Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2021
Bill: S.1864 | Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of State to include in its annual reports on human rights in countries receiving U.S. development and security assistance a discussion of the status of reproductive rights in each country. This must include whether a country has adopted and enforced policies to (1) promote access to contraception and accurate, nondiscriminatory family planning and sexual health information; (2) provide services to ensure safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth; (3) expand or restrict access to safe abortion services; and (4) prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases.
For each country, the reports shall also contain (1) data concerning pregnancy-related injuries and deaths; and (2) a description of the nature and extent of discrimination and violence against women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals in health care settings and the relevant government's response to such actions.

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require a section on 
   reproductive rights in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights 
                   Practices, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States has joined the international 
        community in identifying reproductive rights as human rights, 
        including in connection with the 1994 International Conference 
        on Population and Development, the 1995 Beijing World 
        Conference on Women, and through its ratification of the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at 
        New York December 19, 1966 (referred to in this Act as 
        ``ICCPR''), the International Convention on the Elimination of 
        All Forms of Racial Discrimination, done at New York December 
        21, 1965, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, 
        Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at New York 
        December 10, 1984.
            (2) General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the 
        ICCPR, which was adopted by the Human Rights Committee on 
        October 30, 2018, asserts that States parties--
                    (A) should ensure access for all persons to 
                ``quality and evidence-based information and education 
                about sexual and reproductive health and to a wide 
                range of affordable contraceptive methods'';
                    (B) ``must provide safe, legal, and effective 
                access to abortion where the life and health of the 
                pregnant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying a 
                pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant woman or 
                girl substantial pain or suffering, most notably where 
                pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or is not 
                viable'';
                    (C) ``ensure the availability of, and effective 
                access to, quality prenatal and post-abortion health 
                care for women and girls''; and
                    (D) must not impose restrictions on the ability of 
                women or girls to seek abortion in a manner that 
                jeopardizes their lives, subjects them to physical or 
                mental pain or suffering, discriminates against them, 
                arbitrarily interferes with their privacy, or places 
                them at risk of undertaking unsafe abortions.
            (3) Reproductive coercion, which is any behavior that 
        interferes with autonomous decision making about reproductive 
        health outcomes, is a violation of human rights.
            (4) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 
        intersex persons (LGBTQI+) face stigma and discrimination in 
        accessing reproductive health services, and barriers, including 
        anti-LGBTQI+ laws, policies, and gender norms in countries. The 
        denial of access to sexual and reproductive health care and 
        associated human rights violations due to these barriers should 
        be reported in relevant Department of State Annual Country 
        Reports on Human Rights Practices.
            (5) Human rights are grounded in international standards. 
        The Department of State's deletion of the reproductive rights 
        subsection from its 2017, 2018, and 2019 Country Reports on 
        Human Rights Practices inappropriately politicized human rights 
        of people around the world.
            (6) Limiting reproductive rights also limits pathways to 
        economic, social, and political empowerment. Sexual and 
        reproductive health and rights are essential for sustainable 
        economic development, are intrinsically linked to gender 
        equality and women's well-being, and are critical to community 
        health.
            (7) The global COVID-19 pandemic has placed at risk the 
        fulfillment of reproductive rights. The United Nations Office 
        of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised concerns 
        that overloaded health systems, shortages of medical supplies, 
        and disruptions of global supply chains have undermined the 
        sexual and reproductive health and rights of individuals.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.

