No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7059 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7059
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program to
increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual and
reproductive health care, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 2024
Ms. Caraveo (for herself, Ms. Chu, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Norton,
Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Wild, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Salinas, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Titus, Ms. Craig, Ms.
Crockett, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Takano, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Adams, Ms. Lee
of California, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Ms. Ross, Mrs. Watson
Coleman, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Stansbury,
Mr. Trone, Mr. Frost, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Pettersen, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr.
Casten, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Allred, Ms. Stevens, Ms.
Spanberger, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Meng, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Ms.
Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Smith
of Washington, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms.
Wilson of Florida, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Moskowitz, Ms. DeGette,
Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Dean of
Pennsylvania, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Espaillat, Mrs. Sykes, Mr.
Sorensen, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Carson, Mr. Cohen, and Ms.
Balint) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program to
increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual and
reproductive health care, 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 ``Abortion Care Capacity Enhancement
and Support Services Act of 2024'' or the ``ACCESS Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) On June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health
Organization, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which
had guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. Following
the decision, States were able to increase restrictions or ban
access to abortion, which has exacerbated the abortion access
crisis. Under this legal framework, abortion access varies
widely by State.
(2) Compared to April 2022, the number of abortions per
month by June 2023 had dropped to zero in at least 12 States
with abortion bans in place, while other States saw increases
of over 2,000 abortions.
(3) States that do not have an abortion ban or restrictions
have experienced increased numbers of out-of-State patients
seeking abortion services. Patients traveling for abortion
services doubled in recent years with one in five patients
crossing State lines to obtain an abortion in 2023, compared to
one in ten in 2020.
(4) Abortion providers in States where abortion is legal
have experienced an increase in the number of patients from out
of State. This influx in patients has increased the demand for
abortion services and strained the reproductive health care
systems in many States.
(5) The influx of out-of-State patients has also increased
the backlogs in services and wait times for appointments in
multiple States following increases in abortion bans and
restrictions. To date, many facilities across the country still
have reported wait times of a week or longer for abortion
services.
(6) The challenges to access abortion disproportionately
impact individuals of color, low-income individuals, LGBTQ+
individuals, youth, and others who face existing barriers to
access health care in their communities.
(7) Over 15 million reproductive-age women of color live in
States that have banned or are likely to ban abortion following
the Dobbs decision. Additionally, women of color, low-income
women, young women, and women living in rural communities have
been disproportionately impacted by travel for abortion
services.
(8) To address the challenges in accessing abortion
services, proper investments need to be made to improve
capacity to accommodate for both patients in State and those
coming from out of State to receive comprehensive and high-
quality abortion services and other sexual and reproductive
health services.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE ABORTION SERVICES AND
OTHER SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.
Subpart V of part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 256 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 340A-1. GRANTS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE ABORTION SERVICES
AND OTHER SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a grant program
consisting of awarding grants to eligible entities to increase their
capacity to provide abortion services and other sexual and reproductive
health care to individuals seeking to access abortion within or outside
of their States of residence.
``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an entity shall--
``(1) be a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility,
university, nonprofit organization, community-based
organization, local governmental entity, or Tribal government
that, through programs, services, or activities that are
unbiased and medically and factually accurate, provides or
refers for abortion services; and
``(2) be in a State, the District of Columbia, or a
commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States
where abortion services are permissible outside of exceptions
for the life and health of the pregnant person.
``(c) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities in States that, as
determined by the Secretary, have experienced the highest increases of
out-of-State patients seeking abortion services and other sexual and
reproductive health care.
``(d) Authorized Activities.--A grant under this section may be
used for any of the following supplies, equipment, or services related
to providing an abortion or other sexual and reproductive health care:
``(1) Expanding the grantee's facilities, such as by
creating more examination rooms, operation rooms, recovery
areas, and other additional locations for care.
``(2) Purchasing medical supplies or equipment to provide
reproductive health care services.
``(3) Administering telehealth services, which may include
audio, video, and text messaging services.
``(4) Contracting or hiring clinical and nonclinical
support staff, which may include intake coordinators, health
educators, doulas, midwives, counselors, ultrasound
technicians, and other relevant health care personnel.
``(5) Training programs to increase clinical and
nonclinical support staff, which may include intake
coordinators, health educators, doulas, midwives, counselors,
ultrasound technicians, and other relevant health care
personnel.
``(6) Creating and disseminating medically accurate,
culturally and linguistically appropriate, accessible
educational materials and resources for patients.
``(7) Interpretation and translation services.
``(8) Referrals and counseling.
``(9) Recovery care.
``(e) Application.--To seek a grant under this section, an eligible
entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require, including a plan for increasing capacity as described in
subsection (a).
``(f) Prohibition Against Exclusion of Qualified Eligible
Entities.--No Federal agency, grantee, subrecipient, or other entity
shall, in the course of administering or carrying out any program or
activity under this section, act in a manner which has the effect of
excluding, limiting, or restricting the participation of any entity
that would otherwise be eligible to apply for funds, on the basis of
any factor unrelated to the entity's qualifications to effectively
carry out the program or activity.
``(g) Definition.--In this section, the term `abortion services'
means a medical or surgical abortion and any medical or non-medical
supplies, equipment, or services related to and provided in conjunction
with an abortion.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2024 through 2028.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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