S 1032 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1032
To provide for programs that reduce abortions, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 13, 2009
Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. NELSON of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To provide for programs that reduce abortions, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the ‘Pregnant Women Support Act’.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
TITLE I--PUBLIC AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW PARENTS
TITLE II--INCREASING WOMEN’S KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THEIR PREGNANCY
TITLE III--PREGNANCY AS A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION
TITLE IV--MEDICAID AND SCHIP COVERAGE OF PREGNANT WOMEN AND UNBORN CHILDREN
TITLE V--DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON ABORTION SERVICES
TITLE VI--SUPPORT FOR PREGNANT AND PARENTING COLLEGE STUDENTS
Sec. 601. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 602. Definitions.
Sec. 603. Pregnant and parenting student services pilot program.
Sec. 604. Application; number of grants.
Sec. 605. Matching Requirement.
Sec. 606. Use of funds.
Sec. 607. Reporting.
Sec. 608. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE VII--SUPPORT FOR PREGNANT AND PARENTING TEENS
TITLE VIII--IMPROVING SERVICES FOR PREGNANT WOMEN WHO ARE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, AND STALKING
TITLE IX--LIFE SUPPORT CENTERS FOR PREGNANT WOMEN, MOTHERS, AND CHILDREN
TITLE X--PROVIDING SUPPORT TO NEW PARENTS
Sec. 1001. Increased support for WIC program.
Sec. 1002. Nutritional support for low-income parents.
Sec. 1003. Increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant program.
Sec. 1004. Teenage or first-time mothers; free home visits by registered nurses for education on health needs of infants.
TITLE XI--COLLECTING AND REPORTING ABORTION DATA
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) In 2005, 820,151 abortions were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2) Forty-eight percent of all pregnancies in America are unintended. Excluding miscarriages, 54 percent of unintended pregnancies end in abortion.
(3) Fifty-seven percent of women who have abortions have incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level.
(4) ‘Cannot afford a baby’ is the second most frequently cited reason women choose to have an abortion; 73 percent of women having abortions cited this reason as a contributing factor.
(5) This Act is an initiative to gather more complete information about abortion, to reduce the abortion rate by helping women carry their pregnancies to term and bear healthy children, and by affirming the right of women to be fully informed about their other options when they seek an abortion.
(6) The initiative will work to support women facing unplanned pregnancies, new parents and their children by providing for health care needs, supportive services and helpful prenatal information and postnatal services.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(2) The term ‘State’ includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
TITLE I--PUBLIC AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW PARENTS
SEC. 101. GRANTS FOR INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO ASSIST PREGNANT WOMEN IN CARRYING THEIR PREGNANCIES TO TERM AND TO ASSIST NEW PARENTS.
(a) Grants- The Secretary may make grants to States to increase public awareness of resources available to pregnant women to carry their pregnancy to term and to new parents.
(b) Use of Funds- The Secretary may make a grant to a State under this section only if the State agrees to use the grant for the following:
(1) Identification of resources available to assist pregnant women to carry their pregnancy to term or to assist new parents, or both.
(2) Conducting an advertising campaign to increase public awareness of such resources.
(3) Establishing and maintaining a toll-free telephone line to direct people to--
(A) organizations that provide support services for pregnant women to carry their pregnancy to term;
(B) adoption centers; and
(C) organizations that provide support services to new parents.
(c) Prohibition- The Secretary shall prohibit each State receiving a grant under this section from using the grant to direct people to an organization or adoption center that is for-profit.
(d) Identification of Resources- The Secretary shall require each State receiving a grant under this section to make publicly available by means of the Internet (electronic and paper form) a list of the following:
(1) The resources identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
(2) The organizations and adoption centers to which people are directed pursuant to an advertising campaign or telephone line funded under this section.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations- The Secretary shall make such funds available as may be necessary to carry out the activities of this section.
TITLE II--INCREASING WOMEN’S KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THEIR PREGNANCY
SEC. 201. GRANTS TO HEALTH CENTERS FOR PURCHASE OF ULTRASOUND EQUIPMENT.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317L the following:
‘SEC. 317L-1. GRANTS FOR THE PURCHASE OR UPGRADE OF ULTRASOUND EQUIPMENT.
‘(a) In General- The Secretary may make grants for the purchase of ultrasound equipment. Such ultrasound equipment shall be used by the recipients of such grants to provide, under the direction and supervision of a licensed medical physician, ultrasound examinations to pregnant women consenting to such services.
‘(b) Eligibility Requirements- An entity may receive a grant under subsection (a) only if the entity meets the following conditions:
‘(1) The entity is a health center eligible to receive a grant under section 330 (relating to community health centers, migrant health centers, homeless health centers, and public-housing health centers).
‘(2) The entity agrees to comply with the following medical procedures:
‘(A) The entity will inform each pregnant woman upon whom the ultrasound equipment is used that she has the right to view the visual image of the unborn child from the ultrasound examination and that she has the right to hear a general anatomical and physiological description of the characteristics of the unborn child.
‘(B) The entity will inform each pregnant woman that she has the right to learn, according to the best medical judgment of the physician performing the ultrasound examination or the physician’s agent performing such exam, the approximate age of the embryo or unborn child considering the number of weeks elapsed from the probable time of the conception of the embryo or unborn child, based upon the information provided by the client as to the time of her last menstrual period, her medical history, a physical examination, or appropriate laboratory tests.
‘(c) Application for Grant- A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted to the Secretary and the application is in such form, is made in such manner, and contains such agreements, assurances, and information as the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this section.
‘(d) Annual Report to Secretary- A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if the applicant for the grant agrees to report on an annual basis to the Secretary, in such form and manner as the Secretary may require, on the ongoing compliance of the applicant with the eligibility conditions established in subsection (b).
‘(e) Authorization of Appropriations- For the purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2014.’.
TITLE III--PREGNANCY AS A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION
Full Text of Legislation