I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1581 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in the Annual 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices a section on reproductive 
rights, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 7, 2019 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mr. 
BERA, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Ms. CASTOR of 
Florida, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 
CICILLINE, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COX of California, Mrs. 
CRAIG, Mr. CROW, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DEAN, 
Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DIN-
GELL, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. 
FLETCHER, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of 
Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HECK, Ms. HILL of Cali-
fornia, Mr. HIMES, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, 
Mr. KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER of 
New Hampshire, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of 
California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 
LUJA´N, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. 
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 
NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PAPPAS, 
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 
QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. ROY-
BAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Ms. 
SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEI-
DER, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. 
SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. TITUS, 
Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. 
TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. 
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WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. WILD) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include 
in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Prac-
tices a section on reproductive rights, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Reproductive Rights 
are Human Rights Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States has joined the inter-
national community in identifying reproductive 
rights as human rights, including in connection with 
the 1994 International Conference on Population 
and Development, the 1995 Beijing World Con-
ference on Women, and through its ratification of 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR). 
(2) General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 
6 of the ICCPR, which was adopted by the Human 
Rights Committee at its October to November 2018 
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session, states that under Article 6 of the ICCPR, 
State parties have a duty to ensure that all persons 
have the right to receive— 
(A) evidence-based information and edu-
cation about sexual and reproductive health, 
and access to a range of affordable contracep-
tive methods; 
(B) safe, legal, and effective access to 
abortion where the life and health of the preg-
nant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying 
a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant 
woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, no-
tably where pregnancy is the result of rape or 
incest or is not viable; and, access to quality 
prenatal and post-abortion health care; and 
(C) access by women and girls to safe 
abortion without the imposition of restrictions, 
which subject them to physical or mental pain 
or suffering, or which discriminate or arbi-
trarily interfere with their privacy, or place 
them at risk of undertaking unsafe abortions. 
(3) The Department of State’s deletion of the 
reproductive rights subsection from its 2017 Coun-
try Reports on Human Rights Practices dem-
onstrates an alarming level of politicization of 
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human rights by the Trump Administration and un-
dermines the human rights of women around the 
world. 
(4) When women’s reproductive rights are lim-
ited, so are their pathways to economic, social, and 
political empowerment. 
(5) Sexual health and reproductive rights are 
essential for sustainable economic development, are 
intrinsically linked to gender equality and women’s 
well-being, and are critical to maternal, newborn, 
child, adolescent, family, and community health. 
SEC. 3. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
PRACTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 is amended— 
(1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))— 
(A) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(13) the status of reproductive rights in each 
country, including— 
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‘‘(A) whether such country has adopted 
and enforced policies to— 
‘‘(i) promote access to and prevalence 
of, safe, effective, and affordable methods 
of contraception and comprehensive and 
accurate family planning information; 
‘‘(ii) promote access to appropriate 
health care services to prevent maternal 
deaths and ensure safe and healthy preg-
nancy and childbirth; 
‘‘(iii) expand or restrict access to safe 
abortion services, including post-abortion 
care, in accordance with the country’s 
laws; and 
‘‘(iv) promote the prevention, detec-
tion, and treatment of sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV, and of reproduc-
tive tract infections and of reproductive 
cancers; 
‘‘(B) a description of the rates and causes 
of maternal deaths in such country, including 
deaths due to unsafe abortions, where applica-
ble; 
‘‘(C) a description of the nature and extent 
of instances of discrimination, coercion, and vio-
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lence against women and girls in health care 
settings in such country, and the actions, if 
any, taken by the government of such country 
to respond to such discrimination, coercion, and 
violence, where applicable; and 
‘‘(D) wherever applicable, a description of 
the proportion of women of reproductive age 
(aged 15–49 years) who have their need for 
family planning satisfied with modern methods 
of family planning, the barriers to access, and 
the nature and extent of instances of denial of 
comprehensive and accurate family planning in-
formation and services in such country, and the 
actions, if any, taken by the government of such 
country to respond to such denials.’’; and 
(2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)— 
(A) by redesignating the second subsection 
(i) (relating to child marriage status) as sub-
section (j); and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(k) The report required under subsection (b) shall 
include the status of reproductive rights in each country, 
including— 
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‘‘(1) whether such country has adopted and en-
forced policies to— 
‘‘(A) promote access to and prevalence of 
safe, effective, and affordable methods of con-
traception and comprehensive and accurate 
family planning information; 
‘‘(B) promote access to appropriate health 
care services to prevent maternal deaths and 
ensure safe and healthy pregnancy and child-
birth; 
‘‘(C) expand or restrict access to safe abor-
tion services, including post-abortion care, in 
accordance with the country’s laws; and 
‘‘(D) promote the prevention, detection, 
and treatment of sexually transmitted infec-
tions, including HIV, and of reproductive tract 
infections and of reproductive cancers; 
‘‘(2) a description of the rates and causes of 
maternal deaths in such country, including deaths 
due to unsafe abortions, where applicable; 
‘‘(3) a description of the nature and extent of 
discrimination, coercion, and violence against women 
and girls in health care settings in such country, and 
the actions, if any, taken by the government of such 
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