Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion, and Supporting Parents Act
This measure was first introduced in 2006. On July 23, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) introduced the current version of this legislation, the Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion, and Supporting Parents Act (H.R. 3312). The bill has 42 cosponsors and was referred to five different committees: Energy and Commerce; Education and Labor; Ways and Means; Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security; and Agriculture. According to the statement of findings, the bill has three purposes: reduce the need for abortion, prevent unintended pregnancy, and support pregnant women, new parents, and their children. The bill has 18 titles. In a June 24 Life Issues Forum news column, Susan Wills, Assistant Director for Education and Outreach at the Bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, quoted Rep. Ryan saying that the bill is “about access to birth control.” Ms. Wills correctly argues that contraception is already widely available in society—in 2006, public expenditures totaled $1.85 billion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, virtually all teenagers who are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant are already using contraception. The reality is that contraceptives do not work well in real life. “Numerous studies in the United States and Europe have found that greater access to contraception fails to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions.” The real abortion-reduction bill, Ms. Wills concludes, is the Pregnant Women Support Act. | |
