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 deter-
mined 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 abandon-
ment of women and children by alleviating the physical, 
financial, social, emotional, and other difficulties that 
may be encountered during pregnancy and childrearing. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Care for Life Act’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
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 establish-
ments. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE; FINDINGS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—This Act seeks to achieve a consistent 
standard of informing newly pregnant women of all serv-
ices and support that are available to them and to ensure 
that such women are not abandoned. Women at the point 
of learning about an unplanned pregnancy often ask them-
selves what society will to do support them. A myriad of 
services and support is available, but often pregnant 
women, and even providers, are unaware of such services 
and support. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that 
newly pregnant women are aware of all the services and 
support that are available to them and this Act furthers 
the authority to make specialized grants in this regard. 
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Many women do not know where to turn for 
available assistance during pregnancy, childbirth, 
and child-rearing, particularly when facing financial, 
social, emotional, and other life challenges. 
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(2) Women who are pregnant and in fear of 
being abandoned during pregnancy should have ac-
cess to available local, State, and Federal govern-
mental, as well as civil society, pregnancy and par-
enting resources. 
(3) In a study of how women in the United 
States face challenging circumstances during preg-
nancy that affect a woman’s willingness to carry a 
child to term, research shows that of women who do 
not carry their child to term— 
(A) 44 percent are college-aged; 
(B) 61 percent have at least one child; 
(C) 69 percent are facing economic chal-
lenges; 
(D) 75 percent feel they cannot afford a 
child; and 
(E) 75 percent say that having a baby 
would interfere with work, school, or the ability 
to care for other dependents. 
(4) When a woman discovers she is pregnant 
while facing physical, financial, social, emotional, 
and other life challenges, the people around her can 
help to mitigate anxiety in the face of uncertainty by 
providing practical support with day-to-day needs as-
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sociated with pregnancy, birth, and motherhood, 
particularly in the context of her concerns about— 
(A) family, paternity, and community sup-
port during pregnancy and following the birth 
of a child or children; 
(B) securing opportunities that a woman 
may require, including the completion of edu-
cation that leads to employment; and 
(C) workplaces that accommodate pregnant 
and parenting women. 
(5) Often pregnant women are unaware of the 
support that may be available to them from private 
and public sources at the local, State, and national 
levels. 
TITLE I—PREGNANCY AND 
PARENTING SUPPORT SERVICES 
SEC. 101. PREGNANCY AND PARENTING SUPPORT SERV-
ICES. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con-
gress that women who are pregnant and fear being aban-
doned under difficult life circumstances, and recipients of 
care funded through title X of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.), title XX of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.), and other Federal, State, 
and local health care programs, should be aware of the 
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services available, during and after pregnancy, that will 
support them while carrying their children to live birth 
as well as supporting women who are raising their children 
following birth or giving their children up for adoption. 
(b) SUPPORT SERVICES.—Part D of title III of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 330F as section 
330F–1; and 
(2) by inserting after section 330E the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 330F. PREGNANCY AND PARENTING SUPPORT SERV-
ICES. 
‘‘(a) DATABASE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 
and maintain a comprehensive, publicly accessible, 
and user friendly database, to be known as the Preg-
nant and Parenting Women’s Care Information 
Service, to serve as a consolidated source of informa-
tion on public and private service providers that ad-
dress the concerns of pregnant women through the 
provision of pregnancy and parenting support serv-
ices. 
‘‘(2) INFORMATION
TO
BE
INCLUDED.—The 
database developed under paragraph (1) shall in-
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clude a list, by State and locality, of qualified pro-
viders including, for each listed provider— 
‘‘(A) Web sites and other relevant sources 
of information about such provider; 
‘‘(B) as applicable and available— 
‘‘(i) contact information for such pro-
vider; and 
‘‘(ii) the number of years such pro-
vider has provided pregnancy and par-
enting support services; and 
‘‘(C) information on the services offered by 
such provider targeted towards pregnant and 
parenting women, including the rating and re-
views collected under subsection (b)(3). 
‘‘(b) INPUT; INFORMATION.—In developing and 
maintaining the database under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall— 
‘‘(1) seek the input of— 
‘‘(A) qualified providers; and 
‘‘(B) relevant State officials; 
‘‘(2) identify the complete list of Federal pro-
grams that provide pregnancy and parenting support 
services; and 
‘‘(3) create a process to collect from women rat-
ings and reviews of qualified providers listed in the 
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database based on the interactions of such women 
with such providers. 
