Smith Takes Steps to Reduce Abortion Rates While Preserving Women’s Reproductive Rights
February 27, 2007
U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (WA-09) endorsed a plan to reduce abortion rates in the United States by becoming an original cosponsor of HR 1074, the Reducing the Need for Abortions and Supporting Parents Act. The bill is designed to help prevent unintended pregnancies and to support pregnant women, thereby reducing the need for abortions. H.R. 1074 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 16, 2007.
“While we must protect a women’s right to choose, we also need to take necessary steps to make sure that women have access to critical services so they make that choice less often,” Smith said.
H.R. 1074 includes provisions to:
- Mandate family planning services and supplies under State Medicaid programs
- Require states set the eligibility level for family planning at least to the level used to determine eligibility for pregnancy-related services
- Increase funding of Title X, the family planning program that provides a broad range of effective and acceptable family planning methods and related preventive health services
- Provide grants to states as incentives for reducing teen pregnancy as well as unique demonstration grants to reduce teen pregnancy
- Reauthorize after-school programs to reduce teen pregnancy
- Cover pregnant women under SCHIP
- Eliminate pregnancy as a pre-existing condition for health insurance providers
- Make the adoption tax credit permanent and increase the credit from $10,000 to $15,000
- Increase funding of our Women Infants and Children (WIC) program
- Provide $540 million additional resources for the discretionary portion of the portion of the
- Child Care and Development Block Grant
- Require counseling in federally-funded homes for pregnant women and parenting women
- Identify and treat pregnant women and new mothers who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking
Smith hopes to have the opportunity to vote for H.R. 1074 in the full House of Representatives in the near future.