[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 64 (Monday, May 22, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S4896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 485--TO EXPRESS THE SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING 
            THE VALUE OF FAMILY PLANNING FOR AMERICAN WOMEN

  Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Kerry, Mr. 
Lautenberg, Mrs. Murray Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
Harkin, Mrs. Feinstein, and Ms. Landrieu) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 485

       Whereas the United States has one of the highest rates of 
     abortion in the industrialized world;
       Whereas reducing unintended pregnancies will reduce the 
     number of abortions;
       Whereas one of the most effective ways to prevent 
     unintended pregnancy is to improve access to safe, 
     affordable, effective family planning;
       Whereas contraceptive use has declined (slightly among all 
     women and precipitously among low-income women) and, as a 
     result, unplanned pregnancy rates have risen among low-income 
     women by 30 percent;
       Whereas the impact of contraceptive use is hard to 
     overstate -- 11 percent of women in the United States who do 
     not use contraception account for \1/2\ of all unintended 
     pregnancies;
       Whereas low-income women today are 4 times as likely to 
     have an unintended pregnancy and more than 4 times as likely 
     to have an abortion as higher-income women;
       Whereas abortion rates have increased among low-income 
     women, even as they have continued to decrease among more 
     affluent women;
       Whereas 12,800,000 women of reproductive age are uninsured 
     and 9,300,000 women of reproductive age live in poverty;
       Whereas lack of coverage for contraception and other health 
     care costs result in women of reproductive age paying 68 
     percent more in out-of-pocket costs for health care services 
     than do men of the same age;
       Whereas family planning is a vital part of helping women 
     achieve the best health outcomes for both women and their 
     babies; and
       Whereas Women's Health Week is a time to recognize the 
     important role family planning services play in the lives of 
     women across the United States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) Congress should help women, regardless of income, avoid 
     unintended pregnancy and abortion through access to 
     affordable contraception; and
       (2) Congress should support programs and policies that make 
     it easier for women to obtain contraceptives.

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