Women’s Health
We believe: All women’s health care decisions are a fundamental right that must be protected.
We support:
Guarantee Comprehensive Women’s Health Care as a Right
🎯 Objective:
Recognize and protect women’s health, including reproductive and mental health, as a fundamental right.
✅ Key Actions:
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Codify Reproductive Health Rights: Pass federal legislation guaranteeing the right to access contraception, prenatal care, and safe, legal abortion.
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Health Equity Law: Enact a Women’s Health Equity Act requiring coverage for essential services across all states and insurance plans.
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Protect Title X Funding: Restore and expand funding for clinics that provide family planning, STI testing, and women-centered care.
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National Strategy on Women’s Health: Create an Office of Women’s Health Equity within HHS to coordinate cross-agency policies and research.
📘 Expand Access to Abortion and Reproductive Services
🎯 Objective:
Ensure safe, legal, and affordable abortion is accessible in all states, regardless of ZIP code or income.
✅ Key Actions:
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Restore Roe v. Wade Protections via Federal Law: Create a federal floor that protects abortion access at least until fetal viability.
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Protect Providers and Patients: Establish federal legal protections against prosecution or retaliation for providing or receiving abortion care.
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Telemedicine Access for Medication Abortion: Require all states to permit certified providers to deliver abortion pills via telehealth.
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Medicaid & ACA Coverage: Repeal the Hyde Amendment and allow federal funding to cover abortion services for low-income individuals.
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Interstate Travel Protections: Guarantee the right to travel for medical care, including abortion, regardless of state bans.
📘 Improve Maternal Health and Outcomes
🎯 Objective:
Address the U.S. maternal health crisis, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and rural women.
✅ Key Actions:
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Expand Medicaid Coverage for New Mothers: Require all states to extend postpartum coverage to at least 12 months.
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Fund Birth Equity Initiatives: Invest in community-led organizations working to reduce racial disparities in maternal and infant outcomes.
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Support Midwifery and Doula Services: Provide federal grants and Medicaid reimbursement for culturally competent non-hospital birth care.
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Track and Report Maternal Mortality: Mandate national maternal death tracking and transparency, disaggregated by race and income.
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Rural Health Investments: Expand OB-GYN services in rural hospitals and fund mobile women’s health clinics.
📘 Ensure Affordable and Inclusive Coverage
🎯 Objective:
Guarantee that women of all ages and backgrounds can afford comprehensive health care.
✅ Key Actions:
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Mandate Essential Women’s Health Benefits: Require all public and private insurance to cover contraception, preventive screenings, prenatal care, and mental health.
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No Co-Pay Requirements: Ensure zero-cost preventive services like Pap smears, mammograms, and birth control.
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Expand Access for Immigrant Women: Allow lawfully present immigrants to enroll in Medicaid and CHIP without a five-year wait.
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Target LGBTQ+ Health Gaps: Fund inclusive health training for providers and clinics to serve trans and nonbinary women.
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Employer Non-Interference Rule: Prevent employers from denying contraceptive or abortion coverage based on corporate beliefs.
📘 Promote Education, Research, and Workforce Development
🎯 Objective:
Address long-standing gaps in women’s health education, data, and access to trained providers.
✅ Key Actions:
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Fund Women’s Health Research: Require NIH and CDC to invest in conditions disproportionately affecting women (e.g., endometriosis, autoimmune disorders).
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Revamp Sex Education Standards: Promote medically accurate, consent-based, and inclusive sex education in all states.
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Loan Forgiveness for Women’s Health Providers: Expand programs that forgive student debt for OB-GYNs and nurse-midwives working in underserved areas.
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Combat Misinformation: Launch a federal public health campaign debunking myths around abortion, contraception, and reproductive rights.
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Health Literacy Grants: Fund initiatives to help underserved women understand and access their health benefits and options.
TAKE ACTION – Contact Congress
(How to contact Congress) click here
Congressional Committees That Oversee Women’s Health
U.S. Senate
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)
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Primary Senate committee for health policy, including women’s health.
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Jurisdiction includes:
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HHS, CDC, FDA, NIH
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Reproductive healthcare and maternal health initiatives
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Access to contraception and other reproductive rights
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Senate Committee on Finance
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Handles Medicaid and Medicare, which can indirectly affect reproductive rights through funding and coverage rules.
Senate Committee on Appropriations
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Like the House, the Labor-HHS Subcommittee controls funding for women’s health programs and reproductive rights services.
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
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Involved in:
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Constitutional and legal issues related to reproductive rights
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Oversight of Supreme Court decisions (e.g., Dobbs v. Jackson)
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Legislation affecting reproductive rights, access or legal restrictions
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U.S. House of Representatives
🔹 House Committee on Energy and Commerce
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Primary committee for public health policy, including women’s health and reproductive rights issues.
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Jurisdiction includes:
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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
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Title X family planning program
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Access to contraception, maternal health, and reproductive rights, healthcare policy
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Subcommittee of Interest:
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Subcommittee on Health – Handles legislation and oversight related to:
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Reproductive health services
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Reproductive rights regulations and access
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Federal support for women’s health clinics
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🔹 House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
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Conducts investigations and hearings on abortion-related policies and women’s healthcare providers.
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Often used to scrutinize or defend funding and regulatory practices around reproductive rights and women’s health.
🔹 House Committee on Appropriations
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Through the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS):
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Oversees federal funding levels for programs related to women’s health and reproductive rights (e.g., Title X, Medicaid, Planned Parenthood).
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Plays a major role in debates over the Hyde Amendment and other funding restrictions on reproductive rights.
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