Ovarian and Cervical Cancer Awareness Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8442 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for activities to increase the awareness and knowledge of health care providers and women with respect to ovarian and cervical cancer, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for activities to increase the awareness and knowledge of health care providers and women with respect to ovarian and cervical cancer, 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 ‘‘Ovarian and Cervical 4 Cancer Awareness Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Oct 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8442.IH H8442 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8442 IH (1) Ovarian and cervical cancers are among the 1 most destructive gynecological forms of cancer. 2 (2) Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than 3 any other cancer of the female reproductive system. 4 (3) The main methods used to screen for ovar- 5 ian cancer are pelvic exams, ultrasounds, Pap 6 smears, and blood tests such as cancer antigen-125 7 (‘‘CA–125’’). 8 (4) Most women who develop invasive cervical 9 cancer have not had regular cervical cancer screen- 10 ing. 11 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 12 The purposes of this Act are the following: 13 (1) Raising awareness about ovarian and cer- 14 vical cancers. 15 (2) Raising awareness about the importance 16 (especially for those women who have a family his- 17 tory of cancer or are otherwise at higher risk) of fre- 18 quent consultation with a physician and the possi- 19 bility of screening (through tests such as pelvic 20 exams, ultrasounds, Pap smears, and blood tests 21 such as cancer antigen-125) for ovarian, cervical, 22 and other gynecologic cancer. 23 (3) Promotion of early detection methods for 24 ovarian and cervical cancer. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Oct 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8442.IH H8442 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8442 IH (4) Ensuring that special emphasis is given to 1 ovarian and cervical cancer under the public aware- 2 ness campaign carried out by the Secretary of 3 Health and Human Services under section 317P(d) 4 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b– 5 17(d); commonly referred to as ‘‘Johanna’s Law’’). 6 SEC. 4. INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF OVARIAN AND 7 CERVICAL CANCER. 8 Section 317P(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 9 U.S.C. 247b–17(d); commonly referred to as ‘‘Johanna’s 10 Law’’) is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘with re- 12 spect to gynecologic cancers’’ and inserting ‘‘with re- 13 spect to ovarian, cervical, and other gynecologic can- 14 cers’’; and 15 (2) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 16 following: 17 ‘‘(D) LOW-INCOME WOMEN.—Activities 18 under the national campaign under subpara- 19 graph (A) shall include public service announce- 20 ments under subparagraph (C) targeted to low- 21 income women.’’. 22 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 23 It is the sense of the Congress that funding by the 24 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of gynecologic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Oct 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8442.IH H8442 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8442 IH cancer education and awareness efforts should reflect the 1 fact that ovarian and cervical cancers are the most deadly 2 of the gynecologic cancers. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Oct 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8442.IH H8442 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS