I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8373 
To protect a person’s ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contra-
ception, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide contra-
ceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2022 
Ms. MANNING (for herself, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. JACOBS of Cali-
fornia, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. 
LEE of California, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mrs. 
FLETCHER, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. TITUS, 
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. ROSS, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 
WILD, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, 
Mr. TORRES
of New York, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. BOURDEAUX, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. JONES, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. MENG, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 
DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. 
AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. LEE of 
Nevada, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. BROWN of Mary-
land, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. WELCH, Ms. DEAN, 
Ms. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. CHU, and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To protect a person’s ability to access contraceptives and 
to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care 
provider’s ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, 
and information related to contraception. 
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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 ‘‘Right to Contraception 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CONTRACEPTION.—The term ‘‘contracep-
tion’’ means an action taken to prevent pregnancy, 
including the use of contraceptives or fertility-aware-
ness based methods, and sterilization procedures. 
(2) CONTRACEPTIVE.—The term ‘‘contracep-
tive’’ means any device or medication used to pre-
vent pregnancy, whether specifically used to prevent 
pregnancy or for other health needs, including all 
contraceptive products approved, cleared, or granted 
de novo classification by the Food and Drug Admin-
istration, such as oral contraceptives, long-acting re-
versible contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, in-
ternal and external condoms, injectables, vaginal 
barrier methods, transdermal patches, and vaginal 
rings, or other contraceptives. 
(3) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘government’’ 
includes each branch, department, agency, instru-
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mentality, and official of the United States or a 
State. 
(4) HEALTH
CARE
PROVIDER.—The term 
‘‘health care provider’’ means any entity or indi-
vidual (including any physician, certified nurse-mid-
wife, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, 
and pharmacist) that is engaged or seeks to engage 
in health care services. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory and 
possession of the United States, and any subdivision 
of any of the foregoing, including any unit of local 
government, such as a county, city, town, village, or 
other general purpose political subdivision of a 
State. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The right to contraception is a fundamental 
right, central to a person’s privacy, health, well- 
being, dignity, liberty, equality, and ability to par-
ticipate in the social and economic life of the Nation. 
(2) The Supreme Court has repeatedly recog-
nized the constitutional right to contraception. 
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(3) In Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479 
(1965)), the Supreme Court first recognized the 
Constitutional right for married people to use con-
traceptives. 
(4) In Eisenstadt v. Baird (405 U.S. 438 
(1972)), the Supreme Court confirmed the constitu-
tional right of all people to legally access contracep-
tives regardless of marital status. 
(5) In Carey v. Population Services Inter-
national (431 U.S. 678 (1977)), the Supreme Court 
affirmed the constitutional right to contraceptives 
for minors. 
(6) The right to contraception has been repeat-
edly recognized internationally as a human right. 
The United Nations Population Fund has published 
several reports outlining family planning as a basic 
human right that advances women’s health, eco-
nomic empowerment, and equality. 
(7) Access to contraceptives is internationally 
recognized by the World Health Organization as ad-
vancing other human rights such as the right to life, 
liberty, expression, health, work, and education. 
(8) Contraception is safe, essential health care, 
and access to contraceptive products and services is 
central to people’s ability to participate equally in 
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economic and social life in the United States and 
globally. Contraception allows people to make deci-
sions about their families and their lives. 
(9) Contraception is key to sexual and repro-
ductive health. It is critical to preventing unintended 
pregnancy, is highly effective in preventing and 
treating a wide array of often severe medical condi-
tions, and decreases the risk of certain cancers. 
(10) Family planning improves health outcomes 
for women, their families, and their communities 
and reduces rates of maternal and infant mortality 
and morbidity. 
(11) The United States has a long history of 
reproductive coercion, including the childbearing 
forced upon enslaved women, as well as the forced 
sterilization of Black women, Puerto Rican women, 
indigenous women, immigrant women, and disabled 
women, and reproductive coercion continues to 
occur. 
(12) The right to make personal decisions about 
contraceptive use is important for all Americans, 
and is especially critical for historically marginalized 
groups, including Black, indigenous, and other peo-
ple of color; immigrants; LGBTQ people; people with 
disabilities; people with low incomes; and people liv-
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ing in rural and underserved areas. Many people 
who are part of these marginalized groups already 
face barriers—exacerbated by social, political, eco-
nomic, and environmental inequities—to comprehen-
sive health care, including reproductive health care, 
that reduce their ability to make decisions about 
their health, families, and lives. 
(13) State and Federal policies governing phar-
maceutical and insurance policies affect the accessi-
bility of contraceptives, and the settings in which 
contraception services are delivered. 
(14) People engage in interstate commerce to 
access contraception services. 
(15) To provide contraception services, health 
care providers employ and obtain commercial serv-
ices from doctors, nurses, and other personnel who 
engage in interstate commerce and travel across 
State lines. 
(16) Congress has the authority to enact this 
Act to protect access to contraception pursuant to— 
(A) its powers under the commerce clause 
of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 
the United States; 
(B) its powers under section 5 of the Four-
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
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United States to enforce the provisions of sec-
tion 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment; and 
(C) its powers under the necessary and 
proper clause of section 8 of article I of the 
Constitution of the United States. 
(17) Congress has used its authority in the past 
to protect and expand access to contraception infor-
mation, products, and services. 
(18) In 1970, Congress established the family 
planning program under title X of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.), the only Fed-
eral grant program dedicated to family planning and 
related services, providing access to information, 
products, and services for contraception. 
(19) In 1972, Congress required Medicaid to 
cover family planning services and supplies, and 
Medicaid currently accounts for 75 percent of Fed-
eral funds spent on family planning. 
(20) In 2010, Congress enacted the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 
111–148) (referred to in this section as the ‘‘ACA’’). 
Among other provisions, the ACA included provi-
sions to expand the affordability and accessibility of 
contraception by requiring that most health insur-
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ance plans provide coverage for preventive health 
care with no patient cost-sharing. 
(21) Despite the clearly established constitu-
tional right to contraception, access to contracep-
tives, including emergency contraceptives and long- 
acting reversible contraceptives, has been obstructed 
across the United States in various ways by Federal 
and State governments. 
(22) In 2021 alone, at least 4 States tried to 
ban access to some or all contraceptives by restrict-
ing access to public funding for these products and 
services. Also, State violations of the Medicaid free 
choice of provider requirement, thus far in Arkan-
sas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas, have infringed 
on people’s ability to access their contraceptive care. 
(23) Providers’ refusals to offer contraceptives 
and information related to contraception based on 
their own personal beliefs impede patients from ob-
taining their preferred method, with laws in 12 
States as of the date of introduction of this Act spe-
cifically allowing health care providers to refuse to 
provide services related to contraception. 
(24) States have attempted to define abortion 
expansively so as to include contraceptives in State 
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bans on abortion and have also restricted access to 
emergency contraception. 
(25) In June 2022, Justice Thomas, in his con-
curring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s 
Health Organization (597 U.S. ll (2022)), stated 
that the Supreme Court ‘‘should reconsider all of 
this Court’s substantive due process precedents, in-
cluding Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell’’ and 
that the Court has ‘‘a duty to correct the error es-
tablished in those precedents’’ by overruling them. 
(26) In order to further public health and to 
combat efforts to restrict access to reproductive 
health care, congressional action is necessary to pro-
tect access to contraceptives, contraception, and in-
formation related to contraception for everyone, re-
gardless of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, sex 
(including gender identity and sexual orientation), 
income, disability, national origin, immigration sta-
tus, or geography. 
SEC. 4. PERMITTED SERVICES. 
(a) GENERAL RULE.—A person has a statutory right 
under this Act to obtain contraceptives and to engage in 
contraception, and a health care provider has a cor-
responding right to provide contraceptives, contraception, 
and information related to contraception. 
