| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 422 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To protect an individual’s ability to access contraceptives and to engage |
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| 6 | 6 | | in contraception and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide |
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| 7 | 7 | | contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY5, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. M |
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| 11 | 11 | | ARKEY(for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. |
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| 12 | 12 | | B |
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| 13 | 13 | | ENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. BLUNTROCHESTER, Ms. |
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| 14 | 14 | | C |
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| 15 | 15 | | ANTWELL, Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. |
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| 16 | 16 | | G |
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| 17 | 17 | | ALLEGO, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. |
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| 18 | 18 | | K |
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| 19 | 19 | | AINE, Mr. KIM, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. |
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| 20 | 20 | | M |
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| 21 | 21 | | URRAY, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. |
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| 22 | 22 | | R |
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| 23 | 23 | | OSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. |
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| 24 | 24 | | S |
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| 25 | 25 | | MITH, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. WARREN, |
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| 26 | 26 | | Mr. W |
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| 27 | 27 | | ELCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. FETTERMAN) in- |
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| 28 | 28 | | troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- |
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| 29 | 29 | | mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions |
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| 30 | 30 | | A BILL |
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| 31 | 31 | | To protect an individual’s ability to access contraceptives |
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| 32 | 32 | | and to engage in contraception and to protect a health |
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| 33 | 33 | | care provider’s ability to provide contraceptives, contra- |
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| 34 | 34 | | ception, and information related to contraception. |
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| 35 | 35 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 36 | 36 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 38 | 38 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 40 | 40 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 |
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| 41 | 41 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Right to Contraception 2 |
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| 42 | 42 | | Act’’. 3 |
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| 43 | 43 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 |
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| 44 | 44 | | In this Act: 5 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (1) C |
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| 46 | 46 | | ONTRACEPTION.—The term ‘‘contracep-6 |
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| 47 | 47 | | tion’’ means an action taken to prevent pregnancy, 7 |
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| 48 | 48 | | including the use of contraceptives or fertility-aware-8 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ness-based methods and sterilization procedures. 9 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) C |
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| 51 | 51 | | ONTRACEPTIVE.—The term ‘‘contracep-10 |
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| 52 | 52 | | tive’’ means any drug, device, or biological product 11 |
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| 53 | 53 | | intended for use in the prevention of pregnancy, 12 |
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| 54 | 54 | | whether specifically intended to prevent pregnancy 13 |
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| 55 | 55 | | or for other health needs, that is approved, cleared, 14 |
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| 56 | 56 | | authorized, or licensed under section 505, 510(k), 15 |
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| 57 | 57 | | 513(f)(2), 515, or 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, 16 |
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| 58 | 58 | | and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355, 360(k), 17 |
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| 59 | 59 | | 360c(f)(2), 360e, 360bbb–3) or section 351 of the 18 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262). 19 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (3) G |
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| 62 | 62 | | OVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘government’’ 20 |
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| 63 | 63 | | includes each branch, department, agency, instru-21 |
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| 64 | 64 | | mentality, and official of the United States or a 22 |
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| 65 | 65 | | State. 23 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (4) H |
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| 67 | 67 | | EALTH CARE PROVIDER .—The term 24 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ‘‘health care provider’’ means any entity or indi-25 |
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| 69 | 69 | | vidual (including any physician, certified nurse-mid-26 |
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| 71 | 71 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 72 | 72 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 73 | 73 | | wife, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, 1 |
