I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6178 
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 
MARCH 10, 2020 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
and Mr. SABLAN) introduced 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 2020’’ or 
the ‘‘EQUIP Act of 2020’’. 
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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–7. 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 may 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 paragraph 
is a community-based organization, voluntary health 
organization, public health department, community 
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health center, or other interested public or private 
primary, behavioral, or other health care or social 
service provider or organization. 
‘‘(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 women with respect to 
their pregnancy desires and goals to either prevent unin-
tended pregnancies or improve the likelihood of healthy 
pregnancies, in order to better provide health care that 
meets the contraceptive or pre-pregnancy needs and goals 
of such women. 
‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall, by grant or contract, 
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 
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outcomes for diverse patient populations in a 
variety of clinical 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 
goals of women with both contraceptive and 
pre-pregnancy care. 
‘‘(C) Consideration of health disparities 
among the population served. 
‘‘(D) Assessment of the equitable and vol-
untary application of such initiatives to minor-
ity and medically underserved communities. 
‘‘(E) Assessment of the training, capacity, 
and ongoing technical assistance needed for 
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 
health services and appropriate follow-up care. 
‘‘(G) Measuring through rigorous methods 
the effect of such initiatives on key health out-
comes. 
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‘‘(2) CONSULTATION WITH INDEPENDENT EX-
PERTS.—In conducting any evaluation under para-
graph (1), the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention shall consult with physi-
cians, physician assistants, advanced practice reg-
istered nurses, registered nurses, nurse midwives, 
and other health care providers who specialize in 
women’s health, and other experts in public health, 
clinical practice, program evaluation, and research. 
‘‘(3) 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 conducted 
under paragraph (1) and shall make the report pub-
licly 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 
2021 through 2023. 
‘‘(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 
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for purposes of the evaluation under subsection 
(e).’’. 
Æ 
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