According
to the text of the bill, The Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting
Parents Act would, "reduce the need for abortion by reducing the number of
unintended pregnancies and supporting women facing unplanned pregnancies." The
legislation, also known as the Ryan/DeLauro bill, is named for its sponsors by
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). The overview below is based
on the bill for the 110th Congress and will be updated as necessary.
Again,
the potential for common ground with this bill will in part be determined by
whether access to contraception is identified as a common ground area.
The bill
proposes:
-
Providing funding to prevent teen pregnancy through comprehensive sex education
that encourages teens to delay sexual activity and is also medically
accurate, complete, and
scientifically-based; after-school
programs; and grants that encourage
creative approaches to teen pregnancy prevention;
-
Establishing a new national goal for teen pregnancy prevention and launching a
national campaign to enlist parents in preventing teen pregnancy;
-
Ensuring low-income women on Medicaid access to contraception; increase funding
for Title X (the nation’s family planning program for the poor); and provide
information on contraception to new mothers;
- Increasing the S-CHIP definition of a
low-income child from 200% to 250% of federal poverty and ensuring that
pregnancy cannot be considered a pre-existing condition for those with
individual coverage as is the case with those in group health plans.
-
Providing grants to community health centers to help purchase ultrasound
equipment.
- Creating
a new violence screening and treatment program for women and create a public
awareness campaign regarding domestic violence against women.
-
Providing grants to institutions of higher education to provide support
services to assist both pregnant students who have decided to carry their
pregnancies to term and parenting students in continuing their studies and
graduating.
- Increasing the adoption tax credit and making the credit refundable.
-
Increasing support for the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC), making
it easier for new parents to receive nutritional support through food stamps,
and increasing funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
program.
Links:
- The Third Way’s Description of the
Bill - RH
Reality Check Policy Watch: Reducing
the Need for Abortions and Supporting Parents Act
House
Version of the Bill:
