| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 688 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to furnish tailored |
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| 6 | 6 | | information to expecting mothers, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY23, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. M |
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| 10 | 10 | | ACEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 11 | 11 | | on Energy and Commerce |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services |
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| 14 | 14 | | to furnish tailored information to expecting mothers, and |
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| 15 | 15 | | for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Standing with Moms 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. AWARENESS FOR EXPECTING MOTHERS. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Public Health Service Act is amended by adding 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | at the end the following: 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 27 | 27 | | ‘‘TITLE XXXIV—AWARENESS FOR 1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | EXPECTING MOTHERS 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | ‘‘SEC. 3401. WEBSITE AND PORTAL. 3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | ‘‘(a) W |
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| 31 | 31 | | EBSITE.—Not later than 1 year after the date 4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall publish 5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | a user-friendly public website, life.gov, to provide a com-6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | prehensive list of Federal, State, local governmental, and 7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | private resources available to pregnant women including— 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ‘‘(1) resources to mental health counseling, 9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | pregnancy counseling, and other prepartum and 10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | postpartum services; 11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(2) comprehensive information on alternatives 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | to abortion; 13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘(3) information about abortion risks, including 14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | complications and failures; and 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ‘‘(4) links to information on child development 16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | from moment of conception. 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | ‘‘(b) P |
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| 46 | 46 | | ORTAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall publish 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | a portal on the public website of the Department of Health 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | and Human Services that— 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(1) through a series of questions, will furnish 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | specific tailored information to the user on what 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | pregnancy-related information they are looking for, 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | such as— 25 |
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| 55 | 55 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 56 | 56 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 57 | 57 | | ‘‘(A) Federal, State, local governmental, 1 |
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| 58 | 58 | | and private resources that may be available to 2 |
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| 59 | 59 | | the woman within her ZIP Code, including the 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | resources specified in subsection (c); and 4 |
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| 61 | 61 | | ‘‘(B) risks related to abortion at all stages 5 |
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| 62 | 62 | | of fetal gestation; and 6 |
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| 63 | 63 | | ‘‘(2) provides for the submission of feedback on 7 |
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| 64 | 64 | | how user-friendly and helpful the portal was in pro-8 |
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| 65 | 65 | | viding the tailored information the user was seeking. 9 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ‘‘(c) R |
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| 67 | 67 | | ESOURCES.—The Federal, State, local govern-10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | mental, and private resources specified in this subsection 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | are the following: 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | ‘‘(1) Mentorship opportunities, including preg-13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | nancy help and case management resources. 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(2) Health and well-being services, including 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | women’s medical services such as obstetrical and 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | gynecological support services for women, abortion 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | pill reversal, breastfeeding, general health services, 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | primary care, and dental care. 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ‘‘(3) Financial assistance, work opportunities, 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | nutrition assistance, childcare, and education oppor-21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | tunities. 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ‘‘(4) Material or legal support, including trans-23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | portation, food, nutrition, clothing, household goods, 24 |
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| 82 | 82 | | baby supplies, housing, shelters, maternity homes, 25 |
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| 84 | 84 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 85 | 85 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 86 | 86 | | tax preparation, legal support for child support, 1 |
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| 87 | 87 | | family leave, breastfeeding protections, and custody 2 |
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| 88 | 88 | | issues. 3 |
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| 89 | 89 | | ‘‘(5) Recovery and mental health services, in-4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | cluding services with respect to addiction or suicide 5 |
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| 91 | 91 | | intervention, intimate partner violence, sexual as-6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | sault, rape, sex trafficking, and counseling for 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | women and families surrounding unexpected loss of 8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | a child. 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | ‘‘(6) Prenatal diagnostic services, including dis-10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | ability support organizations, medical interventions 11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | for a baby, perinatal hospice resources, pregnancy 12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | and infant loss support, and literature on pregnancy 13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | wellness. 14 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(7) Healing and support services for abortion 15 |
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| 101 | 101 | | survivors and their families. 16 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ‘‘(8) Services providing care for children, in-17 |
