Bill Text: IA HR18 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: A resolution expressing the House of Representatives' commitment to women's health and well-being.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 28-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Resolution filed, laid over under Rule 25. H.J. 584. [HR18 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-HR18-Introduced.html

---

House Resolution 18 - Introduced

PAG LIN




                    HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.    
           BY  WESSEL=KROESCHELL, OLDSON, STECKMAN, RUFF,
          ANDERSON, HEDDENS, WOLFE, FINKENAUER, H. MILLER,
            THEDE, MASCHER, LENSING, STUTSMAN, WINCKLER,
            RUNNING=MARQUARDT, BENNETT, GASKILL, GAINES,
        BROWN=POWERS, BERRY, KEARNS, T. TAYLOR, OURTH, SMITH,
                BEARINGER, COHOON, LYKAM, and KELLEY
  1  1 A Resolution expressing the House of Representatives'
  1  2    commitment to women's health and well=being.
  1  3    WHEREAS, according to the Guttmacher Institute,
  1  4 182,690 Iowa women were in need of publicly supported
  1  5 family planning services in 2012; and
  1  6    WHEREAS, according to a study in 2009 by the
  1  7 University of Iowa Public Policy Center entitled "The
  1  8 Cost of Unintended Pregnancy in Iowa", every dollar
  1  9 invested in family planning services saved $15.12 in
  1 10 public expenditures over a five=year time period; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, improving the health and well=being of
  1 12 women is a goal of the Healthiest State Initiative; and
  1 13    WHEREAS, access to comprehensive reproductive health
  1 14 care is critical to improving the health and well=being
  1 15 of women; and
  1 16    WHEREAS, significant racial and ethnic disparities
  1 17 exist in women's health, particularly in maternal
  1 18 mortality, infant mortality, and incidence of premature
  1 19 or low birth weight births; and
  1 20    WHEREAS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
  1 21 (LGBT) women have unique health care needs and confront
  1 22 a unique set of disparities in the current health care
  1 23 system; and
  1 24    WHEREAS, approximately half of pregnancies are
  1 25 unintended, and preventing unintended pregnancies
  1 26 benefits child health, maternal health, and the health
  1 27 and well=being of families and society as a whole; and
  1 28    WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease
  2  1 Control and Prevention (CDC) included family planning
  2  2 in their published list of "Ten Great Public Health
  2  3 Achievements in the 20th Century"; and
  2  4    WHEREAS, many women lack access to comprehensive,
  2  5 affordable insurance coverage, even though all women
  2  6 should have such coverage for all pregnancy=related
  2  7 care, including prenatal care, miscarriage management,
  2  8 family planning services, abortion, labor and delivery
  2  9 services, and postnatal care; and
  2 10    WHEREAS, according to the Guttmacher Institute,
  2 11 more abortion restrictions were enacted in the period
  2 12 from 2011=2013 than in the entire previous decade; NOW
  2 13 THEREFORE,
  2 14    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That
  2 15 the House of Representatives supports efforts to do all
  2 16 of the following:
  2 17    1.  Make improving women's health a priority during
  2 18 the 86th General Assembly.
  2 19    2.  Ensure that all women have access to the best
  2 20 available, scientifically based health care.
  2 21    3.  Ensure that women have access to safe
  2 22 childbearing, with resources available to reduce
  2 23 maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.
  2 24    4.  Ensure that women have the autonomy to decide
  2 25 whether to have children, the number and spacing
  2 26 of their children, and to have medically accurate
  2 27 information, education, and access to health services
  2 28 to make these decisions.
  2 29    5.  Ensure that women have access to affordable
  2 30 insurance coverage for all of their pregnancy=related
  3  1 health care needs, including contraception and
  3  2 abortion, as well as for their general health care
  3  3 needs including coverage through Medicare, the Iowa
  3  4 Wellness Plan, and the Iowa Marketplace Choice Plan.
  3  5    6.  Ensure that women are afforded autonomous
  3  6 decision making, informed consent, privacy, and
  3  7 confidentiality regarding their health care.
  3  8    7.  Work to end health disparities for women,
  3  9 including with regard to ethnicity, race, gender, and
  3 10 sexual orientation.
       LSB 2606HH (6) 86
       pf/nh