Seven commonsense bills Rep. Brian Bilbray refuses to talk about
Each of these proposals focuses on commonsense ways to prevent unintended pregnancy. A recent NARAL Pro-Choice America poll shows, that eight out of 10 voters agree that Americans are tired of divisive attacks over the issue of abortion and want their leaders to support real solutions to prevent unintended pregnancies. In fact, 61 percent of voters disapprove when they hear Congress has voted 145 times in the last 10 years to restrict reproductive-health services, including abortion and birth control. Yet, Rep. Bilbray refuses to meet with his constituents on these subjects.
1. The Prevention First Act (S.20/H.R.1709) is a bill that clearly bridges the pro-choice/pro-life divide. It increases funds for family-planning services, assures contraceptive equity in health-insurance plans, and improves women’s access to emergency contraception, among other things.
2. The Responsible Education About Life Act (“REAL”: S.368/H.R.2553), would establish the first-ever federal sex-education program for young people.
3. Women across America are encountering rogue pharmacists who refuse to fill their birth-control prescriptions – and in some cases lecture and humiliate them in public. The Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (“ALPhA”: S.809/H.R.1652) would ensure that a woman receives her prescription contraception, whether or not an individual pharmacist has an objection.
4. The Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act (“CARE”: S.1264/H.R.2928) would ensure that victims of sexual assault are offered emergency contraception in the emergency room.
5. The Equity in Prescription Insurance Contraceptive Coverage Act (“EPICC”: S.1214/H.R.4651) would simply ensure that prescription birth control is covered equally with other prescription drugs. It’s been awaiting congressional action for nine years; it has more than 100 cosponsors and is bipartisan.
6. America has the highest teen-pregnancy rate of any developed Western country. The new Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Responsibility, and Opportunity Act (H.R.5332) would help tackle this problem by educating teens about their risk of pregnancy, teaching them about the significant responsibilities that come with parenthood, keeping them on track in school, and helping parents discuss tough topics – like sex – with their kids.
7. The number of military women who suffer sexual assault is shocking. Yet emergency contraception is not automatically available to servicewomen at overseas bases, so victims of rape – or servicewomen who simply need to back-up their regular birth-control method – may not easily be able to obtain the medication in time. A new bill, H.R.2635, would ensure that military health-care facilities stock EC and make it available to servicewomen and military dependents as part of the regular drug formulary on every base.
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