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| 74 | 74 | | and pharmacist) that is licensed or otherwise author-2 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ized by a State to provide health care services. 3 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (5) S |
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| 77 | 77 | | TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 4 |
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| 78 | 78 | | the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com-5 |
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| 79 | 79 | | monwealth of Puerto Rico, each territory and pos-6 |
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| 80 | 80 | | session of the United States, and each Indian Tribe 7 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-8 |
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| 82 | 82 | | mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 9 |
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| 83 | 83 | | 5304)), and any political subdivision of any of the 10 |
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| 84 | 84 | | foregoing, including any unit of local government, 11 |
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| 85 | 85 | | such as a county, city, town, village, or other general 12 |
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| 86 | 86 | | purpose political subdivision of a State. 13 |
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| 87 | 87 | | SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 14 |
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| 88 | 88 | | Congress finds the following: 15 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (1) The right to contraception is a fundamental 16 |
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| 90 | 90 | | right, central to an individual’s privacy, health, well- 17 |
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| 91 | 91 | | being, dignity, liberty, equality, and ability to par-18 |
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| 92 | 92 | | ticipate in the social and economic life of the Nation. 19 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (2) The Supreme Court has repeatedly recog-20 |
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| 94 | 94 | | nized the constitutional right to contraception. 21 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (3) In Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479 22 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (1965)), the Supreme Court first recognized the con-23 |
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| 97 | 97 | | stitutional right for married people to use contracep-24 |
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| 98 | 98 | | tives. 25 |
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| 100 | 100 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 101 | 101 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 102 | 102 | | (4) In Eisenstadt v. Baird (405 U.S. 438 1 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (1972)), the Supreme Court confirmed the constitu-2 |
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| 104 | 104 | | tional right of all people to legally access contracep-3 |
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| 105 | 105 | | tives regardless of marital status. 4 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (5) In Carey v. Population Services Inter-5 |
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| 107 | 107 | | national (431 U.S. 678 (1977)), the Supreme Court 6 |
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| 108 | 108 | | affirmed the constitutional right to contraceptives 7 |
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| 109 | 109 | | for minors. 8 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (6) The right to contraception has been repeat-9 |
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| 111 | 111 | | edly recognized internationally as a human right. 10 |
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| 112 | 112 | | The United Nations Population Fund has published 11 |
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| 113 | 113 | | several reports outlining family planning as a basic 12 |
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| 114 | 114 | | human right that advances women’s health, eco-13 |
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| 115 | 115 | | nomic empowerment, and equality. 14 |
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| 116 | 116 | | (7) Access to contraceptives is internationally 15 |
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| 117 | 117 | | recognized by the World Health Organization as ad-16 |
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| 118 | 118 | | vancing other human rights such as the right to life, 17 |
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| 119 | 119 | | liberty, expression, health, work, and education. 18 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (8) Contraception is safe, essential health care, 19 |
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| 121 | 121 | | and access to contraceptive products and services is 20 |
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| 122 | 122 | | central to people’s ability to participate equally in 21 |
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| 123 | 123 | | economic and social life in the United States and 22 |
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| 124 | 124 | | globally. Contraception allows people to make deci-23 |
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| 125 | 125 | | sions about their families and their lives. 24 |
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| 128 | 128 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 129 | 129 | | (9) Contraception is key to sexual and repro-1 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ductive health. Contraception is critical to pre-2 |
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| 131 | 131 | | venting unintended pregnancy, and many contracep-3 |
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| 132 | 132 | | tives are highly effective in preventing and treating 4 |
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| 133 | 133 | | a wide array of medical conditions and decrease the 5 |
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| 134 | 134 | | risk of certain cancers. 6 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (10) Contraception has been associated with 7 |
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| 136 | 136 | | improved health outcomes for women, their families, 8 |
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| 137 | 137 | | and their communities and reduces rates of maternal 9 |
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| 138 | 138 | | and infant mortality and morbidity. 10 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (11) The United States has a long history of 11 |
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| 140 | 140 | | reproductive coercion, including the childbearing 12 |
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| 141 | 141 | | forced upon enslaved women, as well as the forced 13 |
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| 142 | 142 | | sterilization of Black women, Puerto Rican women, 14 |
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| 143 | 143 | | indigenous women, immigrant women, and disabled 15 |
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| 144 | 144 | | women, and reproductive coercion continues to 16 |
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| 145 | 145 | | occur. This history also includes the coercive testing 17 |
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| 146 | 146 | | of contraceptive pills on women and girls in Puerto 18 |
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| 147 | 147 | | Rico. 19 |
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| 148 | 148 | | (12) The right to make personal decisions about 20 |
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| 149 | 149 | | contraceptive use is important for all Americans, 21 |
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| 150 | 150 | | and is especially critical for historically marginalized 22 |
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| 151 | 151 | | groups, including— 23 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (A) Black, indigenous, and other people of 24 |
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| 153 | 153 | | color; 25 |
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| 156 | 156 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 157 | 157 | | (B) immigrants; 1 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (C) LGBTQ+ people; 2 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (D) people with disabilities; 3 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (E) people paid low wages; and 4 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (F) people living in rural and underserved 5 |
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| 162 | 162 | | areas. 6 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (13) Many people who are part of the 7 |
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| 164 | 164 | | marginalized groups described in paragraph (12) al-8 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ready face barriers, exacerbated by social, political, 9 |
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| 166 | 166 | | economic, and environmental inequities, to com-10 |
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| 167 | 167 | | prehensive health care, including reproductive health 11 |
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| 168 | 168 | | care, that reduce their ability to make decisions 12 |
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| 169 | 169 | | about their health, families, and lives. 13 |
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| 170 | 170 | | (14) State and Federal policies governing phar-14 |
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| 171 | 171 | | maceutical and insurance policies affect the accessi-15 |
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| 172 | 172 | | bility of contraceptives and the settings in which 16 |
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| 173 | 173 | | contraception services are delivered. 17 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (15) People engage in interstate commerce to 18 |
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| 175 | 175 | | access contraception services. 19 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (16) To provide contraception services, health 20 |
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| 177 | 177 | | care providers employ and obtain commercial serv-21 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ices from doctors, nurses, and other personnel who 22 |
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| 179 | 179 | | engage in interstate commerce and travel across 23 |
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| 180 | 180 | | State lines. 24 |
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| 183 | 183 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 184 | 184 | | (17) Congress has the authority to enact this 1 |
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| 185 | 185 | | Act to protect access to contraception pursuant to— 2 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (A) its powers under the Commerce Clause 3 |
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| 187 | 187 | | of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 4 |
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| 188 | 188 | | the United States; 5 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (B) its powers under section 5 of the Four-6 |
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| 190 | 190 | | teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 7 |
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| 191 | 191 | | United States to enforce the provisions of sec-8 |
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| 192 | 192 | | tion 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment; and 9 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (C) its powers under the necessary and 10 |
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| 194 | 194 | | proper clause of section 8 of article I of the 11 |
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| 195 | 195 | | Constitution of the United States. 12 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (18) Congress has used its authority in the past 13 |
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| 197 | 197 | | to protect and expand access to contraception infor-14 |
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| 198 | 198 | | mation, products, and services. 15 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (19) In 1970, Congress established the family 16 |
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| 200 | 200 | | planning program under title X of the Public Health 17 |
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| 201 | 201 | | Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.), the only Fed-18 |
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| 202 | 202 | | eral grant program dedicated to family planning and 19 |
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| 203 | 203 | | related services, providing access to information, 20 |
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| 204 | 204 | | products, and services for contraception. 21 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (20) In 1972, Congress required the Medicaid 22 |
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| 206 | 206 | | program to cover family planning services and sup-23 |
