Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 707 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices a section on reproductive rights, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 7, 2019 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. FEIN- STEIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. REED, Mr. COONS, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Prac- tices a section on reproductive rights, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Reproductive Rights 4 are Human Rights Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 707 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The United States has joined the inter- 3 national community in identifying reproductive 4 rights as human rights, including in connection with 5 the 1994 International Conference on Population 6 and Development, the 1995 Beijing World Con- 7 ference on Women, and through its ratification of 8 the International Covenant on Civil and Political 9 Rights (ICCPR). 10 (2) General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 11 6 of the ICCPR, which was adopted by the Human 12 Rights Committee at its October to November 2018 13 session, states that under Article 6 of the ICCPR, 14 State parties have a duty to ensure that all persons 15 have the right to receive— 16 (A) evidence-based information and edu- 17 cation about sexual and reproductive health, 18 and access to a range of affordable contracep- 19 tive methods; 20 (B) safe, legal, and effective access to 21 abortion where the life and health of the preg- 22 nant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying 23 a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant 24 woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, no- 25 tably where pregnancy is the result of rape or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 707 IS incest or is not viable; and, access to quality 1 prenatal and post-abortion health care; and 2 (C) access by women and girls to safe 3 abortion without the imposition of restrictions, 4 which subject them to physical or mental pain 5 or suffering, or which discriminate or arbi- 6 trarily interfere with their privacy, or place 7 them at risk of undertaking unsafe abortions. 8 (3) The Department of State’s deletion of the 9 reproductive rights subsection from its 2017 Coun- 10 try Reports on Human Rights Practices dem- 11 onstrates an alarming level of politicization of 12 human rights by the Trump Administration and un- 13 dermines the human rights of women around the 14 world. 15 (4) When women’s reproductive rights are lim- 16 ited, so are their pathways to economic, social, and 17 political empowerment. 18 (5) Sexual health and reproductive rights are 19 essential for sustainable economic development, are 20 intrinsically linked to gender equality and women’s 21 well-being, and are critical to maternal, newborn, 22 child, adolescent, family, and community health. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 707 IS SEC. 3. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 1 PRACTICES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 3 1961 is amended— 4 (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))— 5 (A) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking 6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 7 (B) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking 8 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 9 and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(13) the status of reproductive rights in each 13 country, including— 14 ‘‘(A) whether such country has adopted 15 and enforced policies to— 16 ‘‘(i) promote access to and prevalence 17 of, safe, effective, and affordable methods 18 of contraception and comprehensive and 19 accurate family planning information; 20 ‘‘(ii) promote access to appropriate 21 health care services to prevent maternal 22 deaths and ensure safe and healthy preg- 23 nancy and childbirth; 24 ‘‘(iii) expand or restrict access to safe 25 abortion services, including post-abortion 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 707 IS care, in accordance with the country’s 1 laws; and 2 ‘‘(iv) promote the prevention, detec- 3 tion, and treatment of sexually transmitted 4 infections, including HIV, and of reproduc- 5 tive tract infections and of reproductive 6 cancers; 7 ‘‘(B) a description of the rates and causes 8 of maternal deaths in such country, including 9 deaths due to unsafe abortions, where applica- 10 ble; 11 ‘‘(C) a description of the nature and extent 12 of instances of discrimination, coercion, and vio- 13 lence against women and girls in health care 14 settings in such country, and the actions, if 15 any, taken by the government of such country 16 to respond to such discrimination, coercion, and 17 violence, where applicable; and 18 ‘‘(D) wherever applicable, a description of 19 the proportion of women of reproductive age 20 (aged 15–49 years) who have their need for 21 family planning satisfied with modern methods, 22 the barriers to access, and the nature and ex- 23 tent of instances of denial of comprehensive and 24 accurate family planning information and serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 707 IS ices in such country, and the actions, if any, 1 taken by the government of such country to re- 2 spond to such denials.’’; and 3 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)— 4 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 5 (i) (relating to child marriage status) as sub- 6 section (j); and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following new 8 subsection: 9 ‘‘(k) The report required under subsection (b) shall 10 include the status of reproductive rights in each country, 11 including— 12 ‘‘(1) whether such country has adopted and en- 13 forced policies to— 14 ‘‘(A) promote access to and prevalence of 15 safe, effective, and affordable methods of con- 16 traception and comprehensive and accurate 17 family planning information; 18 ‘‘(B) promote access to appropriate health 19 care services to prevent maternal deaths and 20 ensure safe and healthy pregnancy and child- 21 birth; 22 ‘‘(C) expand or restrict access to safe abor- 23 tion services, including post-abortion care, in 24 accordance with the country’s laws; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 707 IS ‘‘(D) promote the prevention, detection, 1 and treatment of sexually transmitted infec- 2 tions, including HIV, and of reproductive tract 3 infections and of reproductive cancers; 4 ‘‘(2) a description of the rates and causes of 5 maternal deaths in such country, including deaths 6 due to unsafe abortions, where applicable; 7 ‘‘(3) a description of the nature and extent of 8 discrimination, coercion, and violence against women 9 and girls in health care settings in such country, and 10 the actions, if any, taken by the government of such 11 country to respond to such discrimination, coercion, 12 and violence, where applicable; and 13 ‘‘(4) wherever applicable, a description of the 14 proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15– 15 49 years) who have their need for family planning 16 satisfied with modern methods, the barriers to ac- 17 cess, and the nature and extent of instances of de- 18 nial of comprehensive and accurate family planning 19 information and services in such country, and the 20 actions, if any, taken by the government of such 21 country to respond to such denials.’’. 22 (b) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In preparing the 23 Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices re- 24 quired under sections 116(d) and 502B of the Foreign As- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 707 IS sistance Act of 1961 (as amended by subsection (a)), the 1 Secretary of State, the Assistant Secretary of State for 2 Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and other relevant 3 officials, including human rights officers at United States 4 diplomatic and consular posts, shall consult with— 5 (1) representatives of United States civil society 6 and multilateral organizations with demonstrated ex- 7 perience and expertise in sexual and reproductive 8 health and rights or promoting women and girls’ 9 human rights, including local civil society organiza- 10 tions whenever possible; and 11 (2) relevant, local, non-governmental organiza- 12 tions in all countries included in such Reports, in- 13 cluding women and girls’ organizations focused on 14 sexual and reproductive health and rights. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S707.IS S707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS