I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3659 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a demonstration 
program to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention screen-
ing initiatives by health care and social service providers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2023 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. CHU, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. LEE of California, 
Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Ms. SALINAS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 
a demonstration program to facilitate the clinical adop-
tion of pregnancy intention screening initiatives by health 
care and social service providers. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Questions 
to Understand Intentions for Pregnancy Act of 2023’’ or 
the ‘‘EQUIP Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIATIVE 
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 
Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 399V–8. PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIA-
TIVE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, shall establish a demonstration program 
to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention 
screening initiatives by health care and social service pro-
viders. 
‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall carry out the 
demonstration program through awarding grants to eligi-
ble entities to implement pregnancy intention screening 
initiatives, collect data, and evaluate such initiatives. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—An eligible entity under 
this section is an entity described in paragraph (2) 
that provides non-directive, comprehensive, medically 
accurate information. 
‘‘(2) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1), an entity described in this para-
graph— 
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‘‘(A) is a community-based organization, 
voluntary health organization, public health de-
partment, community health center, or other in-
terested public or private primary, behavioral, 
or other health care or social service provider or 
organization; and 
‘‘(B) does not include any crisis pregnancy 
center or other anti-abortion organization that 
presents itself as a comprehensive reproductive 
health care provider but has the intent of dis-
couraging pregnant people from accessing abor-
tion care. 
‘‘(d) PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIA-
TIVE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘pregnancy 
intention screening initiative’ means any initiative by an 
eligible entity to routinely screen people with respect to 
their pregnancy and reproductive health desires and goals 
to either prevent unintended pregnancies or improve the 
likelihood of healthy pregnancies, in order to better pro-
vide health care that meets the contraceptive or pre-preg-
nancy needs and goals of such people. 
‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall, by grant or contract, 
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and after consultation as described in paragraph (2), 
conduct an evaluation of the demonstration pro-
gram, with respect to pregnancy intention screening 
initiatives, conducted under this section. Such an 
evaluation shall include: 
‘‘(A) Assessment of the implementation of 
pregnancy intention screening protocols among 
a diverse group of patients and providers, in-
cluding collecting data on the experiences and 
outcomes for diverse patient populations in a 
variety of clinical and social service settings. 
‘‘(B) Analysis of outcome measures that 
will facilitate effective and widespread adoption 
of such protocols by health care providers for 
inquiring about and responding to pregnancy 
and reproductive health goals of people with 
both contraceptive and pre-pregnancy care. 
‘‘(C) Consideration of health disparities 
among the populations served. 
‘‘(D) Assessment of the equitable and vol-
untary implementation of such initiatives to 
Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and 
other medically underserved communities. 
‘‘(E) Assessment of the training, capacity, 
and ongoing technical assistance needed for 
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providers to effectively implement such preg-
nancy intention screening protocols. 
‘‘(F) Assessment of whether referral sys-
tems for selected protocols follow evidence-based 
standards that ensure access to comprehensive 
culturally competent and gender affirming 
health services and appropriate follow-up care. 
‘‘(G) Measuring through rigorous methods 
the effect of such initiatives on key health out-
comes. 
‘‘(2) COST
STUDY.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall, by grant or contract, 
conduct a study assessing the time and cost for pro-
viders to administer pregnancy intention screening 
tools and provide related counseling in a diverse 
array of settings. 
‘‘(3) CONSULTATION WITH INDEPENDENT EX-
PERTS.—In conducting any evaluation under para-
graphs (1) and (2), the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention shall consult with 
physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice 
registered nurses, registered nurses, nurse midwives, 
behavioral health providers, other health care pro-
viders who specialize in reproductive and sexual 
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health, human services providers, and other experts 
in public health, clinical practice, program evalua-
tion, and research. 
‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than one year after 
the last day of the demonstration program under 
this section, the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention shall submit to Congress a 
report on the results of the evaluation and study 
conducted under paragraphs (1) and (2) and shall 
make the report publicly available. 
‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
To carry out this section, there is authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2024 through 2026. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 20 percent 
of funds appropriated to carry out this section pur-
suant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal year may be used 
for purposes of the evaluation under subsection 
(e).’’. 
Æ 
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