I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2091 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that members of the 
Armed Forces and their families have access to the contraception they 
need in order to promote the health and readiness of all members 
of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 4, 2019 
Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. FOSTER, 
Mr. COHEN, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, 
Mr. VEASEY, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. GALLEGO, 
Ms. DELBENE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. LARSEN 
of Washington, Mr. POCAN, Mr. BERA, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 
HIMES, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. NADLER, 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 
DEUTCH, Mr. WELCH, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. KILMER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. 
HASTINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
RYAN, Mr. AGUILAR, and Ms. TITUS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that mem-
bers of the Armed Forces and their families have access 
to the contraception they need in order to promote the 
health and readiness of all members of the Armed 
Forces, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Contracep-
tion for Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Women are serving in the Armed Forces at 
increasing rates, playing a critical role in the na-
tional security of the United States. Women com-
prise more than 17 percent of members of the 
Armed Forces, and as of 2018 nearly 350,000 
women serve on active duty in the Armed Forces or 
in the Selected Reserve. 
(2) Ninety-five percent of women serving in the 
Armed Forces are of reproductive age. And as of 
2017, more than 700,000 female spouses and de-
pendents of active duty members are of reproductive 
age. 
(3) The TRICARE program covered 1,563,727 
women of reproductive age in 2017, including female 
spouses and dependents of active duty members. 
(4) The benefits of contraception are widely rec-
ognized and include improved health and well-being, 
reduced global maternal mortality, health benefits of 
pregnancy spacing for maternal and child health, 
and women’s greater educational and professional 
opportunities and increased lifetime earnings. 
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(5) Studies have shown that when cost barriers 
to the full range of methods of contraception are 
eliminated, and women receive comprehensive coun-
seling on the various methods of contraception (in-
cluding highly effective and more expensive long-act-
ing reversible contraceptives), rates of unintended 
pregnancy decline. 
(6) Research has also shown that investments 
in effective contraception save public and private 
dollars. 
(7) In order to fill gaps in coverage and access 
to preventive care critical for women’s health, the 
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public 
Law 111–148) requires all non-grandfathered indi-
vidual and group health plans to cover without cost- 
sharing preventive services, including a set of evi-
dence-based preventive services for women supported 
by the Health Resources and Services Administra-
tion of the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices. These women’s preventive services include the 
full range of female-controlled contraceptive meth-
ods, effective family planning practices, and steriliza-
tion procedures, approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration. The Health Resources and Services 
Administration has affirmed that contraceptive care 
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includes contraceptive counseling, initiation of con-
traceptive use, and follow-up care (such as manage-
ment, evaluation, and changes to and removal or dis-
continuation of the contraceptive method). 
(8) Under the TRICARE program, women 
members on active duty have full coverage of all pre-
scription drugs, including contraception, without 
cost-sharing requirements, in line with the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 
111–148), which requires coverage of all contracep-
tive methods approved by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration for women and related services and 
education and counseling. However, women members 
not on active duty and female dependents of mem-
bers do not have similar coverage of all prescription 
methods of contraception approved by the Food and 
Drug Administration without cost-sharing when they 
fill their prescriptions outside of a military medical 
treatment facility. 
(9) Studies indicate that women members need 
comprehensive counseling for pregnancy prevention 
and the lack thereof is contributing to unintended 
pregnancies among women members. Additionally, 
they need counseling on and availability of contra-
ception for non-contraceptive benefits (for example, 
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