Access to Birth Control Act

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IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 112th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

D LautenbergSponsor

12 cosponsors · 11 D, 1 I

12 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Jul 26, 2011

Access to Birth Control Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to contraceptives, including: (1) providing a customer a contraceptive without delay if it is in stock; (2) immediately informing a customer if the contraceptive is not in stock and either transferring the prescription to a pharmacy that has the contraceptive in stock or expediting the ordering of the contraceptive and notifying the customer when it arrives, based on customer preference, except for pharmacies that do not ordinarily stock contraceptives in the normal course of business; and (3) ensuring that pharmacy employees do not take certain actions relating to a request for contraception, including intimidating, threatening, or harassing customers, interfering with or obstructing the delivery of services, intentionally misrepresenting or deceiving customers about the availability of contraception or its mechanism of action, breaching or threatening to breach medical confidentiality, or refusing to return a valid, lawful prescription.

Provides that a pharmacy is not prohibited from refusing to provide a contraceptive to a customer if: (1) it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive to the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such prescription is presented; (2) the customer is unable to pay for the contraceptive; or (3) the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide the contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical judgment.

Provides that this Act does not preempt state law or any professional obligation of a state board that provides greater protections for customers.

Sets forth civil penalties and establishes a a private cause of action for violations of this Act.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Access to Birth Control Act

Latest action (Jul 26, 2011): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Policy area: Health · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Jul 26, 2011

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.