Title: Expressing support for the recognition of September 26, 2021, as "World Contraception Day" and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding global and domestic access to contraception.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This bill expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress and the President should examine and support ways to expand access to contraceptives.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 685 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 685

   Expressing support for the recognition of September 26, 2021, as 
 ``World Contraception Day'' and expressing the sense of the House of 
 Representatives regarding global and domestic access to contraception.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2021

  Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. 
  Torres of New York, Ms. Chu, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Ocasio-
Cortez, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. DelBene, Mr. McGovern, 
    Mr. Nadler, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Meng, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Clark of 
  Massachusetts, Ms. Bass, and Mr. Cicilline) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing support for the recognition of September 26, 2021, as 
 ``World Contraception Day'' and expressing the sense of the House of 
 Representatives regarding global and domestic access to contraception.

Whereas September 26 marks World Contraception Day, a day when organizations and 
        individuals around the world advocate to improve awareness of 
        contraception and the right to sexual and reproductive health;
Whereas, in 1968, the United Nations International Conference on Human Rights 
        declared that ``parents have a basic human right to determine freely and 
        responsibly the number and spacing of their children'';
Whereas access to contraceptives in the United States is recognized as a 
        fundamental right under the constitutional right to privacy through the 
        Supreme Court's decisions in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 
        (1965) and Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972);
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized family 
        planning in its published list of the ``Ten Greatest Public Health 
        Achievements in the 20th Century'';
Whereas target 3.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 
        which was adopted by the United States and 192 other United Nations (UN) 
        member states, calls on countries ``by 2030, to ensure universal access 
        to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family 
        planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive 
        health into national strategies and programs'';
Whereas contraception, specifically condoms, decreases the spread of sexually 
        transmitted infections (STIs) and could eliminate the 3.5 million annual 
        cases of infertility in low- and middle-income countries that are caused 
        by untreated gonorrhea or chlamydia;
Whereas the ability of individuals to control the number and spacing of their 
        children reduces rates of unwanted pregnancy;
Whereas in developing countries, public health experts estimate that access to 
        contraceptives would result in 76 million fewer unintended pregnancies, 
        26 million fewer unsafe abortions, and 186,000 fewer maternal deaths;
Whereas significant racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities exist in 
        sexual and reproductive health, particularly in maternal mortality and 
        infant mortality with Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women 
        two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than 
        White women;
Whereas contraceptive choices are unduly influenced by structural racism, gender 
        discrimination, and socioeconomic barriers, and research shows that both 
        historically and today, medical racism has resulted in experiments on, 
        exploitation of, and mistrust of Black women's sexual and reproductive 
        health;
Whereas effective contraception has been shown to be an important strategy to 
        maintaining and improving mental health and well-being for women, 
        particularly in relation to postpartum depression from unplanned 
        pregnancies;
Whereas planning, delaying, and spacing births helps people achieve their 
        education and career goals;
Whereas young women with access to the pill before age 21 graduated from college 
        in significantly higher numbers than did women of the same era who came 
        of age before the pill was available to them;
Whereas children born to mothers with access to United States federally funded 
        family planning programs, which increase access to affordable 
        contraception and family planning services, were more likely to complete 
        at least 12, 13, and 16 years of schooling, and had two-percent higher 
        family incomes as adults;
Whereas globally, access to contraception increases labor force participation 
        boosting economic health and prosperity of developing communities;
Whereas many women face challenges in accessing birth control and using it 
        effectively, and globally, 270 million women (14 percent) have an unmet 
        need for family planning using modern contraception;
Whereas in the United States, one-third of adult United States women who have 
        ever tried to obtain prescription contraception reported barriers to 
        access;
Whereas 12 States in America allow some health care providers to refuse to 
        provide services related to contraception;
Whereas studies show that preventing teenagers from accessing contraceptives 
        puts teens at risk of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted 
        diseases, including HIV;
Whereas 9 States in America have adopted restrictions on emergency contraception 
        by excluding emergency contraception from a State's family planning 
        program, contraceptive coverage mandate, or by allowing pharmacists to 
        refuse to dispense emergency contraceptives;