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| 207 | 207 | | plies and the Medicaid program currently accounts 24 |
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| 210 | 210 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 211 | 211 | | for 75 percent of Federal funds spent on family 1 |
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| 212 | 212 | | planning. 2 |
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| 213 | 213 | | (21) In 2010, Congress enacted the Patient 3 |
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| 214 | 214 | | Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 4 |
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| 215 | 215 | | 111–148) (referred to in this section as the ‘‘ACA’’). 5 |
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| 216 | 216 | | Among other provisions, the ACA included provi-6 |
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| 217 | 217 | | sions to expand the affordability and accessibility of 7 |
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| 218 | 218 | | contraception by requiring health insurance plans to 8 |
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| 219 | 219 | | provide coverage for preventive services with no pa-9 |
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| 220 | 220 | | tient cost-sharing. 10 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (22) States have tried to ban access to some or 11 |
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| 222 | 222 | | all contraceptives by restricting access to public 12 |
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| 223 | 223 | | funding for these products and services. Further-13 |
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| 224 | 224 | | more, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas 14 |
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| 225 | 225 | | have infringed on people’s ability to access their con-15 |
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| 226 | 226 | | traceptive care by violating the free choice of pro-16 |
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| 227 | 227 | | vider requirement under the Medicaid program. 17 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (23) Providers’ refusals to offer contraceptives 18 |
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| 229 | 229 | | and information related to contraception based on 19 |
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| 230 | 230 | | their own personal beliefs impede patients from ob-20 |
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| 231 | 231 | | taining their preferred method of contraception, with 21 |
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| 232 | 232 | | laws in 12 States as of the date of introduction of 22 |
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| 233 | 233 | | this Act specifically allowing health care providers to 23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | refuse to provide services related to contraception. 24 |
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| 237 | 237 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 238 | 238 | | (24) States have attempted to define abortion 1 |
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| 239 | 239 | | expansively so as to include contraceptives in State 2 |
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| 240 | 240 | | bans on abortion and have also restricted access to 3 |
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| 241 | 241 | | emergency contraception. 4 |
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| 242 | 242 | | (25) Justice Thomas, in his concurring opinion 5 |
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| 243 | 243 | | in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization 6 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022)), stated that the Supreme 7 |
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| 245 | 245 | | Court ‘‘should reconsider all of this Court’s sub-8 |
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| 246 | 246 | | stantive due process precedents, including Griswold, 9 |
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| 247 | 247 | | Lawrence, and Obergefell’’ and that the Court has 10 |
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| 248 | 248 | | ‘‘a duty to correct the error established in those 11 |
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| 249 | 249 | | precedents’’ by overruling them. 12 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (26) In order to further public health and to 13 |
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| 251 | 251 | | combat efforts to restrict access to reproductive 14 |
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| 252 | 252 | | health care, congressional action is necessary to pro-15 |
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| 253 | 253 | | tect access to contraceptives, contraception, and in-16 |
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| 254 | 254 | | formation related to contraception for everyone, re-17 |
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| 255 | 255 | | gardless of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, sex 18 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (including gender identity and sexual orientation), 19 |
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| 257 | 257 | | income, disability, national origin, immigration sta-20 |
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| 258 | 258 | | tus, or geography. 21 |
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| 259 | 259 | | SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 22 |
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| 260 | 260 | | The purposes of this Act are— 23 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (1) to provide a clear and comprehensive right 24 |
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| 262 | 262 | | to contraception; 25 |
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| 265 | 265 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 266 | 266 | | (2) to permit individuals to seek and obtain 1 |
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| 267 | 267 | | contraceptives and engage in contraception, and to 2 |
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| 268 | 268 | | permit health care providers to facilitate that care; 3 |
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| 269 | 269 | | and 4 |
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| 270 | 270 | | (3) to protect an individual’s ability to make de-5 |
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| 271 | 271 | | cisions about their body, medical care, family, and 6 |
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| 272 | 272 | | life’s course, and thereby protect the individual’s 7 |
