and maintain a comprehensive, publicly accessible, 

17 and user friendly database, to be known as the Preg18 nant and Parenting Women’s Care Information 

19 Service, to serve as a consolidated source of informa20 tion on public and private service providers that ad21 dress the concerns of pregnant women through the 

22 provision of pregnancy and parenting support serv23 ices. 

24 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The 

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1 clude a list, by State and locality, of qualified pro2 viders including, for each listed provider— 

3 ‘‘(A) Web sites and other relevant sources 

4 of information about such provider; 

5 ‘‘(B) as applicable and available— 

6 ‘‘(i) contact information for such pro7 vider; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the number of years such pro9 vider has provided pregnancy and par10 enting support services; and 

11 ‘‘(C) information on the services offered by 

12 such provider targeted towards pregnant and 

13 parenting women, including the rating and re14 views collected under subsection (b)(3). 

15 ‘‘(b) INPUT; INFORMATION.—In developing and 

16 maintaining the database under subsection (a), the Sec17 retary shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) seek the input of— 

19 ‘‘(A) qualified providers; and 

20 ‘‘(B) relevant State officials; 

21 ‘‘(2) identify the complete list of Federal pro22 grams that provide pregnancy and parenting support 

23 services; and 

24 ‘‘(3) create a process to collect from women rat25 ings and reviews of qualified providers listed in the 


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1 database based on the interactions of such women 

2 with such providers. 

3 ‘‘(c) BEST PRACTICES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretary shall 

5 conduct an annual review of best practices in preg6 nancy and parenting support services nationwide. 

7 ‘‘(2) INPUT.—In conducting each annual review 

8 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) gather input from qualified providers 

10 listed in the database developed under sub11 section (a) and experts described in subsection 

12 (b)(1), including experts and providers rep13 resenting— 

14 ‘‘(i) State and local governments; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the private sector; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) prenatal and parenting care cen17 ters; and 

18 ‘‘(B) in gathering such input, encourage 

19 such providers and experts— 

20 ‘‘(i) to share information on best 

21 practices described in paragraph (1); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) to identify difficulties facing 

23 pregnant and parenting women and to de24 velop best practices to address such dif25 ficulties. 


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1 ‘‘(d) TOLL-FREE NUMBER.—The Secretary shall 

2 enter into a contract, through the use of competitive pro3 cedures, with an entity to establish and operate a toll-free 

4 number to provide women with referrals for obtaining 

5 pregnancy and parenting support services, including serv6 ices to support mental and emotional health. 

7 ‘‘(e) HEALTHY BIRTH AND HEALTHY LIFE

8 GRANTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

10 competitive grants to providers listed in the database 

11 developed under subsection (a) to develop best prac12 tices for communities to identify optimal ways to 

13 provide pregnancy and parenting support services. 

14 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The Sec15 retary may award a grant to a provider under this 

16 subsection only if the provider agrees that the grant 

17 will be used to supplement, and not supplant, preg18 nancy and parenting support services. 

19 ‘‘(f) PRENATAL CARE GRANTS TO ACADEMIC MED20 ICAL CENTERS.—The Secretary may award competitive 

21 grants to academic medical centers for the exclusive pur22 pose of having individuals affiliated with such academic 

23 medical center with expertise in pregnancy and parenting 

24 and accompanying social services, including patient advo25 cates, accomplish the following activities: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Deliver specialized training in pregnancy 

2 and parenting support services. 

3 ‘‘(2) Develop and implement programs to train 

4 individuals to deliver such specialized training. 

5 ‘‘(3) Seek input from women who have experi6 enced pregnancy to develop best practices for pro7 viders serving such women and advice for other 

8 women experiencing pregnancy. 

9 ‘‘(g) NO DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—The Secretary 

10 shall ensure that the programs and activities authorized 

11 or required by this section are not duplicated by other pro12 grams and activities of the Department of Health and 

13 Human Services. 

14 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITION AGAINST FUNDING DISCRIMINA15 TORY ENTITIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) RULE.—No Federal funds may be made 

17 available to a Federal agency or program, or to a 

18 State or local government, if such agency, program, 

19 or government subjects any institutional or indi20 vidual health care entity to discrimination on the 

21 basis that the health care entity does not provide, 

22 pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions. 

23 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

24 ‘health care entity’ includes an individual physician 

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1 vider-sponsored organization, a health maintenance 

2 organization, a health insurance plan, or any other 

3 kind of health care facility, organization, or plan. 

4 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 

5 an annual report to the Congress on the activities carried 

6 out under this section, the funds expended on such activi7 ties, and the results achieved through such activities. 

8 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) PREGNANCY AND PARENTING SUPPORT

10 SERVICES.—The term ‘pregnancy and parenting 

11 support services’ means services offered during and 

12 after pregnancy to pregnant women and new parents 

13 in order to help such women and such parents allevi14 ate the physical, financial, social, emotional, and 

15 other difficulties that may be encountered during 

16 and after pregnancy, consisting of the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Material and financial assistance, in18 cluding maternity and baby clothing, diapers, 

19 baby food (including formula), baby furniture, 

20 and car seats. 

