[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 178 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 178
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act and the Public Health
Service Act to improve the reporting of abortion data to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 22, 2025
Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Daines, Mr. Cramer, Mrs.
Fischer, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Risch, Mr. Hawley, and Mrs. Blackburn)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act and the Public Health
Service Act to improve the reporting of abortion data to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Accurate and Complete
Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Reporting abortion data has been voluntary in the past,
which has not resulted in complete data being submitted to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2) While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
requests specific data points from each State and the District
of Columbia, there is a great variety in the information
collected and published by the States.
(3) In fact, there is not a single abortion data point
publicly reported for all 50 States and the District of
Columbia.
(4) Even more alarming, 3 States that together account for
15 percent of the United States population of women of
childbearing age do not report any abortion data to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
(5) Accurate statistical data regarding abortion and those
who survive abortion attempts is critical to public health and
policy analysis.
SEC. 3. MEDICAID PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES AND
SUPPLIES CONTINGENT ON SUBMISSION OF ABORTION DATA TO
CDC.
Section 1903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting before ``an amount
equal to'' the following: ``subject to subsection (cc),''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(cc) Annual Reports on Abortion Data.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), as a condition
of receiving payment under subsection (a)(5) with respect to
any amount expended during a year (beginning with the year
following 2 years after the date of the enactment of this
subsection) for family planning services and supplies described
in section 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual described
in section 1902(ii) or an individual whose medical assistance
under this title is limited to such services and supplies
furnished pursuant to a waiver granted under section 1115, each
State shall, by not later than December 31 of the previous
year, submit to the abortion surveillance system of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, with respect to the year
before the previous year, at least abortion data regarding the
mandatory questions described in section 317W(a)(3)(A) of the
Public Health Service Act.
``(2) Late submission of reports.--With respect to a year,
in the case of a State that does not submit by December 31 of
the previous year the abortion data required under paragraph
(1) with respect to the year before the previous year but
submits such data by December 31 of the year, such State shall
continue to receive payment, including retroactive payment,
under subsection (a)(5) with respect to any amount expended
during the year for family planning services and supplies
described in section 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual
described in such paragraph.
``(3) Certification of abortion data.--
``(A) In general.--With respect to each submission
of abortion data under this subsection, a State shall
certify to the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention that such data is accurate.
``(B) False information.--In the case that the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention determines that a State has knowingly
provided false information with respect to a submission
of abortion data under this subsection, such State may
not receive payment under subsection (a)(5) with
respect to any amount expended during the first full
fiscal year following such determination for family
planning services and supplies described in section
1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual described in
paragraph (1).''.
SEC. 4. COLLECTION OF ABORTION DATA BY CDC.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317V the following:
``SEC. 317W. ABORTION DATA.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall--
``(1) maintain a surveillance system to collect aggregate
data in a standardized format on abortions in the United
States;
``(2) as part of such system, create a standard worksheet
to collect data from States on abortions in the respective
States, which--
``(A) shall, at a minimum, include questions on the
variables listed in subsection (b), to be treated as
mandatory questions for purposes of section 1903(cc) of
the Social Security Act; and
``(B) may include such additional questions on
abortion as the Secretary determines to be appropriate,
to be treated as voluntary questions;
``(3) as part of such system, allow for cross-tabulation of
the variables listed in subsection (b), including cross-
tabulation of maternal age by gestational age; race and
ethnicity by gestational age; type of abortion procedure by
gestational age; race and ethnicity by maternal age; and race
and ethnicity by marital status; and
``(4) periodically update the questions in the worksheet
under paragraph (2), including the classification of such
questions as mandatory or voluntary.
``(b) Variables.--The variables listed in this subsection are the
following:
``(1) Maternal age in years.
``(2) Gestational age in completed weeks at the time of
abortion.
``(3) Maternal race.
``(4) Maternal ethnicity.
``(5) Maternal race by ethnicity.
``(6) The abortion method type.
``(7) Maternal marital status.
``(8) Previous pregnancies of the mother, including the
number of previous live births, the number of previous induced
abortions, and the number of previous spontaneous abortions.
``(9) Maternal residence (limited to county and State).
``(10) Whether the child survived the abortion.
``(c) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall provide technical
assistance to States to facilitate and improve the reporting of data to
the system under subsection (a).
``(d) Annual Reporting.--The Secretary shall--
``(1) issue an annual report on abortion, which shall
include the data collected pursuant to this section; and
``(2) publish such report not later than December 30 of the
third calendar year following the calendar year covered by the
report.''.
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