‘‘(c) BEST PRACTICES.— 
‘‘(1) ANNUAL
REVIEW.—The Secretary shall 
conduct an annual review of best practices in preg-
nancy and parenting support services nationwide. 
‘‘(2) INPUT.—In conducting each annual review 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) gather input from qualified providers 
listed in the database developed under sub-
section (a) and experts described in subsection 
(b)(1), including experts and providers rep-
resenting— 
‘‘(i) State and local governments; 
‘‘(ii) the private sector; and 
‘‘(iii) prenatal and parenting care cen-
ters; and 
‘‘(B) in gathering such input, encourage 
such providers and experts— 
‘‘(i) to share information on best 
practices described in paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(ii) to identify difficulties facing 
pregnant and parenting women and to de-
velop best practices to address such dif-
ficulties. 
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‘‘(d) TOLL-FREE NUMBER.—The Secretary shall 
enter into a contract, through the use of competitive pro-
cedures, with an entity to establish and operate a toll-free 
number to provide women with referrals for obtaining 
pregnancy and parenting support services, including serv-
ices to support mental and emotional health. 
‘‘(e) 
HEALTHY
BIRTH
AND
HEALTHY
LIFE 
GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 
competitive grants to providers listed in the database 
developed under subsection (a) to develop best prac-
tices for communities to identify optimal ways to 
provide pregnancy and parenting support services. 
‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The Sec-
retary may award a grant to a provider under this 
subsection only if the provider agrees that the grant 
will be used to supplement, and not supplant, preg-
nancy and parenting support services. 
‘‘(f) PRENATAL CARE GRANTS TO ACADEMIC MED-
ICAL CENTERS.—The Secretary may award competitive 
grants to academic medical centers for the exclusive pur-
pose of having individuals affiliated with such academic 
medical center with expertise in pregnancy and parenting 
and accompanying social services, including patient advo-
cates, accomplish the following activities: 
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‘‘(1) Deliver specialized training in pregnancy 
and parenting support services. 
‘‘(2) Develop and implement programs to train 
individuals to deliver such specialized training. 
‘‘(3) Seek input from women who have experi-
enced pregnancy to develop best practices for pro-
viders serving such women and advice for other 
women experiencing pregnancy. 
‘‘(g) NO DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that the programs and activities authorized 
or required by this section are not duplicated by other pro-
grams and activities of the Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
‘‘(h) PROHIBITION AGAINST FUNDING DISCRIMINA-
TORY ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) RULE.—No Federal funds may be made 
available to a Federal agency or program, or to a 
State or local government, if such agency, program, 
or government subjects any institutional or indi-
vidual health care entity to discrimination on the 
basis that the health care entity does not provide, 
pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘health care entity’ includes an individual physician 
or other health care professional, a hospital, a pro-
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vider-sponsored organization, a health maintenance 
organization, a health insurance plan, or any other 
kind of health care facility, organization, or plan. 
‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 
an annual report to the Congress on the activities carried 
out under this section, the funds expended on such activi-
ties, and the results achieved through such activities. 
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) PREGNANCY
AND
PARENTING
SUPPORT 
SERVICES.—The term ‘pregnancy and parenting 
support services’ means services offered during and 
after pregnancy to pregnant women and new parents 
in order to help such women and such parents allevi-
ate the physical, financial, social, emotional, and 
other difficulties that may be encountered during 
and after pregnancy, consisting of the following: 
‘‘(A) Material and financial assistance, in-
cluding maternity and baby clothing, diapers, 
baby food (including formula), baby furniture, 
and car seats. 
‘‘(B) Information for parents with newborn 
children, including adopted children, addressing 
resources regarding pregnancy and childbirth, 
infant feeding, time management, parenting 
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special needs children, and nutrition during and 
after pregnancy. 
‘‘(C) Referrals for adoption, job training 
and placement, housing, personal safety, food 
stamps, and other governmental assistance. 
‘‘(D) Crisis hotlines, including for violence 
prevention, suicide prevention, and survivors of 
sexual assault who are pregnant due to such as-
sault. 
