The 109th Congress has finally completed its business and the new 110 Congress is beginning to think through issues and legislation its Members want to move forward. No doubt some new bills will be based on old legislation - but there will be an opportunity for new ideas as well.
All of the bills from the 109th Congress featured in our Policy Watch section have come to their ends as well, and it is worth a quick review to see how they fared. Out of 20 bills, only 5 saw any kind of progress during this Congress. Two of those 5 would have been damaging for reproductive health: the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (AKA the "Teen Endangerment Act") and the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act. Both bills died in the Senate when their supporters could not muster sufficient votes to invoke cloture.
The Teen Endangerment Act had the unique opportunity of passing both houses of Congress and would have almost certainly been signed into law. But ultra-conservative members of the House insisted on modifying language that the Senate had agreed to, and upon returning it to the Senate, it was blocked. One of the many reasons that Rolling Stone magazine called this Congress "The Worst Congress Ever." Any other failures aside, it certainly did very little for reproductive health.
Still, that's not to say that some progressive members of Congress did not make attempts to advance reproductive health for Americans (and for others through foreign aid). Many of the bills introduced by progressives during this session of Congress never moved an inch because reproductive health opponents controlled both houses. Here are a few that were blocked:
- The Putting Prevention First Act would have increased access to family planning services, particularly through the national family planning program (Title X), by ensuring that private health plans cover contraception equally to other prescription drugs, and by ensuring that victims of sexual assault receive factually accurate information about emergency contraception, as well as access to it upon request. A notionally similar item was introduced as a budget amendment by Senators Reid (D-NV) and Clinton (D-NY) but the Senate defeated it by a vote of 47-53.
- The Global Democracy Promotion Act would have limited the draconian Global Gag Rule by ensuring that the United States could not impose restrictions on organizations outside its borders that it does not impose on organizations within its borders. This legislation was echoed in Sen. Boxer's (D-CA) amendment to the State Department reauthorization bill, and was approved by the Senate by a vote of 52-46. However, the Senate leadership was unable to complete action on the bill so it never moved forward.
- The Plan B for Plan B Act, while it didn't exactly move, did become moot after the FDA approved Plan B emergency contraception for over-the-counter (OTC) sales to women over 18 years old. This bill would have forced a decision by the FDA Commissioner - either in support of or against Plan B's OTC sales. Though much delayed, after 2 years the FDA finally approved Plan B for OTC for those aged 18 or older.
Aside from these bills, other reproductive health-related bills saw very little movement in the 109th Congress. We can expect to see some version of those that were introduced reintroduced in the 110th Congress - with perhaps a greater success rate. These bills include:
- The Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act (PATHWAY)
- The Responsible Education About Life Act (REAL Act)
- The International Child Marriage Prevention and Protection Act
- The Microbicide Development Act
- The Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act
Additionally, the following two bills by self-professed "pro-life" Democrats were introduced very late in the 109th Congress. Both, or at least versions of either, will stand to see some movement in the next Congress.
- The Pregnant Women Support Act
- The Reducing the Need for Abortions and Supporting Parents Act
RH Reality Check will continue to provide coverage of Congressional activity related to reproductive health as issues arise. See the main Policy Watch section for the 110th Congress, or visit our archive for the 109th Congress below to see everything that we covered.
