Protecting Women's Access to Health Care Act

Protecting Women's Access to Health Care Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit any recipient of a grant or contract under the family planning program from discriminating against any institutional or individual health care entity on the basis of whether such entity separately provides or refers for abortions, provides employees coverage of abortions, or provides or requires training in the performance of abortions.

Defines "health care entity" to include an individual physician or other health care professional, a hospital, or any other kind of health care facility or organization.

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5650 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5650

  To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to provide for no 
 discrimination under the family planning program under such title on 
              the basis of separate provision of abortion.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 9, 2012

   Mr. Dold introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to provide for no 
 discrimination under the family planning program under such title on 
              the basis of separate provision of abortion.

    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 ``Protecting Women's Access to Health 
Care Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The family planning program under title X of the Public 
        Health Service Act was created in 1970 to ensure low-income 
        women have access to birth control, breast and cervical cancer 
        screenings, and other basic health care services.
            (2) Under current law, funds provided under such title X 
        cannot be used in programs where abortion is a method of family 
        planning.
            (3) Federal courts have consistently held that it is a 
        violation of Federal law for States to discriminate against 
        health care providers by excluding such providers from 
        participating in title X on the basis that such providers 
        provide abortion services using funds that are not provided 
        under such title X (referred to in this section as ``non-title 
        X funding'').
            (4) Despite these court findings, State and local 
        governments continue to seek to pass laws intended to prevent 
        health care providers from being eligible for funding under 
        such title X on the basis that such providers provide abortion 
        services with non-title X funding.
            (5) These State laws threaten access to lifesaving cancer 
        screenings, birth control, and screenings for sexually 
        transmitted infections for women across the country.
            (6) Therefore, this Act clarifies and reaffirms existing 
        Federal law that prohibits a Federal agency or program or a 
        State or local government from excluding qualified health care 
        providers from participating in the Federal title X program on 
        the basis of the scope of practice of such providers and the 
        provision by such providers of abortion services with non-title 
        X funding.

SEC. 3. NO DISCRIMINATION UNDER THE TITLE X FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM ON 
              BASIS OF SEPARATE PROVISION OF ABORTION WITH NON-TITLE X 
              FUNDING.

    Title X of the Public Health Service Act is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section:

``SEC. 1009. NO DISCRIMINATION ON BASIS OF SEPARATE PROVISION OF 
              ABORTION WITH NON-TITLE X FUNDING.

    ``(a) In General.--Any entity that receives a grant or contract 
under this title may not subject any institutional or individual health 
care entity to discrimination on the basis of whether the health care 
entity separately provides or refers for abortions, provides employees 
coverage of abortions, or provides or requires training in the 
performance of abortions.
    ``(b) Health Care Entity Defined.--In this section, the term 
`health care entity' includes an individual physician or other health 
care professional, a hospital, or any other kind of health care 
facility or organization.''.
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