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| 273 | 273 | | ability to participate equally in the economic and so-8 |
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| 274 | 274 | | cial life of the United States. 9 |
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| 275 | 275 | | SEC. 5. PERMITTED SERVICES. 10 |
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| 276 | 276 | | (a) I |
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| 277 | 277 | | NGENERAL.—An individual has a statutory 11 |
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| 278 | 278 | | right under this Act to obtain contraceptives and to volun-12 |
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| 279 | 279 | | tarily engage in contraception, free from coercion, and a 13 |
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| 280 | 280 | | health care provider has a corresponding right to provide 14 |
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| 281 | 281 | | contraceptives, contraception, and information, referrals, 15 |
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| 282 | 282 | | and services related to contraception. 16 |
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| 283 | 283 | | (b) L |
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| 284 | 284 | | IMITATIONS ORREQUIREMENTS.—The statu-17 |
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| 285 | 285 | | tory rights specified in subsection (a) shall not be limited 18 |
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| 286 | 286 | | or otherwise infringed through any limitation or require-19 |
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| 287 | 287 | | ment that— 20 |
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| 288 | 288 | | (1) expressly, effectively, implicitly, or as-imple-21 |
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| 289 | 289 | | mented singles out— 22 |
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| 290 | 290 | | (A) the provision of contraceptives, contra-23 |
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| 291 | 291 | | ception, or contraception-related information; 24 |
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| 295 | 295 | | (B) health care providers who provide con-1 |
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| 296 | 296 | | traceptives, contraception, or contraception-re-2 |
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| 297 | 297 | | lated information; or 3 |
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| 298 | 298 | | (C) facilities in which contraceptives, con-4 |
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| 299 | 299 | | traception, or contraception-related information 5 |
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| 300 | 300 | | is provided; and 6 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (2) impedes access to contraceptives, contracep-7 |
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| 302 | 302 | | tion, or contraception-related information. 8 |
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| 303 | 303 | | (c) E |
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| 304 | 304 | | XCEPTION.—To defend against a claim that a 9 |
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| 305 | 305 | | limitation or requirement violates a health care provider’s 10 |
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| 306 | 306 | | or individual’s statutory rights under subsection (b), a 11 |
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| 307 | 307 | | party must establish, by clear and convincing evidence, 12 |
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| 308 | 308 | | that— 13 |
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| 309 | 309 | | (1) the limitation or requirement significantly 14 |
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| 310 | 310 | | advances access to contraceptives, contraception, and 15 |
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| 311 | 311 | | information related to contraception; and 16 |
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| 312 | 312 | | (2) access to contraceptives, contraception, and 17 |
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| 313 | 313 | | information related to contraception or the health of 18 |
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| 314 | 314 | | patients cannot be advanced by a less restrictive al-19 |
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| 315 | 315 | | ternative measure or action. 20 |
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| 316 | 316 | | (d) R |
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| 317 | 317 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-21 |
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| 318 | 318 | | tion shall be construed to limit the authority of the Sec-22 |
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| 319 | 319 | | retary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 23 |
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| 320 | 320 | | Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to approve, clear, au-24 |
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| 321 | 321 | | thorize, or license contraceptives under section 505, 25 |
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| 324 | 324 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 325 | 325 | | 510(k), 513(f)(2), 515, or 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, 1 |
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| 326 | 326 | | and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355, 360(k), 360c(f)(2), 2 |
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| 327 | 327 | | 360e, 360bbb–3) or section 351 of the Public Health Serv-3 |
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| 328 | 328 | | ice Act (42 U.S.C. 262), or for the Federal Government 4 |
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| 329 | 329 | | to enforce such approval, clearance, authorization, or li-5 |
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| 330 | 330 | | censure. 6 |
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| 331 | 331 | | SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY AND PREEMPTION. 7 |
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| 332 | 332 | | (a) G |
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| 333 | 333 | | ENERALAPPLICATION.— 8 |
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| 334 | 334 | | (1) I |
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| 335 | 335 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-9 |
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| 336 | 336 | | section (c), this Act supersedes and applies to the 10 |
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| 337 | 337 | | law of the Federal Government and each State, and 11 |
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| 338 | 338 | | the implementation of such law, whether statutory, 12 |
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| 339 | 339 | | common law, or otherwise, and whether adopted be-13 |
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| 340 | 340 | | fore or after the date of enactment of this Act. 14 |
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| 341 | 341 | | (2) P |
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| 342 | 342 | | ROHIBITION.—Neither the Federal Gov-15 |
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| 343 | 343 | | ernment nor any State may administer, implement, 16 |
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| 344 | 344 | | or enforce any law, rule, regulation, standard, or 17 |
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| 345 | 345 | | other provision having the force and effect of law in 18 |
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| 346 | 346 | | a manner that— 19 |
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| 347 | 347 | | (A) prohibits or restricts the sale, provi-20 |
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| 348 | 348 | | sion, or use of any contraceptives; 21 |
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| 349 | 349 | | (B) prohibits or restricts any individual 22 |
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| 350 | 350 | | from aiding another individual in voluntarily 23 |
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| 351 | 351 | | obtaining or using any contraceptives or contra-24 |
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| 352 | 352 | | ceptive methods; or 25 |
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| 355 | 355 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 356 | 356 | | (C) exempts any contraceptives or contra-1 |
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| 357 | 357 | | ceptive methods from any other generally appli-2 |
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| 358 | 358 | | cable law in a way that would make it more dif-3 |
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| 359 | 359 | | ficult to sell, provide, obtain, or use such con-4 |
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| 360 | 360 | | traceptives or contraceptive methods. 5 |
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| 361 | 361 | | (3) R |
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| 362 | 362 | | ELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS .—This 6 |
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| 363 | 363 | | Act applies notwithstanding any other provision of 7 |
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| 364 | 364 | | Federal law, including the Religious Freedom Res-8 |
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| 365 | 365 | | toration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.). 9 |
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| 366 | 366 | | (b) S |
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| 367 | 367 | | UBSEQUENTLY ENACTEDFEDERALLEGISLA-10 |
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| 368 | 368 | | TION.—Federal law enacted after the date of enactment 11 |
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| 369 | 369 | | of this Act is subject to this Act, unless such law explicitly 12 |
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| 370 | 370 | | excludes such application by reference to this Act. 13 |
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| 371 | 371 | | (c) L |
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| 372 | 372 | | IMITATIONS.—The provisions of this Act shall 14 |
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| 373 | 373 | | not supersede or otherwise affect any provision of Federal 15 |
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| 374 | 374 | | law relating to coverage under (and shall not be construed 16 |
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| 375 | 375 | | as requiring the provision of specific benefits under) group 17 |
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| 376 | 376 | | health plans or group or individual health insurance cov-18 |
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| 377 | 377 | | erage or coverage under a Federal health care program 19 |
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| 378 | 378 | | (as defined in section 1128B(f) of the Social Security Act 20 |
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| 379 | 379 | | (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(f))), including coverage provided 21 |
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| 380 | 380 | | under section 1905(a)(4)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 22 |
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| 381 | 381 | | U.S.C. 1396d(a)(4)(C)) and section 2713 of the Public 23 |
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| 382 | 382 | | Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–13). 24 |
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| 385 | 385 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 386 | 386 | | (d) DEFENSE.—In any cause of action against an in-1 |
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| 387 | 387 | | dividual or entity who is subject to a limitation or require-2 |
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| 388 | 388 | | ment that violates this Act, in addition to the remedies 3 |
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| 389 | 389 | | specified in section 8, this Act shall also apply to, and 4 |
|---|
| 390 | 390 | | may be raised as a defense by, such an individual or entity. 5 |
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| 391 | 391 | | (e) E |
|---|
| 392 | 392 | | FFECTIVEDATE.—This Act shall take effect im-6 |
|---|
| 393 | 393 | | mediately upon the date of enactment of this Act. 7 |
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| 394 | 394 | | SEC. 7. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 8 |
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| 395 | 395 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 396 | 396 | | NGENERAL.—In interpreting the provisions of 9 |
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| 397 | 397 | | this Act, a court shall liberally construe such provisions 10 |
|---|
| 398 | 398 | | to effectuate the purposes described in section 4. 11 |
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| 399 | 399 | | (b) R |
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| 400 | 400 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 12 |
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| 401 | 401 | | shall be construed— 13 |
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| 402 | 402 | | (1) to authorize any government to interfere 14 |
|---|
| 403 | 403 | | with a health care provider’s ability to provide con-15 |
|---|
| 404 | 404 | | traceptives or information related to contraception 16 |
|---|
| 405 | 405 | | or a patient’s ability to obtain contraceptives or to 17 |
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| 406 | 406 | | engage in contraception; or 18 |
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| 407 | 407 | | (2) to permit or sanction the conduct of any 19 |
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| 408 | 408 | | sterilization procedure without the patient’s vol-20 |
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| 409 | 409 | | untary and informed consent. 21 |
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| 410 | 410 | | (c) O |
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| 411 | 411 | | THERINDIVIDUALSCONSIDERED ASGOVERN-22 |
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| 412 | 412 | | MENTOFFICIALS.—Any individual who, by operation of 23 |
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| 413 | 413 | | a provision of Federal or State law, is permitted to imple-24 |
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| 414 | 414 | | ment or enforce a limitation or requirement that violates 25 |
|---|
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| 417 | 417 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 418 | 418 | | section 5 shall be considered a government official for pur-1 |
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| 419 | 419 | | poses of this Act. 2 |
|---|
| 420 | 420 | | SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT. 3 |
|---|
| 421 | 421 | | (a) A |
|---|
| 422 | 422 | | TTORNEYGENERAL.—The Attorney General 4 |
|---|
| 423 | 423 | | may commence a civil action on behalf of the United 5 |
|---|
| 424 | 424 | | States against any State that violates, or against any gov-6 |
|---|
| 425 | 425 | | ernment official (including an individual described in sec-7 |
|---|
| 426 | 426 | | tion 7(c)) that implements or enforces a limitation or re-8 |
|---|
| 427 | 427 | | quirement that violates, section 5. The court shall hold 9 |
|---|
| 428 | 428 | | unlawful and set aside the limitation or requirement if it 10 |
|---|
| 429 | 429 | | is in violation of this Act. 11 |
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| 430 | 430 | | (b) P |
|---|
| 431 | 431 | | RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.— 12 |
|---|
| 432 | 432 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 433 | 433 | | N GENERAL.—Any individual or entity, in-13 |
|---|
| 434 | 434 | | cluding any health care provider or patient, ad-14 |
|---|
| 435 | 435 | | versely affected by an alleged violation of this Act, 15 |
|---|
| 436 | 436 | | may commence a civil action against any State that 16 |
|---|
| 437 | 437 | | violates, or against any government official (includ-17 |
|---|
| 438 | 438 | | ing an individual described in section 7(c)) that im-18 |
|---|
| 439 | 439 | | plements or enforces a limitation or requirement 19 |
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| 440 | 440 | | that violates, section 5. The court shall hold unlaw-20 |
|---|
| 441 | 441 | | ful and set aside the limitation or requirement if it 21 |
|---|
| 442 | 442 | | is in violation of this Act. 22 |
|---|
| 443 | 443 | | (2) H |
|---|
| 444 | 444 | | EALTH CARE PROVIDER .—A health care 23 |
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| 445 | 445 | | provider may commence an action for relief on its 24 |
|---|
| 446 | 446 | | own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, and on 25 |
|---|
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| 449 | 449 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 450 | 450 | | behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be 1 |
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| 451 | 451 | | adversely affected by an alleged violation of this Act. 2 |
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| 452 | 452 | | (c) E |
|---|
| 453 | 453 | | QUITABLERELIEF.—In any action under this 3 |
|---|
| 454 | 454 | | section, the court may award appropriate equitable relief, 4 |
|---|
| 455 | 455 | | including temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunc-5 |
|---|
| 456 | 456 | | tive relief. 6 |
|---|
| 457 | 457 | | (d) C |
|---|
| 458 | 458 | | OSTS.—In any action under this section, the 7 |
|---|
| 459 | 459 | | court shall award costs of litigation, as well as reasonable 8 |
|---|
| 460 | 460 | | attorney’s fees, to any prevailing plaintiff. A plaintiff shall 9 |
|---|
| 461 | 461 | | not be liable to a defendant for costs or attorney’s fees 10 |
|---|
| 462 | 462 | | in any nonfrivolous action under this section. 11 |
|---|
| 463 | 463 | | (e) J |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | URISDICTION.—The district courts of the United 12 |
|---|
| 465 | 465 | | States shall have jurisdiction over proceedings under this 13 |
|---|
| 466 | 466 | | Act and shall exercise the same without regard to whether 14 |
|---|
| 467 | 467 | | the party aggrieved shall have exhausted any administra-15 |
|---|
| 468 | 468 | | tive or other remedies that may be provided for by law. 16 |
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| 469 | 469 | | (f) A |
|---|
| 470 | 470 | | BROGATION OF STATEIMMUNITY.—Neither a 17 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | State that enforces or maintains, nor a government official 18 |
|---|
| 472 | 472 | | (including an individual described in section 7(c)) who is 19 |
|---|
| 473 | 473 | | permitted to implement or enforce any limitation or re-20 |
|---|
| 474 | 474 | | quirement that violates section 5 shall be immune under 21 |
|---|
| 475 | 475 | | the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 22 |
|---|
| 476 | 476 | | States, the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of 23 |
|---|
| 477 | 477 | | the United States, or any other source of law, from an 24 |
|---|
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| 480 | 480 | | •S 422 IS |
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| 481 | 481 | | action in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdic-1 |
|---|
| 482 | 482 | | tion challenging that limitation or requirement. 2 |
|---|
| 483 | 483 | | SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 3 |
|---|
| 484 | 484 | | If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 4 |
|---|
| 485 | 485 | | provision to any individual, entity, government, or cir-5 |
|---|
| 486 | 486 | | cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 6 |
|---|
| 487 | 487 | | of this Act, or the application of such provision to all other 7 |
|---|
| 488 | 488 | | individuals, entities, governments, or circumstances, shall 8 |
|---|
| 489 | 489 | | not be affected thereby. 9 |
|---|
| 490 | 490 | | Æ |
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