[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 26 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 26

 To amend various provisions of law to ensure that services related to 
    abortion are made available to the same extent as are all other 
      pregnancy-related services under federally funded programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 5, 1993

 Mr. Fazio of California (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Beilenson, 
 Mr. Berman, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Conyers, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
  Edwards of California, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Frost, Mrs. 
Johnson of Connecticut, Mrs. Kennelly, Mr. Kopetski, Mrs. Lowey of New 
   York, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Machtley, Mr. Markey, Mr. Martinez, Mr. 
Matsui, Ms. Molinari, Mr. Moran, Mrs. Morella, Ms. Norton, Mr. Payne of 
 New Jersey, Mrs. Schroeder, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Stark, Mr. Studds, Mr. 
Torres, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Unsoeld, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Zimmer) 
   introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the 
  Committees on Armed Services, the District of Columbia, Energy and 
 Commerce, Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Natural Resources, and Post 
                        Office and Civil Service

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend various provisions of law to ensure that services related to 
    abortion are made available to the same extent as are all other 
      pregnancy-related services under federally funded programs.

    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 ``Reproductive Health Equity Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) abortion is a legal medical service related to 
        pregnancy and the choice to elect an abortion is a personal, 
        private right protected by the Constitution;
            (2) the Federal Government provides assistance for 
        pregnancy-related care for substantial numbers of women under a 
        variety of Federal programs, including the medicaid program, 
        the Indian health care program, the Federal employees' health 
        benefits program (FEHBP), the program of health care for 
        military dependents and retirees (CHAMPUS), the Peace Corps 
        program, general payments to the District of Columbia, and the 
        program of medical services to Federal penal and correctional 
        institutions;
            (3) pregnant women who otherwise are provided pregnancy-
        related care under these programs have been denied equal access 
        to health care services due to Congress' severe and unjustified 
        restrictions on their freedom to choose services that relate to 
        abortion; and
            (4) denial of access to health care services because those 
        services relate to abortion is unjust and unfair to pregnant 
        women who are or whose spouses are employed by the Federal 
        Government or who otherwise are dependent on the Federal 
        Government for health care and threatens the health and well-
        being of themselves and their families.

SEC. 3. MEDICAID PROGRAM.

    Section 1902(a)(10) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1396a(a)(10)), relating to medical assistance under the medicaid 
program, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (E);
            (2) by inserting ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (F); 
        and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(G) for making medical assistance available with 
                respect to services related to abortion to the same 
                extent as such assistance is provided with respect to 
                other pregnancy-related services;''.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM.

    Section 8904 of title 5, United States Code, relating to the type 
of benefits under the Federal employees health benefits program, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) All plans contracted for under this chapter shall include 
benefits for services related to abortion to the same extent as for 
other pregnancy-related services.''.

SEC. 5. INDIAN HEALTH CARE.

    (a) General Authority.--Section 201(b) of the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1621(b)), relating to the direct or indirect 
patient care program for Indians, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
    ``(3) Funds appropriated under the authority of this section for 
each fiscal year are available to provide services related to abortion 
to the same extent as such funds are available for other pregnancy-
related services.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 806 of the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1676) is repealed.

SEC. 6. MILITARY HEALTH CARE.

    (a) Members and Former Members.--Section 1074 of title 10, United 
States Code, relating to medical and dental care for members and 
certain former members of the uniformed services, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Medical care provided under this section shall include 
services related to abortion to the same extent as such care includes 
other pregnancy-related services.''.
    (b) Dependents.--Section 1077(a)(8) of such title, relating to 
medical care for dependents of members of the uniformed services, is 
amended--
            (1) by striking out the comma after ``infant care'' and 
        inserting in lieu thereof a period;
            (2) by striking out ``including'' and inserting in lieu 
        thereof ``Such care shall include''; and
            (3) by inserting before the period at the end the 
        following: ``and services related to abortion to the same 
        extent as other pregnancy-related services''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1093 of such title is repealed.

SEC. 7. PEACE CORPS.

    Section 5(e) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2504(e)), relating 
to health care for Peace Corps volunteers, is amended by inserting 
before the period at the end of the first sentence the following: ``, 
except that health care provided under this subsection to volunteers 
during their service shall include services related to abortion to the 
same extent as such care includes other pregnancy-related services''.

SEC. 8. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

    Section 503 of the District of Columbia Self-Government and 
Governmental Reorganization Act, relating to the authorization of 
appropriations of the Federal payment to the District of Columbia, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(b) Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization provided 
under this section shall be made available for services related to 
abortion to the same extent as such amounts may be made available for 
other pregnancy-related services.''.

SEC. 9. FEDERAL PENAL AND CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

    Section 4005(a) of title 18, United States Code, relating to 
medical services to the Federal penal and correctional institution, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, medical services provided 
under this subsection shall include services related to abortion to the 
same extent as they include other pregnancy-related services.''.

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