    (a) In General.--The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 
et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)), by amending 
        paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) the status of reproductive rights in each country, 
        including--
                    ``(A) whether such country has adopted and enforced 
                policies--
                            ``(i) to promote access to safe, effective, 
                        and affordable methods of contraception and 
                        comprehensive, accurate, nondiscriminatory 
                        family planning and sexual health information;
                            ``(ii) to promote access to a full range of 
                        quality health care services to ensure safe and 
                        healthy pregnancy and childbirth free from 
                        violence and discrimination;
                            ``(iii) to promote the equitable 
                        prevention, detection, and treatment of 
                        sexually transmitted infections, including HIV 
                        and HPV, and of reproductive tract infections 
                        and reproductive cancers; and
                            ``(iv) to expand or restrict access to safe 
                        abortion services or post-abortion care, or to 
                        criminalize pregnancy-related outcomes, 
                        including spontaneous miscarriages or 
                        pregnancies outside of marriage;
                    ``(B) a description of the rates and causes of 
                pregnancy-related injuries and deaths, including deaths 
                due to unsafe abortions;
                    ``(C) a description of--
                            ``(i) the nature and extent of instances of 
                        discrimination, coercion, and violence against 
                        women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals in all 
                        settings where health care is provided, 
                        including in detention;
                            ``(ii) instances of obstetric violence, 
                        involuntary or coerced abortion, involuntary or 
                        coerced pregnancy, coerced sterilization, use 
                        of incentives or disincentives to lower or 
                        raise fertility, withholding of information on 
                        reproductive health options, and other forms of 
                        reproductive and sexual coercion; and
                            ``(iii) the actions, if any, taken by the 
                        government of such country to respond to such 
                        discrimination, coercion, and violence, if 
                        applicable;
                    ``(D) a description of--
                            ``(i) the proportion of individuals of 
                        reproductive age (15 through 49 years of age) 
                        whose need for family planning is satisfied 
                        with modern methods;
                            ``(ii) the barriers such individuals face 
                        in accessing such services;
                            ``(iii) the nature and extent of instances 
                        of denial of comprehensive and accurate family 
                        planning information and services in such 
                        country; and
                            ``(iv) the actions, if any, taken by the 
                        government of such country to address such 
                        denials; and
                    ``(E) a description of--
                            ``(i) disparities in access to family 
                        planning and reproductive health services and 
                        pregnancy-related health outcomes, including 
                        pregnancy-related injuries and deaths, based on 
                        race, ethnicity, indigenous status, language, 
                        religious affiliation, or other marginalized 
                        identity; and
                            ``(ii) any measures taken by the government 
                        of such country to hold health systems 
                        accountable for addressing such disparities;''; 
                        and
            (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)--
                    (A) by redesignating the second subsection (i) 
                (relating to child marriage status) as subsection (j); 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Inclusion of Status of Reproductive Rights in Annual Country 
Reports on Human Rights Practices.--The report required under 
subsection (b) shall include a description of the status of 
reproductive rights in each country, including--
            ``(1) whether such country has adopted and enforced 
        policies--
                    ``(A) to promote access to safe, effective, and 
                affordable methods of contraception and comprehensive, 
                accurate, non-discriminatory family planning and sexual 
                health information;
                    ``(B) to promote access to a full range of quality 
                health care services to ensure safe and healthy 
                pregnancy and childbirth, free from violence and 
                discrimination;
                    ``(C) to promote the equitable prevention, 
                detection, and treatment of sexually transmitted 
                infections, including HIV and HPV, and of reproductive 
                tract infections and reproductive cancers; and
                    ``(D) to expand or restrict access to safe abortion 
                services or post-abortion care, or criminalize 
                pregnancy-related outcomes, including spontaneous 
                miscarriages and pregnancies outside of marriage;
            ``(2) a description of the rates and causes of pregnancy-
        related injuries and deaths, including deaths due to unsafe 
        abortions;
            ``(3) a description of--
                    ``(A) the nature and extent of instances of 
                discrimination, coercion, and violence against women, 
                girls and LGBTQI+ individuals in all settings where 
                health care is provided, including in detention;
                    ``(B) instances of coerced abortion, coerced 
                pregnancy, coerced sterilization, use of incentives or 
                disincentives to lower or raise fertility, withholding 
                of information on reproductive health options, and 
                other forms of reproductive and sexual coercion; and
                    ``(C) the actions, if any, taken by the government 
                of such country to respond to such discrimination, 
                coercion, and violence, if applicable;
            ``(4) a description of--
                    ``(A) the proportion of individuals of reproductive 
                age (15 through 49 years of age) whose need for family 
                planning is satisfied with modern methods;
                    ``(B) the barriers such individuals face in 
                accessing such services;
                    ``(C) the nature and extent of instances of denial 
                of comprehensive and accurate family planning 
                information and services in such country; and
                    ``(D) the actions, if any, taken by the government 
                of such country to respond to such denials; and
            ``(5) a description of--
                    ``(A) disparities in access to family planning and 
                reproductive health services and pregnancy-related 
                health outcomes, including pregnancy-related injuries 
                and deaths, based on race, ethnicity, indigenous 
                status, language, religious affiliation, or other 
                marginalized identity; and
                    ``(B) any measures taken by the government of such 
                country to hold health systems accountable for 
                addressing such disparities.''.
    (b) Consultation Required.--In preparing the Annual Country Reports 
on Human Rights Practices required under sections 116(d) and 502B of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended by subsection (a)), the 
Secretary of State, the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, 
Human Rights, and Labor, and other relevant officials, including human 
rights officers at United States diplomatic and consular posts, shall 
consult with--
            (1) representatives of United States civil society and 
        multilateral organizations with demonstrated experience and 
        expertise in sexual and reproductive health and rights or 
        promoting the human rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ 
        persons;
            (2) relevant local nongovernmental organizations in all 
        countries included in such reports, including organizations 
        serving women, girls, and LGBTQI+ persons that are focused on 
        sexual and reproductive health and rights; and
            (3) relevant agencies and offices of the United States 
        Government that track or are otherwise involved in the 
        monitoring of reproductive and sexual health around the world.
                                 <all>