I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 26

To amend various provisions of law to ensure that services related to abortion

are made available to the same extent as are all other pregnancyrelated services under federally funded programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. FAZIO of California (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BEILENSON,

Mr. BERMAN, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms.

DELAURO, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,

Mr. FROST, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr.

KOPETSKI, Mrs. LOWEY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr.

MACHTLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. MOLINARI,

Mr. MORAN, Mrs. MORELLA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey,

Mrs. SCHROEDER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. STARK, Mr. STUDDS, Mr.

TORRES, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WYDEN, and

Mr. ZIMMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to

the Committees on Armed Services, the District of Columbia, Energy and

Commerce, Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Natural Resources, and Post

Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To amend various provisions of law to ensure that services

related to abortion are made available to the same extent

as are all other pregnancy-related services under federally

funded programs.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reproductive Health

3 Equity Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) abortion is a legal medical service related to

7 pregnancy and the choice to elect an abortion is a

8 personal, private right protected by the Constitution;

9 (2) the Federal Government provides assistance

10 for pregnancy-related care for substantial numbers

11 of women under a variety of Federal programs, in12 cluding the medicaid program, the Indian health

13 care program, the Federal employees’ health benefits

14 program (FEHBP), the program of health care for

15 military dependents and retirees (CHAMPUS), the

16 Peace Corps program, general payments to the Dis17 trict of Columbia, and the program of medical serv18 ices to Federal penal and correctional institutions;

19 (3) pregnant women who otherwise are provided

20 pregnancy-related care under these programs have

21 been denied equal access to health care services due

22 to Congress’ severe and unjustified restrictions on

23 their freedom to choose services that relate to abor24 tion; and

25 (4) denial of access to health care services be26 cause those services relate to abortion is unjust and
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1 unfair to pregnant women who are or whose spouses

2 are employed by the Federal Government or who

3 otherwise are dependent on the Federal Government

4 for health care and threatens the health and well5 being of themselves and their families.

6 SEC. 3. MEDICAID PROGRAM.

7 Section 1902(a)(10) of the Social Security Act (42

8 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)), relating to medical assistance

9 under the medicaid program, is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara11 graph (E);

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara13 graph (F); and

14 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol15 lowing new subparagraph:

16 ‘‘(G) for making medical assistance avail17 able with respect to services related to abortion

18 to the same extent as such assistance is pro19 vided with respect to other pregnancy-related

20 services;’’.

21 SEC. 4. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PRO22 GRAM.

23 Section 8904 of title 5, United States Code, relating

24 to the type of benefits under the Federal employees health
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1 benefits program, is amended by adding at the end the

2 following new subsection:

3 ‘‘(c) All plans contracted for under this chapter shall

4 include benefits for services related to abortion to the

5 same extent as for other pregnancy-related services.’’.

6 SEC. 5. INDIAN HEALTH CARE.

7 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Section 201(b) of the

8 Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C.

9 1621(b)), relating to the direct or indirect patient care

10 program for Indians, is amended by adding at the end the

11 following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(3) Funds appropriated under the authority of this

13 section for each fiscal year are available to provide services

14 related to abortion to the same extent as such funds are

15 available for other pregnancy-related services.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 806 of the

17 Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1676)

18 is repealed.

19 SEC. 6. MILITARY HEALTH CARE.

20 (a) MEMBERS AND FORMER MEMBERS.—Section

21 1074 of title 10, United States Code, relating to medical

22 and dental care for members and certain former members

23 of the uniformed services, is amended by adding at the

24 end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(d) Medical care provided under this section shall

2 include services related to abortion to the same extent as

3 such care includes other pregnancy-related services.’’.

4 (b) DEPENDENTS.—Section 1077(a)(8) of such title,

5 relating to medical care for dependents of members of the

6 uniformed services, is amended—

7 (1) by striking out the comma after ‘‘infant

8 care’’ and inserting in lieu thereof a period;

9 (2) by striking out ‘‘including’’ and inserting in

10 lieu thereof ‘‘Such care shall include’’; and

11 (3) by inserting before the period at the end the

12 following: ‘‘and services related to abortion to the

13 same extent as other pregnancy-related services’’.

14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1093 of

15 such title is repealed.

16 SEC. 7. PEACE CORPS.

17 Section 5(e) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C.

18 2504(e)), relating to health care for Peace Corps volun19 teers, is amended by inserting before the period at the end

20 of the first sentence the following: ‘‘, except that health

21 care provided under this subsection to volunteers during

22 their service shall include services related to abortion to

23 the same extent as such care includes other pregnancy24 related services’’.
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1 SEC. 8. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

2 Section 503 of the District of Columbia Self-Govern3 ment and Governmental Reorganization Act, relating to

4 the authorization of appropriations of the Federal pay5 ment to the District of Columbia, is amended—

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub7 section (c); and

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow9 ing new subsection:

10 ‘‘(b) Amounts appropriated pursuant to the author11 ization provided under this section shall be made available

12 for services related to abortion to the same extent as such

13 amounts may be made available for other pregnancy-relat14 ed services.’’.

15 SEC. 9. FEDERAL PENAL AND CORRECTIONAL INSTITU16 TIONS.

17 Section 4005(a) of title 18, United States Code, re18 lating to medical services to the Federal penal and correc19 tional institution, is amended by adding at the end the

20 following new sentence: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of law, medical services provided under this sub22 section shall include services related to abortion to the

23 same extent as they include other pregnancy-related serv24 ices.’’.

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