Access to Birth Control Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to contraceptives, including: (1) providing a customer a contraceptive without delay if it is in stock; (2) immediately informing a customer if the contraceptive is not in stock and either transferring the prescription to a pharmacy that has the contraceptive in stock or expediting the ordering of the contraceptive and notifying the customer when it arrives, based on customer preference, except for pharmacies that do not ordinarily stock contraceptives in the normal course of business; and (3) ensuring that pharmacy employees do not take certain actions relating to a request for contraception, including intimidating, threatening, or harassing customers, interfering with or obstructing the delivery of services, intentionally misrepresenting or deceiving customers about the availability of contraception or its mechanism of action, breaching or threatening to breach medical confidentiality, or refusing to return a valid, lawful prescription.
Provides that a pharmacy is not prohibited from refusing to provide a contraceptive to a customer if: (1) it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive to the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such prescription is presented; (2) the customer is unable to pay for the contraceptive; or (3) the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide the contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical judgment.
Provides that this Act does not preempt state law or any professional obligation of a state board that provides greater protections for customers.
Sets forth civil penalties and establishes a a private cause of action for violations of this Act.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2625 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2625
To establish certain duties for pharmacies to ensure provision of Food
and Drug Administration-approved contraception, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 17, 2014
Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Brown, Mr. Franken, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Tester, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Warren, Ms.
Baldwin, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs.
Murray, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Markey, Mr. Begich, Mrs. Shaheen,
and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish certain duties for pharmacies to ensure provision of Food
and Drug Administration-approved contraception, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Access to Birth Control Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Family planning is basic health care for women. Access
to contraception helps women prevent unintended pregnancy and
control the timing and spacing of planned births.
(2) Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
included family planning in its published list of the Ten Great
Public Health Achievements in the 20th Century, the United
States still has one of the highest rates of unintended
pregnancies among industrialized nations.
(3) Each year, 3,400,000 pregnancies, nearly half of all
pregnancies, in the United States are unintended, and nearly
half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion.
(4) Women rely on prescription contraceptives for a range
of medical purposes in addition to birth control, such as
regulation of cycles and endometriosis.
(5) The Food and Drug Administration has declared emergency
contraception to be safe and effective in preventing unintended
pregnancy and has approved over-the-counter access to some
forms of emergency contraception for all individuals,
regardless of age.
(6) If taken soon after unprotected sex or primary
contraceptive failure, emergency contraception can
significantly reduce a woman's chance of unintended pregnancy.
(7) Emergency contraception is approved to prevent
pregnancy. It will not work if a woman is already pregnant.
(8) Access to legal contraception is a protected
fundamental right in the United States and should not be
impeded by one individual's personal beliefs.
(9) Reports of pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions
for contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives, have
surfaced in States across the Nation, including Alabama,
Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Georgia,
Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas,
Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Since emergency
contraception became available without a prescription for
certain individuals, refusals to provide non-prescription
emergency contraception have also been reported.
SEC. 3. DUTIES OF PHARMACIES TO ENSURE PROVISION OF FDA-APPROVED
CONTRACEPTION.
Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 238
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 249. DUTIES OF PHARMACIES TO ENSURE PROVISION OF FDA-APPROVED
CONTRACEPTION.
``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (c), a pharmacy that
receives Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs or devices in
interstate commerce shall maintain compliance with the following:
``(1) If a customer requests a contraceptive that is in
stock, the pharmacy shall ensure that the contraceptive is
provided to the customer without delay.
``(2) If a customer requests a contraceptive that is not in
stock and the pharmacy in the normal course of business stocks
contraception, the pharmacy shall immediately inform the
customer that the contraceptive is not in stock and without
delay offer the customer the following options:
``(A) If the customer prefers to obtain the
contraceptive through a referral or transfer, the
pharmacy shall--
``(i) locate a pharmacy of the customer's
choice or the closest pharmacy confirmed to
have the contraceptive in stock; and
``(ii) refer the customer or transfer the
prescription to that pharmacy.
``(B) If the customer prefers for the pharmacy to
order the contraceptive, the pharmacy shall obtain the
contraceptive under the pharmacy's standard procedure
for expedited ordering of medication and notify the
customer when the contraceptive arrives.
``(3) The pharmacy shall ensure that its employees do not--
``(A) intimidate, threaten, or harass customers in
the delivery of services relating to a request for
contraception;
``(B) interfere with or obstruct the delivery of
services relating to a request for contraception;
``(C) intentionally misrepresent or deceive
customers about the availability of contraception or
its mechanism of action;
``(D) breach medical confidentiality with respect
to a request for contraception or threaten to breach
such confidentiality; or
``(E) refuse to return a valid, lawful prescription
for contraception upon customer request.
``(b) Contraceptives Not Ordinarily Stocked.--Nothing in subsection
(a)(2) shall be construed to require any pharmacy to comply with such
subsection if the pharmacy does not ordinarily stock contraceptives in
the normal course of business.
``(c) Refusals Pursuant to Standard Pharmacy Practice.--This
section does not prohibit a pharmacy from refusing to provide a
contraceptive to a customer in accordance with any of the following:
``(1) If it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive to
the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such
prescription is presented.
``(2) If the customer is unable to pay for the
contraceptive.
``(3) If the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide
the contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical
judgment.
``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to invalidate or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal
standards under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
``(e) Preemption.--This section does not preempt any provision of
State law or any professional obligation made applicable by a State
board or other entity responsible for licensing or discipline of
pharmacies or pharmacists, to the extent that such State law or
professional obligation provides protections for customers that are
greater than the protections provided by this section.
``(f) Enforcement.--
``(1) Civil penalty.--A pharmacy that violates a
requirement of subsection (a) is liable to the United States
for a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding $1,000 per day
of violation, not to exceed $100,000 for all violations
adjudicated in a single proceeding.
``(2) Private cause of action.--Any person aggrieved as a
result of a violation of a requirement of subsection (a) may,
in any court of competent jurisdiction, commence a civil action
against the pharmacy involved to obtain appropriate relief,
including actual and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and a
reasonable attorney's fee and cost.
``(3) Limitations.--A civil action under paragraph (1) or
(2) may not be commenced against a pharmacy after the
expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date on which
the pharmacy allegedly engaged in the violation involved.
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `contraception' or `contraceptive' means any
drug or device approved by the Food and Drug Administration to
prevent pregnancy.
``(2) The term `employee' means a person hired, by contract
or any other form of an agreement, by a pharmacy.
``(3) The term `pharmacy' means an entity that--
``(A) is authorized by a State to engage in the
business of selling prescription drugs at retail; and
``(B) employs one or more employees.
``(4) The term `product' means a Food and Drug
Administration-approved drug or device.
``(5) The term `professional clinical judgment' means the
use of professional knowledge and skills to form a clinical
judgment, in accordance with prevailing medical standards.
``(6) The term `without delay', with respect to a pharmacy
providing, providing a referral for, or ordering contraception,
or transferring the prescription for contraception, means
within the usual and customary timeframe at the pharmacy for
providing, providing a referral for, or ordering other
products, or transferring the prescription for other products,
respectively.
``(h) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the 31st
day after the date of the enactment of this section, without regard to
whether the Secretary has issued any guidance or final rule regarding
this section.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4622)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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