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| 103 | 103 | | cluding family planning education, adoption, foster 18 |
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| 104 | 104 | | care, and short-term care resources. 19 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(d) A |
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| 106 | 106 | | DMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may not del-20 |
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| 107 | 107 | | egate implementation or administration of the portal es-21 |
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| 108 | 108 | | tablished under subsection (b) below the level of the Office 22 |
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| 109 | 109 | | of the Secretary. 23 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(e) F |
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| 111 | 111 | | OLLOW-UP.—The Secretary shall develop a 24 |
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| 112 | 112 | | plan under which— 25 |
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| 114 | 114 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 115 | 115 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 116 | 116 | | ‘‘(1) the Secretary includes in the portal estab-1 |
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| 117 | 117 | | lished under subsection (b), a mechanism for users 2 |
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| 118 | 118 | | of the portal to take an assessment through the por-3 |
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| 119 | 119 | | tal and provide consent to use the user’s contact in-4 |
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| 120 | 120 | | formation; 5 |
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| 121 | 121 | | ‘‘(2) the Secretary conducts outreach via phone 6 |
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| 122 | 122 | | or email to follow up with users of the portal estab-7 |
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| 123 | 123 | | lished under subsection (b) on additional resources 8 |
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| 124 | 124 | | that would be helpful for the users to review; and 9 |
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| 125 | 125 | | ‘‘(3) upon the request of a user of the portal for 10 |
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| 126 | 126 | | specific information, after learning of the additional 11 |
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| 127 | 127 | | resources through the portal, agents of the Depart-12 |
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| 128 | 128 | | ment of Health and Human Services make every ef-13 |
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| 129 | 129 | | fort to furnish specific information to such user in 14 |
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| 130 | 130 | | coordination with Federal, State, local governmental, 15 |
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| 131 | 131 | | and private health care providers and resources. 16 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(f) R |
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| 133 | 133 | | ESOURCELISTAGGREGATION.— 17 |
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| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 135 | 135 | | N GENERAL.—Pursuant to criteria devel-18 |
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| 136 | 136 | | oped in subsection (e)(2), each State shall provide 19 |
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| 137 | 137 | | recommendations of State, local governmental, and 20 |
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| 138 | 138 | | private resources under subsection (b)(1)(A) to in-21 |
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| 139 | 139 | | clude in the portal. 22 |
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| 140 | 140 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 141 | 141 | | RITERIA FOR MAKING RECOMMENDA -23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | TIONS.—The Secretary shall develop criteria to pro-24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | vide to the States to determine whether resources 25 |
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| 145 | 145 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 146 | 146 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 147 | 147 | | recommended as described in paragraph (1) for in-1 |
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| 148 | 148 | | clusion in the portal can appear in the portal. Such 2 |
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| 149 | 149 | | criteria shall include the requirement that the re-3 |
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| 150 | 150 | | source provider is not a prohibited entity and the re-4 |
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| 151 | 151 | | quirement that the resource provider has been en-5 |
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| 152 | 152 | | gaged in providing services for a minimum of 3 con-6 |
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| 153 | 153 | | secutive years. 7 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ‘‘(3) G |
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| 155 | 155 | | RANT PROGRAM.— 8 |
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| 156 | 156 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 157 | 157 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 9 |
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| 158 | 158 | | provide grants to States to establish or support 10 |
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| 159 | 159 | | a system that aggregates the resources de-11 |
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| 160 | 160 | | scribed in subsection (b)(1)(A), in accordance 12 |
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| 161 | 161 | | with the criteria developed under paragraph 13 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (2), and that may be coordinated, to the extent 14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | determined appropriate by the State, by a 15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | statewide, regionally-based, or community-based 16 |
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| 165 | 165 | | public entity or private nonprofit. 17 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ‘‘(B) A |
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| 167 | 167 | | PPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to re-18 |
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| 168 | 168 | | ceive a grant under subparagraph (A), a State 19 |
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| 169 | 169 | | shall submit an application to the Secretary at 20 |
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| 170 | 170 | | such time, in such manner, and containing such 21 |
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| 171 | 171 | | information as the Secretary may require, in-22 |
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| 172 | 172 | | cluding a plan for outreach and awareness ac-23 |
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| 173 | 173 | | tivities, and a list of service providers that 24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 176 | 176 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 177 | 177 | | would be included in the State system sup-1 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ported by the grant. 2 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ‘‘(g) M |
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| 180 | 180 | | ATERNALMENTALHEALTHHOTLINE.—The 3 |
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| 181 | 181 | | Secretary shall ensure that the Maternal Mental Health 4 |
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| 182 | 182 | | Hotline of the Health Resources and Services Administra-5 |
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| 183 | 183 | | tion— 6 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(1) disseminates information regarding, and 7 |
