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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 193 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 193

     Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic Griswold v. 
  Connecticut decision of the Supreme Court of the United States and 
expressing the sense of the Senate that the case was an important step 
forward in helping ensure that all people of the United States are able 
  to use contraceptives to plan pregnancies and have healthier babies.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 4, 2015

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Brown, Ms. 
  Hirono, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Warren, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Booker, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Coons, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Franken, 
 Mr. Warner, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
    Durbin, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, and Ms. Baldwin) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
     Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic Griswold v. 
  Connecticut decision of the Supreme Court of the United States and 
expressing the sense of the Senate that the case was an important step 
forward in helping ensure that all people of the United States are able 
  to use contraceptives to plan pregnancies and have healthier babies.

Whereas, prior to the landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
        States in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), married women in 
        many States were lawfully forbidden from using family planning tools 
        such as contraceptives and condoms;
Whereas the historic Griswold case provided precedent for future cases in the 
        Supreme Court that extended the right to use contraceptives to all 
        women, regardless of marital status;
Whereas, since Griswold, millions of women have used contraceptives to plan 
        pregnancies, resulting in healthier women, healthier pregnancies, 
        healthier families, and greater financial security for families;
Whereas, despite having the legal right to use contraceptives, many women who 
        need family planning and sexual health services still face financial and 
        other barriers to getting the necessary care;
Whereas, because of limited access to affordable family planning services, low-
        income women are 5 times more likely to have an unintended pregnancy 
        compared to women with higher incomes, and unintended pregnancy rates 
        are increasing for poor and low-income women while decreasing for women 
        with higher incomes;
Whereas Black and Latino women are disproportionately affected by the lack of 
        access to contraceptives and reproductive health care;
Whereas programs such as the population research and voluntary family planning 
        programs under title X of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 
        et seq.) and the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) help low-income women access high-quality, 
        affordable family planning care, including contraceptives, that helps 
        women plan pregnancies and stay healthy;
Whereas the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) is 
        helping realize the promise of Griswold by removing barriers to care by 
        requiring that all insurance providers offer contraceptives and 
        reproductive preventive health care services at no cost to women, and, 
        as of 2014, more than 55,000,000 women were benefitting from coverage 
        without cost-sharing for preventive services, including birth control, 
        according to the Department of Health and Human Services;
Whereas, each year, publicly funded contraceptives and family planning services 
        help prevent approximately 2,000,000 unplanned pregnancies, 800,000 
        abortions, 400,000 miscarriages, and 200,000 pre-term and low birth rate 
        births;
Whereas, in 2015, the Institute of Medicine listed using birth control to reduce 
        unintended pregnancies as 1 of 15 core measures for furthering health 
        progress and improving health;
Whereas, as the number of contraceptive methods expands, it is more important 
        than ever that all women have access to the full range of contraceptive 
        methods, including the most effective methods, so that each woman can 
        choose the method that works best for her; and
Whereas every dollar invested in publicly funded contraceptive saves taxpayers 
        $7.09: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Griswold v. 
        Connecticut decision of the Supreme Court of the United States;
            (2) recognizes that birth control constitutes basic health 
        care for women;
            (3) recognizes that, despite the monumental Griswold 
        decision, affordable contraceptives unfortunately remain 
        inaccessible to many poor and low-income women;
            (4) encourages robust investment in publicly funded family 
        planning services as a means to help women plan pregnancies and 
        have healthier babies;
            (5) recognizes that investments in publicly funded family 
        planning services help prevent unplanned pregnancies and 
        abortions and help save taxpayer dollars;
            (6) acknowledges that all women, regardless of income or 
        zip code, should have affordable access to the tools that help 
        women plan and space their pregnancies; and
            (7) recognizes the value of the publicly funded family 
        planning safety net in helping to realize the promise of the 
        Griswold decision.
                                 <all>
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