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(b) LIMITATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS.—The statu-
tory rights specified in subsection (a) shall not be limited 
or otherwise infringed through any limitation or require-
ment that— 
(1) expressly, effectively, implicitly, or as imple-
mented singles out the provision of contraceptives, 
contraception, or contraception-related information; 
health care providers who provide contraceptives, 
contraception, or contraception-related information; 
or facilities in which contraceptives, contraception, 
or contraception-related information are provided; 
and 
(2) impedes access to contraceptives, contracep-
tion, or contraception-related information. 
(c) EXCEPTION.—To defend against a claim that a 
limitation or requirement violates a health care provider’s 
or patient’s statutory rights under subsection (b), a party 
must establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that— 
(1) the limitation or requirement significantly 
advances access to contraceptives, contraception, and 
information related to contraception; and 
(2) access to contraceptives, contraception, and 
information related to contraception or the health of 
patients cannot be advanced by a less restrictive al-
ternative measure or action. 
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SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY AND PREEMPTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) GENERAL APPLICATION.—Except as stated 
under subsection (b), this Act supersedes and ap-
plies to the law of the Federal Government and each 
State government, and the implementation of such 
law, whether statutory, common law, or otherwise, 
and whether adopted before or after the date of en-
actment of this Act, and neither the Federal Govern-
ment nor any State government shall administer, 
implement, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, 
standard, or other provision having the force and ef-
fect of law that conflicts with any provision of this 
Act, notwithstanding any other provision of Federal 
law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration 
Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.). 
(2) SUBSEQUENTLY ENACTED FEDERAL LEGIS-
LATION.—Federal statutory law adopted after the 
date of the enactment of this Act is subject to this 
Act unless such law explicitly excludes such applica-
tion by reference to this Act. 
(b) LIMITATIONS.—The provisions of this Act shall 
not supersede or apply to insurance or medical assistance 
coverage, such as coverage provided under section 
1905(A)(4)(c) of the Social Security Act and section 2713 
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of Public Health Service Act, so long as such coverage 
does not limit the rights established under section 4(a). 
(c) DEFENSE.—In any cause of action against an in-
dividual or entity who is subject to a limitation or require-
ment that violates this Act, in addition to the remedies 
specified in section 7, this Act shall also apply to, and 
may be raised as a defense by, such an individual or entity. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 
immediately upon the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 6. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In interpreting the provisions of 
this Act, a court shall liberally construe such provisions 
to effectuate the purposes of the Act. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to authorize any government to inter-
fere with a health care provider’s ability to provide contra-
ceptives or information related to contraception or a pa-
tient’s ability to obtain contraceptives or to engage in con-
traception. 
(c) OTHER INDIVIDUALS CONSIDERED AS GOVERN-
MENT OFFICIALS.—Any person who, by operation of a 
provision of Federal or State law, is permitted to imple-
ment or enforce a limitation or requirement that violates 
section 4 shall be considered a government official for pur-
poses of this Act. 
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SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
may commence a civil action on behalf of the United 
States against any State that violates, or against any gov-
ernment official (including a person described in section 
6(c)) that implements or enforces a limitation or require-
ment that violates, section 3. The court shall hold unlawful 
and set aside the limitation or requirement if it is in viola-
tion of this Act. 
(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any individual or entity, in-
cluding any health care provider or patient, ad-
versely affected by an alleged violation of this Act, 
may commence a civil action against any State that 
violates, or against any government official (includ-
ing a person described in section 6(c)) that imple-
ments or enforces a limitation or requirement that 
violates, section 4. The court shall hold unlawful and 
set aside the limitation or requirement if it is in vio-
lation of this Act. 
(2) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—A health care 
provider may commence an action for relief on its 
own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, and on 
behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be 
adversely affected by an alleged violation of this Act. 
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