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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4578 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4578

     To require that Peace Corps volunteers be subject to the same 
limitations regarding coverage of abortion services as employees of the 
 Peace Corps with respect to coverage of such services, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2014

  Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Mr. Farr, Mr. Honda, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. 
  Garamendi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To require that Peace Corps volunteers be subject to the same 
limitations regarding coverage of abortion services as employees of the 
 Peace Corps with respect to coverage of such services, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Peace Corps Equity Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Women of the United States, particularly women serving 
        the United States overseas, deserve a basic standard of care 
        when it comes to their health.
            (2) Since its founding in 1961, the Peace Corps has 
        advanced interests of the United States by working to promote 
        peace and friendship between the United States and the 139 
        countries in which the Peace Corps has operated.
            (3) Over the past 50 years, more than 210,000 Peace Corps 
        volunteers have served the United States by working in 
        developing countries to address needs in areas such as 
        education, health, youth and community development, business 
        and information and communications technology, agriculture, and 
        the environment.
            (4) More than 60 percent of the more than 8,000 current 
        Peace Corps volunteers are women.
            (5) Peace Corps volunteers face inherent risks to their 
        safety and security by virtue of living and working abroad.
            (6) Data from the Peace Corps from 2000 to 2009 indicate 
        that more than 1,000 Peace Corps volunteers experienced sexual 
        assaults, including 221 rapes or attempted rapes. Data from the 
        Peace Corps also show that incidents of sexual assault and rape 
        against volunteers often go unreported.
            (7) Recognizing the high incidence of sexual assault in the 
        Peace Corps, Congress enacted the Kate Puzey Peace Corps 
        Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-57) to 
        strengthen protections and support for sexual assault 
        survivors.
            (8) Since fiscal year 1979, annual appropriations Acts have 
        prohibited the Peace Corps from covering abortion services for 
        its volunteers (including trainees), even in cases of rape, 
        incest, and life endangerment of the woman. Employees of the 
        Peace Corps, on the other hand, are provided this coverage.
            (9) Abortion services in cases of rape, incest, and life 
        endangerment of the woman are now available to almost all 
        groups of women of the United States covered by Federal law, 
        except Peace Corps volunteers.
            (10) Abortion coverage in cases of rape, incest, and life 
        endangerment of the woman is available to most women, excluding 
        Peace Corps volunteers, covered under Federal health plans, 
        including employees covered by the Federal Employee Health 
        Benefits Program, servicewomen covered by TRICARE, Native 
        Americans covered by the Indian Health Service, women inmates 
        and immigration detainees, and Medicaid and Medicare 
        recipients.
            (11) There is no rational basis for denying Peace Corps 
        volunteers a basic health care benefit that is extended to 
        other women covered under Federal health care plans.

SEC. 3. EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS AND EMPLOYEES 
              WITH RESPECT TO COVERAGE OF ABORTION SERVICES.

    Section 5(e) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2504(e)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``(e) Volunteers'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(e) Health Care.--
            ``(1) In general.--Volunteers''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Equitable treatment of volunteers and employees with 
        respect to coverage of abortion services.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Coverage of abortion services by 
                the Peace Corps for volunteers shall be subject to the 
                same limitations as the limitations that apply to 
                employees of the Peace Corps with respect to coverage 
                by the Peace Corps of such services.
                    ``(B) Applicability.--Subparagraph (A) shall apply 
                notwithstanding any provision of law, including a 
                provision of law enacted after the date of the 
                enactment of the Peace Corps Equity Act of 2014, unless 
                such law explicitly excludes application of such 
                subparagraph by reference to such subparagraph.
                    ``(C) Construction.--This paragraph may not be 
                construed to limit coverage of medical evacuations.''.
                                 <all>
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