[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 53 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 53
Expressing support for the recognition of September 26, 2025, as
``World Contraception Day'' and expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives regarding global and domestic access to contraception.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 26, 2025
Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Chu, and Ms. DelBene)
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the recognition of September 26, 2025, as
``World Contraception Day'' and expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives regarding global and domestic access to contraception.
Whereas September 26 marks World Contraception Day, a day when organizations and
individuals around the world advocate to improve awareness of
contraception and the right to sexual and reproductive health;
Whereas, in 1968, the United Nations International Conference on Human Rights
declared that ``parents have a basic human right to determine freely and
responsibly the number and spacing of their children'';
Whereas access to contraceptives in the United States is recognized as a
fundamental right under the constitutional right to privacy through the
Supreme Court's decisions in Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479
(1965)) and Eisenstadt v. Baird (405 U.S. 438 (1972));
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized family
planning in its published list of the ``Ten Greatest Public Health
Achievements in the 20th Century'';
Whereas target 3.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which
was adopted by the United States and 192 other United Nations (UN)
member states, calls on countries ``by 2030, to ensure universal access
to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family
planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive
health into national strategies and programs'';
Whereas certain barrier methods of contraception, specifically condoms,
decreases the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and could
eliminate the 3,500,000 annual cases of infertility in low- and middle-
income countries that are caused by untreated gonorrhea or chlamydia;
Whereas the ability of individuals to control the number and spacing of their
children reduces rates of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and
maternal deaths;
Whereas, in economically developing countries, public health experts estimate
that access to contraceptives would result in 76,000,000 fewer
unintended pregnancies, 26,000,000 fewer unsafe abortions, and 186,000
fewer maternal deaths;
Whereas, in the United States, due to discrimination, significant racial,
ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities exist in sexual and reproductive
health, particularly in maternal mortality and morbidity and infant
mortality with Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women two to
three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White
women;
Whereas contraceptive choices are unduly influenced by structural racism, gender
discrimination, and socioeconomic barriers;
Whereas research shows that, both historically and today, medical racism and
ableism has resulted in coercion and experimentations on Native peoples,
communities of color, and immigrants, such as the forced surgical
sterilization of American Indian and Alaska Native communities in the
1970s, misleading and eugenics-based birth control trials on Puerto
Rican women in the 1950s, and the development of modern gynecology
through the experimentation and exploitation of enslaved Black women
beginning in the 1840s, and such coercion and experimentations have
contributed to persistent feelings of mistrust among many communities
regarding their ability to access high-quality sexual and reproductive
health care;
Whereas effective contraception has been shown to be an important strategy to
maintaining and improving mental health and well-being for women and
other individuals who have the capacity to get pregnant;
Whereas planning, delaying, and spacing births helps people achieve their
education, career, and life goals;
Whereas young women with access to the birth control pill before age 21
graduated from college in significantly higher numbers than did women of
the same era who came of age before the birth control pill was available
to them;
Whereas children born to women with access to United States federally funded
family planning programs, which increase access to affordable
contraception and family planning services, were more likely to complete
at least 12, 13, and 16 years of schooling, and had 2-percent higher
family incomes as adults;
Whereas globally, access to contraception increases labor force participation,
boosting economic health and prosperity of economically developing
communities;
Whereas many women face challenges in accessing birth control and using it
effectively, and globally, 218,000,000 women in economically developing
countries have an unmet need for modern contraception;
Whereas, in the United States, one-third of adult United States women who have
ever tried to obtain prescription contraception reported barriers to
access;
Whereas one barrier to access is an appropriately trained, linguistically
appropriate, and culturally competent reproductive health care workforce
including primary care and other providers to ensure that all patients
have access to a contraceptive method of their choice including highly
effective reversible contraception methods;
Whereas more than 19,000,000 women of reproductive age in the United States are
in need of publicly funded contraception and live in a contraceptive
desert where they lack reasonable access in their county to a health
center that offers the full range of contraceptive methods;
Whereas nearly half of all counties in the United States do not have a single
practicing Obstetrician-Gynecologist, further limiting contraceptive
access;
Whereas 12 States in America allow some health care providers to refuse to
provide services related to contraception;
Whereas studies show that preventing young adults from accessing contraceptives
puts teens at risk of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted
diseases, including HIV;
Whereas emergency contraception is a safe way to prevent pregnancy after
unprotected sex, but 9 States in America have adopted restrictions on
emergency contraception by excluding emergency contraception from a
State's family planning program, contraceptive coverage mandate, or by
allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraceptives;
Whereas the United States joined over 100 other countries that have over-the-
counter (OTC) birth control pills when a progestin-only birth control
pill was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in July 2024 and
is now available nationwide without a prescription;
Whereas research highlights that 39 percent of adults and 29 percent of teens
would be interested in an OTC progestin-only pill, with a greater
likelihood of use if covered by insurance;
Whereas the affordability of OTC contraception, including birth control pills
and emergency contraception, is essential for equitable access;
Whereas research shows that 64 percent of survey respondents who were interested