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| 185 | 185 | | linkages to, the life.gov website and portal described 8 |
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| 186 | 186 | | in subsections (a) and (b); 9 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(2) has the capacity to help families in every 10 |
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| 188 | 188 | | State and community in the Nation; and 11 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘(3) includes live chat features, 24 hours a day, 12 |
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| 190 | 190 | | to connect individuals to the information the portal 13 |
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| 191 | 191 | | hosts. 14 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(h) P |
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| 193 | 193 | | ROHIBITIONREGARDINGCERTAINENTI-15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | TIES.—The resources listed on the life.gov website, and 16 |
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| 195 | 195 | | made available through the portal and hotline established 17 |
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| 196 | 196 | | under this section may not include any resource offered 18 |
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| 197 | 197 | | by a prohibited entity. 19 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ‘‘(i) S |
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| 199 | 199 | | ERVICES INDIFFERENTLANGUAGES.—The 20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | life.gov website and hotline shall ensure the widest possible 21 |
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| 201 | 201 | | access to services for families who speak languages other 22 |
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| 202 | 202 | | than English. 23 |
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| 203 | 203 | | ‘‘(j) R |
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| 204 | 204 | | EPORTINGREQUIREMENTS.— 24 |
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| 207 | 207 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 208 | 208 | | ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 |
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| 209 | 209 | | after the date on which the life.gov website and por-2 |
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| 210 | 210 | | tal are established under subsection (a), the Sec-3 |
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| 211 | 211 | | retary shall submit to Congress a report on— 4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | ‘‘(A) the traffic of the website and the 5 |
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| 213 | 213 | | interactive portal; 6 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(B) user feedback on the accessibility and 7 |
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| 215 | 215 | | helpfulness of the website and interactive portal 8 |
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| 216 | 216 | | in tailoring to the user’s needs; 9 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ‘‘(C) insights on gaps in Federal, State, 10 |
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| 218 | 218 | | local governmental, and private programming 11 |
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| 219 | 219 | | with respect to services for pregnant and 12 |
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| 220 | 220 | | postpartum women; and 13 |
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| 221 | 221 | | ‘‘(D) suggestions on how to improve user 14 |
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| 222 | 222 | | experience and accessibility based on user feed-15 |
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| 223 | 223 | | back and missing resources that would be help-16 |
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| 224 | 224 | | ful to include in future updates. 17 |
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| 225 | 225 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 226 | 226 | | ONFIDENTIALITY.—The report under 18 |
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| 227 | 227 | | paragraph (1) shall not include any personal identi-19 |
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| 228 | 228 | | fying information regarding individuals who have 20 |
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| 229 | 229 | | used the website or portal. 21 |
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| 230 | 230 | | ‘‘(k) D |
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| 231 | 231 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 |
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| 232 | 232 | | ‘‘(1) A |
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| 233 | 233 | | BORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, 24 |
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| 235 | 235 | | drug, or other substance or device to intentionally— 25 |
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| 237 | 237 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 238 | 238 | | •HR 688 IH |
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| 239 | 239 | | ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 1 |
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| 240 | 240 | | known to be pregnant; or 2 |
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| 241 | 241 | | ‘‘(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 3 |
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| 242 | 242 | | of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in-4 |
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| 243 | 243 | | tention other than to— 5 |
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| 244 | 244 | | ‘‘(i) increase the probability of a live 6 |
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| 245 | 245 | | birth or of preserving the life or health of 7 |
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| 246 | 246 | | the child after live birth; or 8 |
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| 247 | 247 | | ‘‘(ii) remove a dead unborn child. 9 |
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| 248 | 248 | | ‘‘(2) B |
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| 249 | 249 | | ORN ALIVE.—The term ‘born alive’ has 10 |
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| 250 | 250 | | the meaning given such term in section 8(b) of title 11 |
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| 251 | 251 | | 1, United States Code. 12 |
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| 252 | 252 | | ‘‘(3) P |
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| 253 | 253 | | ROHIBITED ENTITY.—The term ‘prohib-13 |
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| 254 | 254 | | ited entity’ means an entity, including its affiliates, 14 |
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| 255 | 255 | | subsidiaries, successors, and clinics that performs, 15 |
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| 256 | 256 | | induces, refers for, or counsels in favor of abortions, 16 |
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| 257 | 257 | | or provides financial support to any other organiza-17 |
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| 258 | 258 | | tion that conducts such activities. 18 |
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| 259 | 259 | | ‘‘(4) U |
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| 260 | 260 | | NBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 19 |
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| 261 | 261 | | means an individual organism of the species homo 20 |
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| 262 | 262 | | sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of 21 |
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| 263 | 263 | | being born alive.’’. 22 |
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| 264 | 264 | | Æ |
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