21 ‘‘(B) Information for parents with newborn 

22 children, including adopted children, addressing 

23 resources regarding pregnancy and childbirth, 

24 infant feeding, time management, parenting 


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1 special needs children, and nutrition during and 

2 after pregnancy. 

3 ‘‘(C) Referrals for adoption, job training 

4 and placement, housing, personal safety, food 

5 stamps, and other governmental assistance. 

6 ‘‘(D) Crisis hotlines, including for violence 

7 prevention, suicide prevention, and survivors of 

8 sexual assault who are pregnant due to such as9 sault. 

10 ‘‘(E) Pro bono obstetric and prenatal care 

11 services for women in the carrying of their chil12 dren to live birth, including services during 

13 pregnancy and following childbirth, and neo14 natal care services, including referrals for such 

15 services. 

16 ‘‘(F) Pro bono legal services to assist 

17 women who are pregnant and parents with new18 born children, including adopted children. 

19 ‘‘(G) Child care services. 

20 ‘‘(H) Pursuing collection of child support 

21 and alimony. 

22 ‘‘(I) Services to assist parents to care for, 

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1 tion, and to facilitate the adoption of such chil2 dren as appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(J) Life-skills mentoring, including to en4 hance the following competencies: 

5 ‘‘(i) Strengthening marriage. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Communication and conflict 

7 management for building healthy mar8 riages and families. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Decisionmaking and relation10 ship-building skills prior to marriage. 

11 ‘‘(iv) High-risk behavior awareness. 

12 ‘‘(K) Services for postpartum depression 

13 treatment. 

14 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED PROVIDER.—The term ‘quali15 fied provider’ means a service provider, including a 

16 pregnancy support center, that has been engaged in 

17 providing any pregnancy and parenting supporting 

18 services for at least three years.’’. 

19 SEC. 102. INCENTIVES FOR WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS 

20 AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. 

21 The Secretary of Labor shall recognize and publicize 

22 the practices of employers who successfully meet the needs 

23 of their pregnant or parenting employees, such as through 

24 the following policies: 

25 (1) Family-friendly policies, including— 


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1 (A) providing child care facilities; 

2 (B) providing family cafeterias and sepa3 rate cafeterias for those who prefer not to eat 

4 with families; 

5 (C) family leave policies for small employ6 ers not covered by the Family and Medical 

7 Leave Act; 

8 (D) paid family leave policies for employers 

9 covered by such Act; 

10 (E) providing rooms for mothers to 

11 breastfeed in comfort, with refrigerators for the 

12 storage of breast milk; and 

13 (F) allowing telecommuting and flexible 

14 work schedules, including meeting times condu15 cive to parenting if such meeting times do not 

16 harm traditional full-time employees. 

17 (2) Establishment of a committees to discuss 

18 matters related to employer support for employees 

19 who are pregnant or parenting. 

20 (3) Policies that support pregnant women. 

21 TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF 

22 EDUCATION 

23 SEC. 201. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) women who are pregnant, including par2 enting students who fear being abandoned, should be 

3 aware of and have access to available educational re4 sources to support them during pregnancy, birth, 

5 and with child-rearing; and 

6 (2) to address this concern, the Secretary of 

7 Education should— 

8 (A) administer a competitive, accountable 

9 grant program to provide funds to institutions 

10 of higher education for the aggregation and de11 velopment of pregnancy and child care best 

12 practices and programs that support pregnant 

13 women and mothers with children who are en14 gaged in childcare while completing postsec15 ondary education; and 

16 (B) on an annual basis, report to the ap17 propriate congressional committees on the 

18 progress of the Secretary in implementing the 

19 grant program and the outcomes related to the 

20 best practices and programs carried out under 

21 the grant program, including the geographic 

22 distribution of such best practices and edu23 cational programs. 


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1 SEC. 202. FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSEC2 ONDARY EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 

3 Section 741(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

6 (12); 

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of para8 graph (13) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(14) developing an online information toolkit 

11 about agencies that are working within institutions 

12 of higher education to provide services related to 

13 pregnancy and child care, the exclusive purpose of 

14 which shall be to provide information on such serv15 ices to help pregnant and parenting students— 

16 ‘‘(A) locate and utilize child care services, 

17 family housing, health insurance (for themselves 

18 and their family), flexible academic scheduling 

19 (such as telecommuting programs), parenting 

20 classes and programs, and postpartum coun21 seling and support groups; 

22 ‘‘(B) identify scholarships, financial and 

23 in-kind resources, grants, and loans for which 

24 such students may be eligible; 

25 ‘‘(C) meet the material needs of mothers 

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1 ternity and baby clothing, diapers, baby food, 

2 baby furniture, and car seats; 

3 ‘‘(D) access breast pumps at locations des4 ignated for breast feeding within the edu5 cational setting to support breast feeding and 

6 pumping; and 

7 ‘‘(E) access nutrition programs for preg8 nant women and mothers, including the pro9 grams under section 17 of the Child Nutrition 

10 Act of 1966 (commonly known as ‘WIC’) and 

11 section 4 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

12 2008 (commonly known as ‘SNAP’).’’. 

Æ 


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