[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3983 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3983

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program to 
increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual and 
           reproductive health care, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 2024

 Ms. Hirono (for herself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Merkley, 
 Ms. Butler, Mr. Welch, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Warren, and Mr. 
  Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a grant program to 
increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual and 
           reproductive health care, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Abortion Care Capacity Enhancement 
and Support Services Act of 2024'' or the ``ACCESS Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health 
        Organization, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which 
        had guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. Following 
        the decision, States were able to increase restrictions or ban 
        access to abortion, which has exacerbated the abortion access 
        crisis. Under this legal framework, abortion access varies 
        widely by State.
            (2) Compared to April 2022, the number of abortions per 
        month by June 2023, had dropped to zero in at least 12 States 
        with abortion bans in place, while other States saw increases 
        of over 2,000 abortions.
            (3) States that do not have an abortion ban or restrictions 
        have experienced increased numbers of out-of-State patients 
        seeking abortion services. Patients traveling for abortion 
        services doubled in recent years with 1 in 5 patients crossing 
        State lines to obtain an abortion in 2023, compared to 1 in 10 
        in 2020.
            (4) Abortion providers in States where abortion is legal 
        have experienced an increase in the number of patients from out 
        of State. This influx in patients has increased the demand for 
        abortion services and strained the reproductive health care 
        systems in many States.
            (5) The influx of out-of-State patients has also increased 
        the backlogs in services and wait times for appointments in 
        multiple States following increases in abortion bans and 
        restrictions. To date, many facilities across the country still 
        have reported wait times of a week or longer for abortion 
        services.
            (6) The challenges to access abortion disproportionately 
        impact individuals of color, low-income individuals, LGBTQ+ 
        individuals, youth, and others who face existing barriers to 
        access health care in their communities.
            (7) Over 15,000,000 reproductive-age women of color live in 
        States that have banned or are likely to ban abortion following 
        the Dobbs decision. Additionally, women of color, low-income 
        women, young women, and women living in rural communities have 
        been disproportionately impacted by travel for abortion 
        services.
            (8) To address the challenges in accessing abortion 
        services, proper investments need to be made to improve 
        capacity to accommodate for both patients in State and those 
        coming from out of State to receive comprehensive and high-
        quality abortion services and other sexual and reproductive 
        health services.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE ABORTION SERVICES AND 
              OTHER SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.

    Subpart V of part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 256 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 340A-1. GRANTS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE ABORTION SERVICES 
              AND OTHER SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a grant program 
consisting of awarding grants to eligible entities to increase their 
capacity to provide abortion services and other sexual and reproductive 
health care to individuals seeking to access abortion within or outside 
of their States of residence.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an entity shall--
            ``(1) be a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility, 
        university, nonprofit organization, community-based 
        organization, local governmental entity, or Tribal government 
        that, through programs, services, or activities that are 
        unbiased and medically and factually accurate, provides or 
        refers for abortion services; and
            ``(2) be in a State, the District of Columbia, or a 
        commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States 
        where abortion services are permissible outside of exceptions 
        for the life and health of the pregnant person.
    ``(c) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities in States that, as 
determined by the Secretary, have experienced the highest increases of 
out-of-State patients seeking abortion services and other sexual and 
reproductive health care.
    ``(d) Authorized Activities.--A grant under this section may be 
used for any of the following supplies, equipment, or services related 
to providing an abortion or other sexual and reproductive health care:
            ``(1) Expanding the grantee's facilities, such as by 
        creating more examination rooms, operation rooms, recovery 
        areas, and other additional locations for care.
            ``(2) Purchasing medical supplies or equipment to provide 
        reproductive health care services.
            ``(3) Administering telehealth services, which may include 
        audio, video, and text messaging services.
            ``(4) Contracting or hiring clinical and nonclinical 
        support staff, which may include intake coordinators, health 
        educators, doulas, midwives, counselors, ultrasound 
        technicians, and other relevant health care personnel.
            ``(5) Training programs to increase clinical and 
        nonclinical support staff, which may include intake 
        coordinators, health educators, doulas, midwives, counselors, 
        ultrasound technicians, and other relevant health care 
        personnel.
            ``(6) Creating and disseminating medically accurate, 
        culturally and linguistically appropriate, accessible 
        educational materials and resources for patients.
            ``(7) Interpretation and translation services.
            ``(8) Referrals and counseling.
            ``(9) Recovery care.
    ``(e) Application.--To seek a grant under this section, an eligible 
entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
require, including a plan for increasing capacity as described in 
subsection (a).
    ``(f) Prohibition Against Exclusion of Qualified Eligible 
Entities.--No Federal agency, grantee, subrecipient, or other entity 
shall, in the course of administering or carrying out any program or 
activity under this section, act in a manner which has the effect of 
excluding, limiting, or restricting the participation of any entity 
that would otherwise be eligible to apply for funds, on the basis of 
any factor unrelated to the entity's qualifications to effectively 
carry out the program or activity.
    ``(g) Definition.--In this section, the term `abortion services' 
means a medical or surgical abortion and any medical or non-medical 
supplies, equipment, or services related to and provided in conjunction 
with an abortion.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2028.''.
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