in continued use of OTC progestin-only pills indicated that their
interest in using an OTC oral contraceptive was related to cost-savings
because they could save money not having to see a provider;
Whereas variation in prices of emergency contraception across pharmacies,
distributors, and manufactures can make it out of reach for those who
need it most;
Whereas, according to the UN, globally, 19 percent of governments apply one or
more restrictions on contraceptive access, including restrictions on the
age and marital status of the person seeking access to contraception,
parental consent, and restrictions on access to emergency contraceptive
pills or sterilization;
Whereas researchers have found some women of color experience implicit and
explicit racism when interacting with the medical system, lack of
quality information about effective family planning methods, and an
inability to access or afford reproductive health care;
Whereas, while comprehensive sex education has been proven to reduce rates of
unintended pregnancy and STIs, and include outcomes of appreciation of
sexual diversity, dating and intimate partner violence prevention,
development of healthy relationships, prevention of child sex abuse,
improved social and emotional learning, and increased media literacy,
only 22 States and the District of Columbia require sex education to
include information on birth control and just 36 States and the District
of Columbia require sex education to be taught in schools at all;
Whereas, globally, many countries have made advances in developing policies to
improve access to comprehensive sex education, however, there remain
significant gaps between global and regional policies and implementation
on the ground such as limited teacher training capacity;
Whereas reproductive justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily
autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent one's children in
safe and sustainable communities;
Whereas existing research highlights uninsured women were 30 percent less likely
to report using prescription contraceptive methods than women with
private or public health insurance and women identify affordability
among the top three factors in determining which contraception to use;
Whereas LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender individuals undergoing
transition, experience unique barriers to contraception access such as
fragmentation of health services, discrimination from providers, and
insurance issues, all of which can be exacerbated by racism and
intersecting oppression;
Whereas there are continued efforts to defund or eliminate contraceptive
programs and falsely conflate emergency contraceptives and intrauterine
devices with abortion, even though they are proven to reduce unintended
pregnancies;
Whereas people of color, Native people, immigrant communities, and people with
disabilities have been exploited in the service of contraceptive
development, and have been coerced into using contraception, or
sterilized against their will, yet still face barriers to accessing
contraception when they need it; and
Whereas Congress has repeatedly recognized the importance of women's ability to
access contraceptives through support for the Medicaid program, TRICARE,
title X of the Public Health Service Act, and the Federal Employees
Health Benefits Program: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That--
(1) it is the sense of Congress that Congress and the Trump
administration should take further steps to ensure that all
people have universal, expansive, high-quality access to free
or affordable contraception;
(2) Congress and the Trump administration should ensure all
people capable of pregnancy have the autonomy to decide whether
to have children, the number and spacing of their children, and
to have medically accurate information, education, and access
to health services to make these decisions and pursue
reproductive justice;
(3) Congress and the Trump administration should examine
and support ways to expand comprehensive access to
contraception, including studying contraceptive deserts, new
evidence-based methods and innovations, and whether Federal
policy solutions can address these issues;
(4) Congress and the Trump administration should ensure
people have access to affordable, comprehensive, consistent
insurance coverage for all their reproductive health care
needs, including contraception without a prescription or cost
sharing and abortion;
(5) Congress and the Trump administration should expand
training of counseling, provision, and follow-up care for all
forms of highly effective reversible contraception methods to
primary care physicians to increase access to the most
effective forms of birth control available;
(6) Congress aligns with the scientific perspective that
``contraception'' includes all current and future Food and Drug
Administration-approved, -granted, or-cleared methods,
including those available by prescription and over-the-counter,
and the World Health Organization defines contraception to
include female and male sterilization, the intrauterine device,
the implant, injectables, oral contraceptive pills, external
and internal condoms, vaginal barrier methods (including the
diaphragm, cervical cap, and spermicidal foam, jelly, cream,
and sponge), lactational amenorrhea method, emergency
contraception, and other modern methods not reported separately
(for example, the contraceptive patch or vaginal ring);
(7) Congress and the Trump administration should ensure
that laws governing contraception access are evidence-based and
grounded in accurate medical information;
(8) Congress and the Trump administration should work to
end reproductive health disparities, including with regard to
ethnicity, race, disability, immigration status, gender
identity, and sexual orientation;
(9) Congress and the Trump administration should work to
end gender-based violence, which disproportionately affects
women, including transgender women;
(10) Congress and the Trump administration should expand
comprehensive and gender-inclusive sex education and patient-
centered counseling, which includes accurate, age-appropriate
information about one's body, sexual and reproductive health,
methods of contraception, access, and human rights;
(11) Congress and the Trump administration should ensure
that United States foreign assistance includes support for
contraception services, safe abortion services, and quality
postabortion care, and domestic assistance includes support for
contraception services through title X family planning
providers and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
(12) this Congress does not support any policies that
undermine the effectiveness of domestic and global programs and
supports additional funding for global and domestic programs
that increase access to contraception such as those under title
X, Medicaid, the Indian Health Service, 638 clinics, TRICARE,
Federal health care providers, and the United States Agency for
International Development's Office of Population and
Reproductive Health; and
(13) Congress and the Trump administration should expand
access and coverage for over-the-counter birth control and
other forms of contraception without requiring a prescription.
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