Prevention First Act (S. 21 and H.R. 819)
Introduced by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and
Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY)

What it is
Why you should support it
Bill status
Take action
For more information

What it is>>

• Increase access to family planning services through the national family planning program (Title X) and allow states to expand Medicaid family planning services to women with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Title X funding has been stagnant, and this bill would adjust the funding level as if it had kept pace with the rate of inflation.
  
• Ensure that private health plans offer the same level of coverage for contraception as they do for other prescription drugs and services.
• Ensure that women who survive sexual assault receive factually accurate information about emergency contraception (EC) and access to EC upon request.
• Authorize $10 million to implement important public education initiatives about EC and its benefits and uses to women and medical providers.
• Provide $20 million in annual funding for competitive grants to public and private entities working to establish or expand teen pregnancy prevention programs.
• Require that all information provided about the use of contraception as part of any federally funded program is medically accurate and includes accurate information about the health benefits and failure rates of contraception.

Why you should support it>>

• The Prevention First Act would reduce unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Each year, almost half of all the pregnancies in the United States-about three million-are unintended, a high rate among industrialized nations. Of these three million, nearly half end in abortion. The United States also has the highest rate of STIs of any industrialized country. By improving women's and young people's access to affordable contraception, including the morning-after pill, and comprehensive sexuality education, the Prevention First Act would enact concrete steps to reduce unintended pregnancies and STIs.

• The Prevention First Act gives people the tools to exercise their reproductive rights. American women and their partners have an internationally recognized right if, when and how many children to have, but financial barriers often put this right out of reach. Although most women rely on health insurance to cover the cost of family planning, in 2003, one in five American women of reproductive age did not have health insurance-10 percent more than in 2001. Many private health plans still do not cover contraceptive services and supplies.

• With flagging funding for publicly supported family planning services and thanks to the ascendancy of biased, incomplete "abstinence-only-until-marriage" programs for teens, young people across the country are missing accurate information about contraception and pregnancy, as well as guidance on healthy relationships. By supporting programs that provide reproductive health information and services and enforce standards of medical accuracy and completeness, the Prevention First Act will enable women and their partners to make more informed choices about whether and when they wish to become parents.

• The Prevention First Act is cost-effective. When states expand Medicaid coverage for family planning, they can save expenditures on other health care costs. Increasing access to family planning services will not only increase women's reproductive decision-making power, but also reduce the public health burden of unintended pregnancies.

Bill status>>

Take action>>

• Contact your Senators today and ask them to co-sponsor the Prevention First Act (S. 21). Click here to find your Senators' contact information. If your Senators are already co-sponsors, write or call to thank them for their leadership on this issue!
• Contact your Representative today and ask them to co-sponsor the Prevention First Act (H.R. 463). Click here to find your Representative's contact information. If your Representative is already a co-sponsor, write or call to thank them for their leadership on this issue!

For more information>>

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