Access to Birth Control Act
Bill journey · stage 2 of 5
Under committee review
What it doesSummary introduced in house (Feb 14, 2013)
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.
What just happenedFeb 15, 2013
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Who’s behind it
- Introduced in HouseFeb 14, 2013
- Feb 15, 2013Committee
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Feb 14, 2013IntroReferralH11100
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Feb 14, 2013IntroReferralB00100
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E148)
- Feb 14, 2013IntroReferralIntro-H
Introduced in House
- Feb 14, 2013IntroReferral1000
Introduced in House