This page contains bills sponsored by presidential contenders.
Bill sponsorships indicate the topics that legislators are most interested in, and spend the most time on.
Legislation by 2008 Presidential Candidates: expanding contraceptive services for low-income women
Source: Unintended Pregnancy Reduction Act (S.2916/H.R.5795)
OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: Amends Medicaid to:
prohibit a state from providing for medical coverage unless it includes certain family planning services and supplies; and
include women who are not pregnant but who meet income eligibility standards in a mandatory "categorically needy" group for family planning services purposes.
EXCERPTS OF BILL:
Congress makes the following findings:
Rates of unintended pregnancy increased by nearly 30% among low-income women between 1994 and 2002, and a low-income woman today is 4 times as likely to have an unintended pregnancy as her higher income counterpart.
Abortion rates decreased among higher income women but increased among low income women in that period, and a low income woman is more than 4 times as likely to have an abortion as her higher income counterpart.
Contraceptive use reduces a woman's probability of having an abortion by 85%.
Levels of contraceptive use among low-income women at risk of unintended pregnancy declined significantly, from 92% to 86%.
Publicly funded contraceptive services have been shown to prevent 1,300,000 unintended pregnancies each year, and in the absence of these services the abortion rate would likely be 40% higher than it is.
By helping couples avoid unintended pregnancy, Medicaid-funded contraceptive services are highly cost-effective, and every public dollar spent on family planning saves $3 in the cost of pregnancy-related care alone.The Social Security Act is amended by adding [to the Medicaid section] the following: COVERAGE OF FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES AND SUPPLIES -- a State may not provide for medical coverage unless that coverage includes family planning services and supplies.
LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Referred to Senate Committee on Finance; never came to a vote.
Participating counts on VoteMatch question 1.
Question 1: Abortion is a woman's right
Scores: -2=Strongly oppose; -1=Oppose; 0=neutral; 1=Support; 2=Strongly support.
Topic: Abortion
Headline: Expand contraceptive services for low-income women
(Score: 1)
Headline 2: Sponsored bill providing contraceptives for low-income women
(Score: 1)
