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United States · Bill · HR

H.R. 2659 (112th)

Access to Birth Control Act

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

26 July 2011

Last action

1 August 2011 · Referred

Status

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Sponsors

CAROLYN MALONEY, Rep. Towns, Edolphus [D-NY-11], Raúl Grijalva, Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large], Barbara Lee, Jackie Speier, Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4], Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI], Rep. Inslee, Jay [D-WA-1], Rep. Olver, John W. [D-MA-1], Rep. Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [D-IL-2], Rep. Waxman, Henry A. [D-CA-24], Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT], Rep. Rothman, Steven R. [D-NJ-9], JOHN CONYERS, Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5], David Cicilline, Rep. Hahn, Janice [D-CA-44], ROBERT BRADY, Rep. Hinchey, Maurice D. [D-NY-22], Rep. Woolsey, Lynn C. [D-CA-6], Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-9], Rep. Farr, Sam [D-CA-20], Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1], Rep. Moran, James P. [D-VA-8], Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-12], Rep. Rangel, Charles B. [D-NY-19], Maxine Waters, LUIS GUTIERREZ, Keith Ellison, Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9]

Subjects

Healthcare

Source updated

5 December 2025

Healthcare

Official sourceDownload fileView documentsShare

Summary

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.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 26 July 2011

    Introduced

    Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 26 July 2011

    Introduced

    Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1411)

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 26 July 2011

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  4. 26 July 2011

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  5. 1 August 2011

    Referred

    Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

    Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in House (text)

View fileDownload file

Sponsors

Related records

Sources

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