Pro-Choice Lawmakers to Hastert: Unify Americans, Hold Votes on Commonsense Measures to Prevent Unintended Pregnancies

Washington, DC—Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, joined leading pro-choice members of Congress to call for votes on commonsense measures to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion. 

The Capitol Hill event served as part of Prevention First: Challenge for Common Ground, a grassroots effort by NARAL Pro-Choice America and its state-based affiliates to call on lawmakers to end divisive attacks on a woman's right to choose.  The challenge urges a focus on sensible, effective ways to prevent unintended pregnancies, instead of divisive attacks on women's freedom, such as the South Dakota abortion ban.

"I am proud to join these leaders in calling on Congress to focus on legislation that would make birth control, including the 'morning-after' pill, more affordable and accessible, ensure that our young people get honest, realistic sex education, and improve access to family-planning services," Keenan said. "We are urging Speaker Hastert to put aside the divisive politics of the past and to allow votes on these commonsense measures, all of which enjoy broad public support from on both sides of the abortion debate. It's time for votes on the floor."

To underscore the federal-state connection, Reps. Steve Rothman (NJ), Nita Lowey (NY), and Joseph Crowley (NY) outlined their bipartisan bills, while Reps. Tom Allen (ME), Brian Baird (WA), and Rush Holt (NJ) shared examples of how their respective states have taken action on these measures.

The federal legislative agenda includes The Real Education About Life Act (REAL), Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (ALPhA), Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act (CARE), and Equity in Prescription Insurance Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC).  Information on these proposals is attached.

The USA Today ad and the Prevention First: Challenge for Common Ground is the next phase in an effort that NARAL Pro-Choice America launched last year. Last February, the group published an open letter to President Bush and another to anti-choice groups in the conservative Weekly Standard, challenging those who oppose abortion to join in supporting efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies.

"In addition to our work to protect a woman's right to choose, pro-choice Americans have long supported prevention programs as well," Keenan said. "Public opinion is on our side. Americans want abortion to be kept safe, legal and rare. At the national and state levels, voters want Congress and state legislatures to back this prevention-based, commonsense agenda all Americans can agree with."

Prevention First: Challenge for Common Ground
Four Ways Congress Can Act to Reduce the Need for Abortion

Each of these proposals sets aside the abortion issue and focuses on ways to prevent unintended pregnancy. Speaker Dennis Hastert should hold votes on each measure.

1. The Real Education About Life Act ("REAL": S.368/H.R.2553), sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Barbara Lee, would establish the first-ever federal sex-education program for young people.  There are three separate federal "abstinence-only" programs that by law must forbid discussion of contraception's benefits in preventing pregnancy – yet there is no similar program for honest sex education that teaches about both abstinence and birth control.  The current federal "abstinence-only" programs are so controversial and prescriptive that three states simply refuse to accept the funds.  REAL is bipartisan and has more than 100 sponsors – and polls confirm that 90 percent of the "engaged" public supports honest, realistic sex education for young people.

2. Women across America are encountering rogue pharmacists who refuse to fill their birth-control prescriptions – and in some cases lecture and humiliate them in public.  The Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act ("ALPhA": S.809/H.R.1652) would ensure that a woman receives her prescription contraception, whether or not an individual pharmacist has an objection.  This legislation, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, is bipartisan and has more than 100 cosponsors – and it has overwhelming public support.  Nearly 80 percent of the general public – and even more than 70 percent of self-identified "pro-life" voters - oppose pharmacies that refuse to fill birth-control prescriptions. 

3. The Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act ("CARE": S.1264/H.R.2928) would ensure that victims of sexual assault are offered emergency contraception in the emergency room.  Each year, approximately 25,000 women in the United States become pregnant as a result of rape.  An estimated 22,000 of these pregnancies—or 88 percent—could be prevented if sexual assault victims had timely access to emergency contraception.  Sponsored by Rep. Steve Rothman and more than 100 cosponsors, this legislation is bipartisan and garners widespread public support.  Polls show that nearly 80 percent of American women want their hospitals – religious-affiliated or not – to offer emergency contraception to rape survivors.

4. Shockingly, some health-insurance plans cover prescription drugs but discriminate against prescription contraception.  Consequently, women have to pay out-of-pocket for services that should be covered by insurance.  Some women simply may not be able to afford it.  The Equity in Prescription Insurance Contraceptive Coverage Act ("EPICC": S.1214/H.R.4651) would simply ensure that prescription birth control is covered equally with other prescription drugs.  It's been awaiting congressional action for nine years. Rep. Nita Lowey is the principal sponsor of the bipartisan measure, which has more than 100 cosponsors.  Twenty-four states have enacted similar laws, as has Congress for federal employees.  Don't other American women deserve contraceptive equity too?

Contact:
Ted Miller, 202.973.3032