[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S9475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Boxer, 
        Mr. Harkin, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. Lieberman):
  S. 1800. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to require 
emergency contraception to be available at all military health care 
treatment facilities; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, last year, the FDA made emergency 
contraception, EC, available over the counter for women 18 years of age 
and older. Research shows that emergency contraception is safe and 
effective for preventing pregnancy. More than 70 major medical 
organizations, including the America Academy of Pediatrics, recommended 
that Plan B be made available over the counter.
  Senator Murray and I spent a great deal of time and effort tracking 
the FDA's ``non-decision'' of whether emergency contraception should be 
made available over the counter. We have come a long way in the fight 
for access to EC.
  Women deserve access to this medically approved drug and our 
servicewomen are no different. By providing access to emergency 
contraception, up to 95 percent of those unintended pregnancies could 
be prevented if emergency contraception is administered within the 
first 24 to 72 hours. For survivors of rape and incest, emergency 
contraception offers hope for healing.
  Current Department of Defense policy allows emergency contraception 
to be available at military health care facilities. Currently, it is 
available at some facilities, but not others. The Compassionate Care 
for Servicewomen Act would simply ensure broader access by including EC 
on the basic core formulary, BCF, a list of medications stocked at all 
military health care facilities.
  Introduced as a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives by 
Congressmen Mike Michaud and Chris Shays, the Compassionate Care for 
Servicewomen Act was written to implement exactly what the DOD's own 
committee charged with determining which drugs should be added to the 
basic core formulary recommended in 2002.
  Unfortunately, about a month later, DOD political appointees 
overruled their own experts' advice without any justification and 
removed EC from the BCF. This bill restores what the DOD wanted to do 
before it was blocked by politics.
  There is a real need for this legislation. According to the Pentagon, 
the number of reported sexual assaults in the military increased 
approximately 24 percent in 2006 to nearly 3,000. We have reports from 
women and health providers in the military who have sought EC on an 
emergency basis and have been unable to obtain it quickly enough.
  Ensuring that EC is more broadly available at military health care 
facilities is a fair, commonsense step that everyone should be able to 
agree on.
  It is my sincere hope that my colleagues join me in supporting this 
important legislation and I would like to express my thanks to my 
colleagues who have already signed on.
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