Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3580 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 JUNE 27, 2019 Mr. NORMAN (for himself and Mr. PALMER) 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. 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 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3580 IH (1) Reporting abortion data has been voluntary 1 in the past, which has not resulted in complete data 2 being submitted to the Centers for Disease Control 3 and Prevention. 4 (2) While the Centers for Disease Control and 5 Prevention requests specific data points from each 6 State and the District of Columbia, there is a great 7 variety in the information collected and published by 8 the States. 9 (3) In fact, there is not a single abortion data 10 point publicly reported for all fifty States and the 11 District of Columbia. 12 (4) Even more alarming, three States that to- 13 gether account for 15 percent of the United States 14 population of women of childbearing age do not re- 15 port any abortion data to the Centers for Disease 16 Control and Prevention. 17 (5) Accurate statistical data regarding abortion 18 and those who survive abortion attempts is critical 19 to public health and policy analysis. 20 SEC. 3. MEDICAID PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN FAMILY PLAN- 21 NING SERVICES AND SUPPLIES CONTINGENT 22 ON SUBMISSION OF ABORTION DATA TO CDC. 23 Section 1903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 24 1396b) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3580 IH (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting before ‘‘an 1 amount equal to’’ the following: ‘‘subject to sub- 2 section (bb),’’; and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 4 section: 5 ‘‘(bb) ANNUAL REPORTS ON ABORTION DATA.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 7 as a condition of receiving payment under subsection 8 (a)(5) with respect to any amount expended during 9 a year (beginning with the year following two years 10 after the date of the enactment of this subsection) 11 for family planning services and supplies described 12 in section 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual 13 described in section 1902(ii) or an individual whose 14 medical assistance under this title is limited to such 15 services and supplies furnished pursuant to a waiver 16 granted under section 1115, each State shall, by not 17 later than December 31 of the previous year, submit 18 to the abortion surveillance system of the Centers 19 for Disease Control and Prevention, with respect to 20 the year before the previous year, at least abortion 21 data regarding the mandatory questions described in 22 section 317U(a)(3)(A) of the Public Health Service 23 Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3580 IH ‘‘(2) LATE SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—With re- 1 spect to a year, in the case of a State that does not 2 submit by December 31 of the previous year the 3 abortion data required under paragraph (1) with re- 4 spect to the year before the previous year but sub- 5 mits such data by December 31 of the year, such 6 State shall continue to receive payment, including 7 retroactive payment, under subsection (a)(5) with 8 respect to any amount expended during the year for 9 family planning services and supplies described in 10 section 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual de- 11 scribed in such paragraph. 12 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION OF ABORTION DATA.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 14 submission of abortion data under this sub- 15 section, a State shall certify to the Director of 16 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 17 that such data is accurate. 18 ‘‘(B) FALSE INFORMATION.—In the case 19 that the Director of the Centers for Disease 20 Control and Prevention determines that a State 21 has knowingly provided false information with 22 respect to a submission of abortion data under 23 this subsection, such State may not receive pay- 24 ment under subsection (a)(5) with respect to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3580 IH any amount expended during the first full fiscal 1 year following such determination for family 2 planning services and supplies described in sec- 3 tion 1905(a)(4)(C) furnished to an individual 4 described in paragraph (1).’’. 5 SEC. 4. COLLECTION OF ABORTION DATA BY CDC. 6 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 7 ing after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 8 the following: 9 ‘‘SEC. 317U. ABORTION DATA. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 11 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 12 vention (in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’)— 13 ‘‘(1) shall maintain a surveillance system to col- 14 lect aggregate data in a standardized format on 15 abortions in the United States; 16 ‘‘(2) shall, as part of such system, create a 17 standard worksheet to collect data from States on 18 abortions in the respective States; 19 ‘‘(3) in such worksheet— 20 ‘‘(A) shall, at a minimum, include ques- 21 tions on the variables listed in subsection (b), to 22 be treated as mandatory questions for purposes 23 of section 1903(bb) of the Social Security Act; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3580 IH ‘‘(B) may include such additional questions 1 on abortion as the Secretary determines to be 2 appropriate, to be treated as voluntary ques- 3 tions; and 4 ‘‘(4) shall, as part of such system, allow for 5 cross-tabulation of the variables listed in subsection 6 (b), including cross-tabulation of maternal age by 7 gestational age; race and ethnicity by gestational 8 age; type of abortion procedure by gestational age; 9 race and ethnicity by maternal age; and race and 10 ethnicity by marital status; and 11 ‘‘(5) periodically update the questions in the 12 worksheet under paragraph (2) and the classification 13 of such questions as mandatory or voluntary under 14 paragraph (3). 15 ‘‘(b) VARIABLES.—The variables listed in this sub- 16 section are the following: 17 ‘‘(1) Maternal age in years. 18 ‘‘(2) Gestational age in completed weeks at the 19 time of abortion. 20 ‘‘(3) Maternal race. 21 ‘‘(4) Maternal ethnicity. 22 ‘‘(5) Maternal race by ethnicity. 23 ‘‘(6) The abortion method type. 24 ‘‘(7) Maternal marital status. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3580 IH ‘‘(8) Previous pregnancies of the mother, in- 1 cluding the number of previous live births, the num- 2 ber of previous induced abortions, and the number 3 of previous spontaneous abortions. 4 ‘‘(9) Maternal residence (State or county). 5 ‘‘(10) Whether the child survived the abortion. 6 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 7 provide technical assistance to States to facilitate and im- 8 prove the reporting of data to the system under subsection 9 (a). 10 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORTING.—The Secretary shall— 11 ‘‘(1) include, for each calendar year, the data 12 collected pursuant to this section in a report on 13 abortion; and 14 ‘‘(2) publish such report not later than Decem- 15 ber 30 of the third calendar year following the cal- 16 endar year covered by the report. 17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 18 refers to the several States, the District of Columbia, and 19 any territory of the United States.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3580.IH H3580 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS