I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2624
To protect women’s reproductive health and constitutional right to choice,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 27, 1999
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. DELAURO, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. MALONEY of
New York, Mr. OLVER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.
TOWNS, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MINK
of Hawaii, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. STARK, Mr. DIXON, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.
FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FROST, Mr.
THOMPSON of California, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms.
LEE, Ms. WATERS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and
in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Education and the Work-
force, Armed Services, and Government Reform, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To protect women’s reproductive health and constitutional
right to choice, and for other purposes.
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
‘‘Family Planning and Choice Protection Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
TITLE I—PREVENTION
Subtitle A—Family Planning
Sec. 101. Family planning amendments.
Sec. 102. Freedom of full disclosure.
Subtitle B—Prescription Equity and Contraceptive Coverage
Sec. 111. Short title.
Sec. 112. Findings.
Sec. 113. Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974.
Sec. 114. Amendments to the Public Health Service Act relating to the group
market.
Sec. 115. Amendment to the Public Health Service Act relating to the indi-
vidual market.
Sec. 116. FEHBP coverage.
Subtitle C—Emergency Contraceptives
Sec. 121. Emergency contraceptive education.
TITLE II—CHOICE PROTECTION
Sec. 201. Medicaid funding for abortion services.
Sec. 202. Clinic violence.
Sec. 203. Approval of RU–486.
Sec. 204. Freedom of choice.
Sec. 205. Fairness in insurance.
Sec. 206. Reproductive rights of women in the military.
Sec. 207. Repeal of certain State Child Health Insurance Program limitations.
Sec. 208. Funding for certain services for women in prison.
Sec. 209. Funding for certain services for women in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 210. Funding for certain services for women under the FEHBP.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Reproductive rights are central to the abil-
ity of women to exercise full enjoyment of rights se-
cured to women by Federal and State law.
(2) Abortion has been a legal and constitu-
tionally protected medical procedure throughout the
United States since 1973 and has become part of
mainstream medical practice as is evidenced by the
positions of medical institutions including the Amer-
ican Medical Association, the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Med-
ical Women’s Association, the American Nurses As-
sociation, and the American Public Health Associa-
tion.
(3) The availability of abortion services is di-
minishing throughout the United States, as evi-
denced by—
(A) the fact that 86 percent of counties in
the United States have no abortion provider;
and
(B) the fact that, between 1992 and 1996,
the number of abortion providers decreased by
14 percent.
(4)(A) The Department of Health and Human
Services and the Institute of Medicine of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences have contributed to the
development of a report entitled ‘‘Healthy People
2000’’, which urges that the rate of unintended
pregnancy in the United States be reduced by nearly
50 percent by the year 2000.
(B) Nearly 50 percent, or approximately
3,050,000, of all pregnancies in the United States
each year are unintended, resulting in 1,370,000
abortions in the United States each year.
(C) The provision of family planning services,
including emergency contraception, is a cost-effective
way of reducing the number of unintended preg-
nancies and abortions in the United States.
TITLE I—PREVENTION
Subtitle A—Family Planning
SEC. 101. FAMILY PLANNING AMENDMENTS.
Section 1001(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 300(d)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d) For the purpose of making grants and entering
into contracts under this section, there are authorized to
be appropriated $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2000 through 2004.’’.
SEC. 102. FREEDOM OF FULL DISCLOSURE.
Title XI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.
2000h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘SEC. 1107. INFORMATION ABOUT AVAILABILITY OF REPRO-
DUCTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES.
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘governmental authority’ means any authority of the
United States.
‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, no governmental authority shall,
in or through any program or activity that is administered
or assisted by such authority and that provides health care
services or information, limit the right of any person to
provide, or the right of any person to receive, nonfraudu-
lent information about the availability of reproductive
health care services, including family planning, prenatal
care, adoption, and abortion services.’’.
Subtitle B—Prescription Equity
and Contraceptive Coverage
SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Equity in Prescrip-
tion Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 112. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) each year, 3,000,000 pregnancies, or one
half of all pregnancies, in this country are unin-
tended;
(2) contraceptive services are part of basic
health care, allowing families to both adequately
space desired pregnancies and avoid unintended
pregnancy;
(3) studies show that contraceptives are cost ef-
fective: for every $1 of public funds invested in fam-
ily planning, $4 to $14 of public funds is saved in
pregnancy and health care-related costs;
(4) by reducing rates of unintended pregnancy,
contraceptives help reduce the need for abortion;
(5) unintended pregnancies lead to higher rates
of infant mortality, low-birth weight, and maternal
morbidity, and threaten the economic viability of
families;
(6) the National Commission to Prevent Infant
Mortality determined that ‘‘infant mortality could be
reduced by 10 percent if all women not desiring
pregnancy used contraception’’;
(7) most women in the United States, including
three-quarters of women of childbearing age, rely on
some form of private insurance (through their own
employer, a family member’s employer, or the indi-
vidual market) to defray their medical expenses;
(8) the vast majority of private insurers cover
prescription drugs, but many exclude coverage for
prescription contraceptives;
(9) private insurance provides extremely limited
coverage of contraceptives: half of traditional indem-
nity plans and preferred provider organizations, 20
percent of point-of-service networks, and 7 percent
of health maintenance organizations cover no contra-
ceptive methods other than sterilization;
(10) women of reproductive age spend 68 per-
cent more than men on out-of-pocket health care
costs, with contraceptives and reproductive health
care services accounting for much of the difference;
(11) the lack of contraceptive coverage in health
insurance places many effective forms of contracep-
tives beyond the financial reach of many women,
leading to unintended pregnancies;
(12) the Institute of Medicine Committee on
Unintended Pregnancy recommended that ‘‘financial
barriers to contraception be reduced by increasing
the proportion of all health insurance policies that
cover contraceptive services and supplies’’;
(13) in 1998, Congress agreed to provide con-
traceptive coverage to the 2,000,000 women of re-
productive age who are participating in the Federal
Employees Health Benefits Program, the largest
employer-sponsored health insurance plan in the
world; and
(14) eight in 10 privately insured adults sup-
port contraceptive coverage.
SEC. 113. AMENDMENTS TO THE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT
INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part 7 of subtitle
B of title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1185 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 714. STANDARDS RELATING TO BENEFITS FOR CON-
TRACEPTIVES.
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
COVERAGE.—A group
health plan, and a health insurance issuer providing health
insurance coverage in connection with a group health plan,
may not—
‘‘(1) exclude or restrict benefits for prescription
contraceptive drugs or devices approved by the Food
and Drug Administration, or generic equivalents ap-
proved as substitutable by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration, if such plan provides benefits for other
outpatient prescription drugs or devices; or
‘‘(2) exclude or restrict benefits for outpatient
contraceptive services if such plan provides benefits
for other outpatient services provided by a health
care professional (referred to in this section as ‘out-
patient health care services’).
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed—
‘‘(A) as preventing a group health plan
and a health insurance issuer providing health
insurance coverage in connection with a group
health plan from imposing deductibles, coinsur-
ance, or other cost-sharing or limitations in re-
lation to—
‘‘(i) benefits for contraceptive drugs
under the plan, except that such a deduct-
ible, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing or
limitation for any such drug may not be
greater than such a deductible, coinsur-
ance, or cost-sharing or limitation for any
outpatient prescription drug otherwise cov-
ered under the plan;
‘‘(ii) benefits for contraceptive devices
under the plan, except that such a deduct-
ible, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing or
limitation for any such device may not be
greater than such a deductible, coinsur-
ance, or cost-sharing or limitation for any
outpatient prescription device otherwise
covered under the plan; and
‘‘(iii) benefits for outpatient contra-
ceptive services under the plan, except that
such a deductible, coinsurance, or other
cost-sharing or limitation for any such
service may not be greater than such a de-
ductible, coinsurance, or cost-sharing or
limitation for any outpatient health care
service otherwise covered under the plan;
and
‘‘(B) as requiring a group health plan and
a health insurance issuer providing health in-
surance coverage in connection with a group
health plan to cover experimental or investiga-
tional contraceptive drugs or devices, or experi-
mental or investigational contraceptive services,
described in subsection (a), except to the extent
that the plan or issuer provides coverage for
other experimental or investigational outpatient
prescription drugs or devices, or experimental
or investigational outpatient health care serv-
ices.
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—As used in paragraph (1),
the term ‘limitation’ includes—
‘‘(A) in the case of a contraceptive drug or
device, restricting the type of health care pro-
fessionals that may prescribe such drugs or de-
vices, utilization review provisions, and limits on
the volume of prescription drugs or devices that
may be obtained on the basis of a single con-
sultation with a professional; or
‘‘(B) in the case of an outpatient contra-
ceptive service, restricting the type of health
care professionals that may provide such serv-
ices, utilization review provisions, requirements
relating to second opinions prior to the coverage
of such services, and requirements relating to
preauthorizations prior to the coverage of such
services.
‘‘(d) NOTICE UNDER GROUP HEALTH PLAN.—The
imposition of the requirements of this section shall be
treated as a material modification in the terms of the plan
described in section 102(a)(1), for purposes of assuring
notice of such requirements under the plan, except that
the summary description required to be provided under the
last sentence of section 104(b)(1) with respect to such
modification shall be provided by not later than 60 days
after the first day of the first plan year in which such
requirements apply.
‘‘(e) PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall be
construed to preempt any provision of State law to the
extent that such State law establishes, implements, or con-
tinues in effect any standard or requirement that provides
protections for enrollees that are greater than the protec-
tions provided under this section.
‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘out-
patient contraceptive services’ means consultations, exami-
nations, procedures, and medical services, provided on an
outpatient basis and related to the use of contraceptive
methods (including natural family planning) to prevent an
unintended pregnancy.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
in section 1 of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by insert-
ing after the item relating to section 713 the following
new item:
‘‘Sec. 714. Standards relating to benefits for contraceptives.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply with respect to plan years begin-
ning on or after January 1, 2000.
SEC. 114. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
ACT RELATING TO THE GROUP MARKET.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 2 of part A of title
XXVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300gg–4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
‘‘SEC. 2707. STANDARDS RELATING TO BENEFITS FOR CON-
TRACEPTIVES.
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
COVERAGE.—A group
health plan, and a health insurance issuer providing health
insurance coverage in connection with a group health plan,
may not—
‘‘(1) exclude or restrict benefits for prescription
contraceptive drugs or devices approved by the Food
and Drug Administration, or generic equivalents ap-
proved as substitutable by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration, if such plan provides benefits for other
outpatient prescription drugs or devices; or
‘‘(2) exclude or restrict benefits for outpatient
contraceptive services if such plan provides benefits
for other outpatient services provided by a health
care professional (referred to in this section as ‘out-
patient health care services’).
‘‘(b) PROHIBITIONS.—A group health plan, and a
health insurance issuer providing health insurance cov-
erage in connection with a group health plan, may not—
‘‘(1) deny to an individual eligibility, or contin-
ued eligibility, to enroll or to renew coverage under
the terms of the plan because of the individual’s or
enrollee’s use or potential use of items or services
that are covered in accordance with the requirements
of this section;
‘‘(2) provide monetary payments or rebates to
a covered individual to encourage such individual to
accept less than the minimum protections available
under this section;
‘‘(3) penalize or otherwise reduce or limit the
reimbursement of a health care professional because
such professional prescribed contraceptive drugs or
devices, or provided contraceptive services, described
in subsection (a), in accordance with this section; or
‘‘(4) provide incentives (monetary or otherwise)
to a health care professional to induce such profes-
sional to withhold from covered individual contracep-
tive drugs or devices, or contraceptive services, de-
scribed in subsection (a).
‘‘(c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed—
‘‘(A) as preventing a group health plan
and a health insurance issuer providing health
insurance coverage in connection with a group
health plan from imposing deductibles, coinsur-
ance, or other cost-sharing or limitations in re-
lation to—
‘‘(i) benefits for contraceptive drugs
under the plan, except that such a deduct-
ible, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing or
limitation for any such drug may not be
greater than such a deductible, coinsur-
ance, or cost-sharing or limitation for any
outpatient prescription drug otherwise cov-
ered under the plan;
‘‘(ii) benefits for contraceptive devices
under the plan, except that such a deduct-
ible, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing or
limitation for any such device may not be
greater than such a deductible, coinsur-
ance, or cost-sharing or limitation for any
outpatient prescription device otherwise
covered under the plan; and
‘‘(iii) benefits for outpatient contra-
ceptive services under the plan, except that
such a deductible, coinsurance, or other
cost-sharing or limitation for any such
service may not be greater than such a de-
ductible, coinsurance, or cost-sharing or
limitation for any outpatient health care
service otherwise covered under the plan;
and
‘‘(B) as requiring a group health plan and
a health insurance issuer providing health in-
surance coverage in connection with a group
health plan to cover experimental or investiga-
tional contraceptive drugs or devices, or experi-
mental or investigational contraceptive services,
described in subsection (a), except to the extent
that the plan or issuer provides coverage for
other experimental or investigational outpatient
prescription drugs or devices, or experimental
or investigational outpatient health care serv-
ices.
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—As used in paragraph (1),
the term ‘limitation’ includes—
‘‘(A) in the case of a contraceptive drug or
device, restricting the type of health care pro-
fessionals that may prescribe such drugs or de-
vices, utilization review provisions, and limits on
the volume of prescription drugs or devices that
may be obtained on the basis of a single con-
sultation with a professional; or
‘‘(B) in the case of an outpatient contra-
ceptive service, restricting the type of health
care professionals that may provide such serv-
ices, utilization review provisions, requirements
relating to second opinions prior to the coverage
of such services, and requirements relating to
preauthorizations prior to the coverage of such
services.
‘‘(d) NOTICE.—A group health plan under this part
shall comply with the notice requirement under section
714(d) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 with respect to the requirements of this section
as if such section applied to such plan.
‘‘(e) PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall be
construed to preempt any provision of State law to the
extent that such State law establishes, implements, or con-
tinues in effect any standard or requirement that provides
protections for enrollees that are greater than the protec-
tions provided under this section.
‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘out-
patient contraceptive services’ means consultations, exami-
nations, procedures, and medical services, provided on an
outpatient basis and related to the use of contraceptive
methods (including natural family planning) to prevent an
unintended pregnancy.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply with respect to group health plans
for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2000.
SEC. 115. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
ACT RELATING TO THE INDIVIDUAL MARKET.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title XXVII of the Pub-
lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–41 et seq.) is
amended—
(1) by redesignating the first subpart 3 (relat-
ing to other requirements) as subpart 2; and
(2) by adding at the end of subpart 2 the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘SEC. 2753. STANDARDS RELATING TO BENEFITS FOR CON-
TRACEPTIVES.
‘‘The provisions of section 2707 shall apply to health
insurance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer
in the individual market in the same manner as they apply
to health insurance coverage offered by a health insurance
issuer in connection with a group health plan in the small
or large group market.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
this section shall apply with respect to health insurance
coverage offered, sold, issued, renewed, in effect, or oper-
ated in the individual market on or after January 1, 2000.
SEC. 116. FEHBP COVERAGE.
(a) PROHIBITION.—No Federal funds may be used
to enter into or renew a contract which includes a provi-
sion providing prescription drug coverage unless the con-
tract also includes a provision for contraceptive coverage.
(b) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall apply
to a contract with—
(1) any of the following religious plans—
(A) SelectCare;
(B) Personal CaresHMO;
(C) Care Choices;
(D) OSF Health Plans, Inc.;
(E) Yellowstone Community Health Plan;
and
(2) any existing or future plan, if the plan ob-
jects to such coverage on the basis of religious be-
liefs.
(c) REFUSAL TO PRESCRIBE.—In implementing this
section, any plan that enters into or renews a contract
under this section may not subject any individual to dis-
crimination on the basis that the individual refuses to pre-
scribe contraceptives because such activities would be con-
trary to the individual’s religious beliefs or moral convic-
tions.
Subtitle C—Emergency
Contraceptives
SEC. 121. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE EDUCATION.
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section:
(1) EMERGENCY
CONTRACEPTIVE.—The term
‘‘emergency contraceptive’’ means a drug or device
(as the terms are defined in section 201 of the Fed-
eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321))
that is designed—
(A) to be used after sexual relations; and
(B) to prevent pregnancy, by preventing
ovulation, fertilization of an egg, or implanta-
tion of an egg in a uterus.
(2) HEALTH
CARE
PROVIDER.—The term
‘‘health care provider’’ means anyone licensed or cer-
tified under State law to provide health care services
who is operating within the scope of such license.
(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the
meaning given the term in section 1201(a) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)).
(b) EMERGENCY
CONTRACEPTIVE
PUBLIC
EDU-
CATION PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services, acting through the Director of the
Centers for Disease Control, shall develop and dis-
seminate to the public information on emergency
contraceptives.
(2) DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION.—The
Secretary may develop and disseminate the informa-
tion directly or through arrangements with nonprofit
organizations, consumer groups, institutions of high-
er education, Federal, State, or local agencies, and
clinics.
(3) INFORMATION.—The information shall in-
clude, at a minimum, information describing emer-
gency contraceptives, and explaining the use, effects,
efficacy, and availability of the contraceptives.
(c) EMERGENCY
CONTRACEPTIVE
INFORMATION
PROGRAM FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services, acting through the Administrator
of the Health Resources and Services Administra-
tion, shall develop and disseminate to health care
providers information on emergency contraceptives.
(2) INFORMATION.—The information shall in-
clude, at a minimum—
(A) information describing the use, effects,
efficacy and availability of the contraceptives;
(B) a recommendation from the Secretary
regarding the use of the contraceptives in ap-
propriate cases; and
(C) information explaining how to obtain
copies of the information developed under sub-
section (b), for distribution to the patients of
the providers.
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$5,000,000 for the period consisting of fiscal years 2000
through 2002.
TITLE II—CHOICE PROTECTION
SEC. 201. MEDICAID FUNDING FOR ABORTION SERVICES.
Sections 508 and 509 of the Departments of Labor,
Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–277)
are repealed.
SEC. 202. CLINIC VIOLENCE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings:
(1) Federal resources are necessary to ensure
that women have safe access to reproductive health
facilities and that health professionals can deliver
services in a secure environment free from violence
and threats of force.
(2) It is necessary and appropriate to use Fed-
eral resources to combat the nationwide campaign of
violence and harassment against reproductive health
centers.
(3) The Congress should support further in-
creasing Federal resources to fully ensure the safety
of health professionals, center staff, and all women
using reproductive health center services and the
family members of such persons.
(b) NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established
within the Department of Justice a task force to be
known as the ‘‘Task Force on Violence Against
Health Care Providers’’ (referred to in this sub-
section as the ‘‘Task Force’’).
(2) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall be
composed of at least 1 individual to be appointed by
the Attorney General from each of the following:
(A) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms.
(B) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(C) The United States Marshal Service.
(D) The United States Postal Service.
(E) The Civil Rights Division of the De-
partment of Justice.
(F) The Criminal Division of the Depart-
ment of Justice.
(3) POWERS
AND
DUTIES.—The Task Force
shall—
(A) coordinate investigative, prosecutorial
and enforcement efforts of Federal, State and
local governments in cases related to violence at
reproductive health care facilities and violence
against health care providers;
(B) under the direction of the Attorney
General, conduct security assessments for re-
productive health care facilities; and
(C) provide training for local law enforce-
ment to appropriately address incidences of vio-
lence against reproductive health care facilities
and provide methodologies for assessing risks
and promoting security at reproductive health
care facilities.
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000
for each fiscal year to carry out this subsection.
(c) GRANTS FOR CLINIC SECURITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Justice Pro-
grams within the Department of Justice shall award
grants to reproductive health care facilities to enable
such facilities to enhance security and to purchase
and install security devices.
(2) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There is authorized to be appropriated, $5,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2004 to carry
out this subsection.
SEC. 203. APPROVAL OF RU–486.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall—
(1) ensure that a decision by the Food and
Drug Administration to approve the drug called
Mifepristone or RU–486 shall be made only on the
basis provided in law; and
(2) assess initiatives by which the Department
of Health and Human Services can promote the
testing, licensing, and manufacturing in the United
States of the drug or other antiprogestins.
SEC. 204. FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v.
Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) established constitu-
tionally based limits on the power of States to re-
strict the right of a woman to choose to terminate
a pregnancy. Under the strict scrutiny standard
enunciated in the Roe v. Wade decision, States were
required to demonstrate that laws restricting the
right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy
were the least restrictive means available to achieve
a compelling State interest. Since 1992, the Su-
preme Court has no longer applied the strict scru-
tiny standard in reviewing challenges to the constitu-
tionality of State laws restricting such rights.
(2) As a result of modifications made by the
Supreme Court of the strict scrutiny standard enun-
ciated in the Roe v. Wade decision, certain States
have restricted the right of women to choose to ter-
minate a pregnancy or to utilize some forms of con-
traception, and the restrictions operate cumulatively
to—
(A)(i) increase the number of illegal or
medically less safe abortions, often resulting in
physical impairment, loss of reproductive capac-
ity, or death to the women involved;
(ii) burden interstate and international
commerce by forcing women to travel from
States in which legal barriers render contracep-
tion or abortion unavailable or unsafe to other
States or foreign nations;
(iii) interfere with freedom of travel be-
tween and among the various States;
(iv) burden the medical and economic re-
sources of States that continue to provide
women with access to safe and legal abortion;
and
(v) interfere with the ability of medical
professionals to provide health services;
(B) obstruct access to and use of contra-
ceptive and other medical techniques that are
part of interstate and international commerce;
(C) discriminate between women who are
able to afford interstate and international travel
and women who are not, a disproportionate
number of whom belong to racial or ethnic mi-
norities; and
(D) infringe on the ability of women to ex-
ercise full enjoyment of rights secured to
women by Federal and State law, both statu-
tory and constitutional.
(3) Although Congress may not by legislation
create constitutional rights, Congress may, where
authorized by a constitutional provision enumerating
the powers of Congress and not prohibited by a con-
stitutional provision, enact legislation to create and
secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate na-
tional concern.
(4) Congress has the affirmative power under
section 8 of article I of the Constitution and under
section 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution
to enact legislation to prohibit State interference
with interstate commerce, liberty, or equal protection
of the laws.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es-
tablish, as a statutory matter, limitations on the power
of a State to restrict the freedom of a woman to terminate
a pregnancy in order to achieve the same limitations on
State action as were provided, as a constitutional matter,
under the strict scrutiny standard of review enunciated in
the Roe v. Wade decision.
(c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, and each other territory or posses-
sion of the United States.
(d) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—A State—
(1) may not restrict the freedom of a woman to
choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy be-
fore fetal viability;
(2) may restrict the freedom of a woman to
choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy
after fetal viability unless such a termination is nec-
essary to preserve the life or health of the woman;
and
(3) may impose requirements on the perform-
ance of abortion procedures if such requirements are
medically necessary to protect the health of women
undergoing such procedures.
(e) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to—
(1) prevent a State from promulgating regula-
tions to protect unwilling individuals or private
health care institutions from being required to par-
ticipate in the performance of abortions to which the
individuals or institutions are conscientiously op-
posed;
(2) prevent a State from promulgating regula-
tions to permit the State to decline to pay for the
performance of abortions; or
(3) prevent a State from promulgating regula-
tions to require a minor to involve a parent, guard-
ian, or other responsible adult before terminating a
pregnancy;
so long as such regulations meet constitutional standards.
SEC. 205. FAIRNESS IN INSURANCE.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Fed-
eral law shall be construed to prohibit a health plan from
offering coverage for the full range of reproductive health
care services, including abortion services.
SEC. 206. REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN THE MILI-
TARY.
Section 1093 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting before the pe-
riod the following: ‘‘or in a case in which the preg-
nancy involved is the result of an act of rape or in-
cest or the abortion involved is medically necessary
or appropriate’’;
(2) by striking subsection (b); and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) ABORTIONS IN FACILITIES OVERSEAS.—Sub-
section (a) does not limit the performing of an abortion
in a facility of the uniformed services located outside the
48 contiguous States of the United States if—
‘‘(1) the cost of performing the abortion is fully
paid from a source or sources other than funds
available to the Department of Defense;
‘‘(2) abortions are not prohibited by the laws of
the jurisdiction where the facility is located; and
‘‘(3) the abortion would otherwise be permitted
under the laws applicable to the provision of health
care to members and former members of the uni-
formed services and their dependents in such facil-
ity.’’.
SEC. 207. REPEAL OF CERTAIN STATE CHILD HEALTH IN-
SURANCE PROGRAM LIMITATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2105(c) of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397ee(c)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, and any
health’’ and all that follows through ‘‘incest’’; and
(2) by striking paragraph (7).
(b) 
CHILD
HEALTH
ASSISTANCE.—Section
2110(a)(16) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1397jj(a)(16)) is amended by striking ‘‘only if’’ and all
that follows and inserting ‘‘services;’’.
SEC. 208. FUNDING FOR CERTAIN SERVICES FOR WOMEN
IN PRISON.
Sections 103 and 104 of title I of the Departments
of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Re-
lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law
105–277) are repealed.
SEC. 209. FUNDING FOR CERTAIN SERVICES FOR WOMEN
IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Section 131 of the District of Columbia Appropria-
tions Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–277) is repealed.
SEC. 210. FUNDING FOR CERTAIN SERVICES FOR WOMEN
UNDER THE FEHBP.
Sections 509 and 510 of the Treasury and General
Government Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–
277) are repealed.
Æ