Bill113th Congress

S. 333

Access to Birth Control Act

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Introduced
Feb 14, 2013
Origin Chamber
Senate
Policy Area
Health
Latest Action
Feb 14, 2013

Sponsor

Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]

Democrat·NJ
Bioguide ID: L000123
First Name: FRANK
Middle Name: R.
Last Name: LAUTENBERG
By Request: N
12
Cosponsors
1
Committees
2
Actions
0
Amendments
2
Related Bills
4
Subjects
1
Summaries
3
Titles
1
Text Versions

Bill Details

Update Date
Nov 15, 2022
Origin Chamber
Senate
Bill Type
S
Bill Number
333
Congress
113
Introduced Date
Feb 14, 2013
Policy Area
Health
Is Law
No
Feb 14, 2013IntroReferral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Source: Senate

Feb 14, 2013IntroReferral10000

Introduced in Senate

Source: Library of Congress

Introduced in Senate· Feb 14, 20130

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.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

Senate· Standing
Civil actions and liabilityFamily planning and birth controlHealth care coverage and accessHealth technology, devices, supplies

Introduced in Senate

Feb 14, 2013

Access to Birth Control Act — Informed