‘‘(E) Pro bono obstetric and prenatal care 
services for women in the carrying of their chil-
dren to live birth, including services during 
pregnancy and following childbirth, and neo-
natal care services, including referrals for such 
services. 
‘‘(F) Pro bono legal services to assist 
women who are pregnant and parents with new-
born children, including adopted children. 
‘‘(G) Child care services. 
‘‘(H) Pursuing collection of child support 
and alimony. 
‘‘(I) Services to assist parents to care for, 
and prepare to care for, a child with Down syn-
drome or another prenatally diagnosed condi-
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tion, and to facilitate the adoption of such chil-
dren as appropriate. 
‘‘(J) Life-skills mentoring, including to en-
hance the following competencies: 
‘‘(i) Strengthening marriage. 
‘‘(ii) 
Communication 
and 
conflict 
management for building healthy mar-
riages and families. 
‘‘(iii) Decisionmaking and relation-
ship-building skills prior to marriage. 
‘‘(iv) High-risk behavior awareness. 
‘‘(K) Services for postpartum depression 
treatment. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED PROVIDER.—The term ‘quali-
fied provider’ means a service provider, including a 
pregnancy support center, that has been engaged in 
providing any pregnancy and parenting supporting 
services for at least three years.’’. 
SEC. 
102. 
INCENTIVES 
FOR 
WORKPLACE 
SOLUTIONS 
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. 
The Secretary of Labor shall recognize and publicize 
the practices of employers who successfully meet the needs 
of their pregnant or parenting employees, such as through 
the following policies: 
(1) Family-friendly policies, including— 
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(A) providing child care facilities; 
(B) providing family cafeterias and sepa-
rate cafeterias for those who prefer not to eat 
with families; 
(C) family leave policies for small employ-
ers not covered by the Family and Medical 
Leave Act; 
(D) paid family leave policies for employers 
covered by such Act; 
(E) providing rooms for mothers to 
breastfeed in comfort, with refrigerators for the 
storage of breast milk; and 
(F) allowing telecommuting and flexible 
work schedules, including meeting times condu-
cive to parenting if such meeting times do not 
harm traditional full-time employees. 
(2) Establishment of a committees to discuss 
matters related to employer support for employees 
who are pregnant or parenting. 
(3) Policies that support pregnant women. 
TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF 
EDUCATION 
SEC. 201. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
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(1) women who are pregnant, including par-
enting students who fear being abandoned, should be 
aware of and have access to available educational re-
sources to support them during pregnancy, birth, 
and with child-rearing; and 
(2) to address this concern, the Secretary of 
Education should— 
(A) administer a competitive, accountable 
grant program to provide funds to institutions 
of higher education for the aggregation and de-
velopment of pregnancy and child care best 
practices and programs that support pregnant 
women and mothers with children who are en-
gaged in childcare while completing postsec-
ondary education; and 
(B) on an annual basis, report to the ap-
propriate congressional committees on the 
progress of the Secretary in implementing the 
grant program and the outcomes related to the 
best practices and programs carried out under 
the grant program, including the geographic 
distribution of such best practices and edu-
cational programs. 
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SEC. 202. FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSEC-
ONDARY EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 
Section 741(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(12); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (13) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(14) developing an online information toolkit 
about agencies that are working within institutions 
of higher education to provide services related to 
pregnancy and child care, the exclusive purpose of 
which shall be to provide information on such serv-
ices to help pregnant and parenting students— 
‘‘(A) locate and utilize child care services, 
family housing, health insurance (for themselves 
and their family), flexible academic scheduling 
(such as telecommuting programs), parenting 
classes and programs, and postpartum coun-
seling and support groups; 
‘‘(B) identify scholarships, financial and 
in-kind resources, grants, and loans for which 
such students may be eligible; 
‘‘(C) meet the material needs of mothers 
and their children, including such items as ma-
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ternity and baby clothing, diapers, baby food, 
baby furniture, and car seats; 
‘‘(D) access breast pumps at locations des-
ignated for breast feeding within the edu-
cational setting to support breast feeding and 
pumping; and 
‘‘(E) access nutrition programs for preg-
nant women and mothers, including the pro-
grams under section 17 of the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (commonly known as ‘WIC’) and 
section 4 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (commonly known as ‘SNAP’).’’. 
Æ 
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