Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 581 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act and Public Health Service Act to improve the reporting of abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. NORMAN (for himself, Mr. PALMER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. BUDD, Mr. ESTES, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. BANKS, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BABIN, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. PALAZZO, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. DAVIDSON, Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. LATTA, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. CARL, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BACON, Mr. ROSE, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. HARRIS, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. GAETZ, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ROSENDALE, Ms. HERRELL, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. LONG, Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. JOHNSON of Lou- isiana, Mr. BROOKS, and Mr. WOMACK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act and Public Health Service Act to improve the reporting of abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 581 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Accurate and 4 Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Reporting abortion data has been voluntary 8 in the past, which has not resulted in complete data 9 being submitted to the Centers for Disease Control 10 and Prevention. 11 (2) While the Centers for Disease Control and 12 Prevention requests specific data points from each 13 State and the District of Columbia, there is a great 14 variety in the information collected and published by 15 the States. 16 (3) In fact, there is not a single abortion data 17 point publicly reported for all fifty States and the 18 District of Columbia. 19 (4) Even more alarming, three States that to- 20 gether account for 15 percent of the United States 21 population of women of childbearing age do not re- 22 port any abortion data to the Centers for Disease 23 Control and Prevention. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 581 IH (5) Accurate statistical data regarding abortion 1 and those who survive abortion attempts is critical 2 to public health and policy analysis. 3 SEC. 3. MEDICAID PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN FAMILY PLAN- 4 NING SERVICES AND SUPPLIES CONTINGENT 5 ON SUBMISSION OF ABORTION DATA TO CDC. 6 Section 1903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 7 1396b) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting before ‘‘an 9 amount equal to’’ the following: ‘‘subject to sub- 10 section (bb),’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 12 section: 13 ‘‘(bb) ANNUAL REPORTS ON ABORTION DATA.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 15 as a condition of receiving payment under subsection 16 (a)(5) with respect to any amount expended during 17 a year (beginning with the year following two years 18 after the date of the enactment of this subsection) 19 for family planning services and supplies described 20 in section 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual 21 described in section 1902(ii) or an individual whose 22 medical assistance under this title is limited to such 23 services and supplies furnished pursuant to a waiver 24 granted under section 1115, each State shall, by not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 581 IH later than December 31 of the previous year, submit 1 to the abortion surveillance system of the Centers 2 for Disease Control and Prevention, with respect to 3 the year before the previous year, at least abortion 4 data regarding the mandatory questions described in 5 section 317U(a)(3)(A) of the Public Health Service 6 Act. 7 ‘‘(2) LATE SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—With re- 8 spect to a year, in the case of a State that does not 9 submit by December 31 of the previous year the 10 abortion data required under paragraph (1) with re- 11 spect to the year before the previous year but sub- 12 mits such data by December 31 of the year, such 13 State shall continue to receive payment, including 14 retroactive payment, under subsection (a)(5) with 15 respect to any amount expended during the year for 16 family planning services and supplies described in 17 section 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual de- 18 scribed in such paragraph. 19 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION OF ABORTION DATA.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 21 submission of abortion data under this sub- 22 section, a State shall certify to the Director of 23 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 24 that such data is accurate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 581 IH ‘‘(B) FALSE INFORMATION.—In the case 1 that the Director of the Centers for Disease 2 Control and Prevention determines that a State 3 has knowingly provided false information with 4 respect to a submission of abortion data under 5 this subsection, such State may not receive pay- 6 ment under subsection (a)(5) with respect to 7 any amount expended during the first full fiscal 8 year following such determination for family 9 planning services and supplies described in sec- 10 tion 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual 11 described in paragraph (1).’’. 12 SEC. 4. COLLECTION OF ABORTION DATA BY CDC. 13 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 14 ing after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 15 the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 317U. ABORTION DATA. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 18 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 19 vention (in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’)— 20 ‘‘(1) shall maintain a surveillance system to col- 21 lect aggregate data in a standardized format on 22 abortions in the United States; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 581 IH ‘‘(2) shall, as part of such system, create a 1 standard worksheet to collect data from States on 2 abortions in the respective States; 3 ‘‘(3) in such worksheet— 4 ‘‘(A) shall, at a minimum, include ques- 5 tions on the variables listed in subsection (b), to 6 be treated as mandatory questions for purposes 7 of section 1903(bb) of the Social Security Act; 8 and 9 ‘‘(B) may include such additional questions 10 on abortion as the Secretary determines to be 11 appropriate, to be treated as voluntary ques- 12 tions; 13 ‘‘(4) shall, as part of such system, allow for 14 cross-tabulation of the variables listed in subsection 15 (b), including cross-tabulation of maternal age by 16 gestational age; race and ethnicity by gestational 17 age; type of abortion procedure by gestational age; 18 race and ethnicity by maternal age; and race and 19 ethnicity by marital status; and 20 ‘‘(5) periodically update the questions in the 21 worksheet under paragraph (2) and the classification 22 of such questions as mandatory or voluntary under 23 paragraph (3). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 581 IH ‘‘(b) VARIABLES.—The variables listed in this sub- 1 section are the following: 2 ‘‘(1) Maternal age in years. 3 ‘‘(2) Gestational age in completed weeks at the 4 time of abortion. 5 ‘‘(3) Maternal race. 6 ‘‘(4) Maternal ethnicity. 7 ‘‘(5) Maternal race by ethnicity. 8 ‘‘(6) The abortion method type. 9 ‘‘(7) Maternal marital status. 10 ‘‘(8) Previous pregnancies of the mother, in- 11 cluding the number of previous live births, the num- 12 ber of previous induced abortions, and the number 13 of previous spontaneous abortions. 14 ‘‘(9) Maternal residence (State or county). 15 ‘‘(10) Whether the child survived the abortion. 16 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 17 provide technical assistance to States to facilitate and im- 18 prove the reporting of data to the system under subsection 19 (a). 20 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORTING.—The Secretary shall— 21 ‘‘(1) include, for each calendar year, the data 22 collected pursuant to this section in a report on 23 abortion; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 581 IH ‘‘(2) publish such report not later than Decem- 1 ber 30 of the third calendar year following the cal- 2 endar year covered by the report. 3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 4 refers to the several States, the District of Columbia, and 5 any territory of the United States.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H581.IH H581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS