[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2605 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2605

  To preserve religious freedom and a woman's access to contraception.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 15, 2014

  Ms. Ayotte (for herself, Mr. McConnell, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Burr, Mr. 
    Chambliss, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hatch, Mr. 
Isakson, Mr. McCain, Mr. Portman, Mr. Risch, Mr. Thune, Mr. Wicker, and 
 Mr. Johanns) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To preserve religious freedom and a woman's access to contraception.

    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 ``Preserving Religious Freedom and a 
Woman's Access to Contraception Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Instead of restricting Americans' religious freedoms, 
        Congress should preserve a woman's ability to make 
        contraceptive decisions for herself.
            (2) The freedom of religion is the first freedom listed in 
        the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
        and Congress has a strong interest in protecting the free 
        exercise of religion for Americans of all faiths.
            (3) The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 was 
        signed by President Clinton on November 16, 1993, after passing 
        the House of Representatives unanimously and passing the Senate 
        with the votes of 97 Senators, including 16 currently serving 
        Senators and the Vice President.
            (4) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides 
        important protections against discrimination on the basis of 
        race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
            (5) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 
        and amendments made by that Act establish comprehensive 
        protections to ensure that any medications used by or 
        prescribed for an individual are not disclosed to an employer 
        in its capacity as an employer.
            (6) The Food and Drug Administration has found a number of 
        contraceptives to be proven safe and effective at preventing 
        pregnancies as well as in managing certain medical conditions.
            (7) There are 5 programs, including the Medicaid program, 
        carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services that 
        provide access to contraception for low-income women.
            (8) Federal and State government spending for contraceptive 
        services totaled $2,370,000,000 in fiscal year 2010 and the 
        Medicaid program financed 75 percent of government spending for 
        family planning.
            (9) More than 19,000,000 women were eligible for 
        government-supported contraceptive services in 2010.
            (10) Even before Obamacare mandated that employers fully 
        subsidize employees' contraception, women had wide access to 
        Food and Drug Administration-approved contraception and such 
        contraception was covered by insurance at over 85 percent of 
        large businesses.
            (11) Now, Obamacare's various requirements cause an 
        unprecedented intrusion of government mandates into Americans' 
        personal health care decisions, including unprecedented Federal 
        mandates that employers become involved in those decisions, and 
        the individual mandate, which requires individuals to purchase 
        health insurance or pay a penalty.
            (12) Obamacare has created an enormous disruption in the 
        personal health insurance options of millions of Americans 
        whose health insurance plans were cancelled or whose preferred 
        doctors were not included in their new health insurance plan 
        networks.
            (13) The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 
        Obamacare could reduce employment by the equivalent of 
        2,000,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
            (14) One of Obamacare's mandates places 2,600,000 
        Americans, nearly two-thirds of them women, at risk of having 
        their hours and wages reduced, according to the Hoover 
        Institution.
            (15) Obamacare's cuts to the Medicare Advantage program and 
        other regulatory actions could reduce the average benefit for 
        women who rely on the program by $1,538 per year, or 13 
        percent.
            (16) Obamacare's payroll tax increase creates an 
        inequitable tax penalty for married working women.
            (17) Obamacare places limitations on health savings 
        accounts, flexible spending accounts, and other consumer-
        directed health savings vehicles, which help approximately 
        17,400,000 Americans to save for their own health expenses, 
        including contraceptives.
            (18) The current Administration has granted discretionary 
        compliance waivers from Obamacare to a variety of for-profit 
        businesses, unions, and other organizations.
            (19) To date, the Department of Health and Human Services 
        has granted more than 1,000 individual waiver requests for 
        employers and insurers, excusing the employers and insurers 
        from compliance with various aspects of the law.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that the Food and Drug Administration 
should study whether contraceptives that are available with a 
prescription, on the date of enactment of this Act, would be safe and 
effective for adults if available without a prescription.

SEC. 4. EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employer who is 
engaged in interstate commerce may not prohibit an employee from 
purchasing, pursuant to State prescribing and dispensing laws, a drug 
or medical device, including a contraceptive, that is regulated by the 
Food and Drug Administration.

SEC. 5. EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES TO MAKE HEALTH CHOICES.

    (a) No Limitations Based on Whether a Drug Is Prescribed.--Section 
9003 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-
148), and the amendments made by such section, are repealed, and the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be applied as if such section, and 
amendments, had never been enacted.
    (b) No Limitations on Health FSAs.--Sections 9005 and 10902 of the 
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and 
section 1403 of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 
2010 (Public Law 111-152), and the amendments made by such sections, 
are repealed, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be applied as 
if such section, and amendments, had never been enacted.
                                 <all>