Whereas according to the UN, globally, 19 percent of governments apply one or 
        more restrictions on contraceptive access, and these include 
        restrictions on the age and marital status of the person seeking access 
        to contraception, parental consent, and restrictions on access to 
        emergency contraceptive pills or sterilization;
Whereas researchers propose some women of color experience implicit and explicit 
        racism when interacting with the medical system, lack of quality 
        information about effective family planning methods, and an inability to 
        access or afford reproductive health care;
Whereas while comprehensive sex education has been proven to reduce rates of 
        unintended pregnancy and STIs, only 20 States and the District of 
        Columbia require sex education to include information on birth control;
Whereas globally, many countries have made advances in developing policies to 
        improve access to comprehensive sex education, however, there remain 
        significant gaps between global and regional policies and implementation 
        on the ground such as limited teacher training capacity;
Whereas existing research highlights uninsured women were 30 percent less likely 
        to report using prescription contraceptive methods than women with 
        private or public health insurance and women identify affordability 
        among the top three factors in determining which contraception to use;
Whereas LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender individuals undergoing 
        transition, experience unique barriers to contraception access;
Whereas there are continued efforts to defund or eliminate contraceptive 
        programs, even though they are proven to reduce unintended pregnancies;
Whereas reproductive justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily 
        autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we 
        have in safe and sustainable communities;
Whereas people of color, indigenous people, immigrant communities, and people 
        with disabilities have been exploited in the service of contraceptive 
        development, and been coerced into using contraception, or sterilized 
        against their will, yet still may face barriers to accessing 
        contraception when they need it; and
Whereas Congress has repeatedly recognized the importance of women's ability to 
        access contraceptives through support for the Medicaid program, title X 
        of the Public Health Service Act, and the Federal Employee Health 
        Benefits Program: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        Congress and this Administration should take further steps to 
        ensure that all people have universal, expansive, high-quality 
        access to free or affordable contraception;
            (2) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should ensure all people capable of pregnancy autonomy to 
        decide whether to have children, the number and spacing of 
        their children, and to have medically accurate information, 
        education, and access to health services to make these 
        decisions and pursue reproductive justice;
            (3) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should examine and support ways to expand comprehensive access 
        to contraception, including new evidence-based methods and 
        innovations;
            (4) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should ensure people have access to affordable, comprehensive, 
        consistent insurance coverage for all their reproductive health 
        care needs, including contraception and abortion;
            (5) the House of Representatives aligns with scientific 
        perspective that ``contraception'' includes all current and 
        future Food and Drug Administration-approved methods, including 
        those available by prescription and over-the-counter, and the 
        World Health Organization defines contraception to include 
        female and male sterilization, the intra-uterine device (IUD), 
        the implant, injectables, oral contraceptive pills, external 
        and internal condoms, vaginal barrier methods (including the 
        diaphragm, cervical cap and spermicidal foam, jelly, cream, and 
        sponge), lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), emergency 
        contraception and other modern methods not reported separately 
        (for example, the contraceptive patch or vaginal ring);
            (6) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should ensure that laws governing contraception access are 
        evidence-based and grounded in accurate medical information;
            (7) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should work to end reproductive health disparities, including 
        with regard to ethnicity, race, gender identity, and sexual 
        orientation;
            (8) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should work to end gender-based violence, which 
        disproportionately affects women, including transgender women;
            (9) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should expand comprehensive and gender inclusive sex education 
        and patient-centered counseling, which includes accurate, age-
        appropriate information about one's body, sexual and 
        reproductive health, methods of contraception and access, and 
        human rights;
            (10) the House of Representatives and the Administration 
        should ensure that United States foreign assistance includes 
        support for contraception services, safe abortion services, and 
        quality post-abortion care; and
            (11) this Congress does not support the global gag rule and 
        Helms amendments and supports increased funding for domestic 
        and foreign assistance contraceptive programs such as those 
        under title X, Medicaid, Federal health care providers, and the 
        United States Agency for International Development's Office of 
        Population and Reproductive Health.
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