House Resolution 18 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18 BY WESSEL-KROESCHELL , OLDSON , STECKMAN , RUFF , ANDERSON , HEDDENS , WOLFE , FINKENAUER , H. MILLER , THEDE , MASCHER , LENSING , STUTSMAN , WINCKLER , RUNNING-MARQUARDT , BENNETT , GASKILL , GAINES , BROWN-POWERS , BERRY , KEARNS , T. TAYLOR , OURTH , SMITH , BEARINGER , COHOON , LYKAM , and KELLEY A Resolution expressing the House of Representatives’ 1 commitment to women’s health and well-being. 2 WHEREAS, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 3 182,690 Iowa women were in need of publicly supported 4 family planning services in 2012; and 5 WHEREAS, according to a study in 2009 by the 6 University of Iowa Public Policy Center entitled “The 7 Cost of Unintended Pregnancy in Iowa”, every dollar 8 invested in family planning services saved $15.12 in 9 public expenditures over a five-year time period; and 10 WHEREAS, improving the health and well-being of 11 women is a goal of the Healthiest State Initiative; and 12 WHEREAS, access to comprehensive reproductive health 13 care is critical to improving the health and well-being 14 of women; and 15 WHEREAS, significant racial and ethnic disparities 16 exist in women’s health, particularly in maternal 17 mortality, infant mortality, and incidence of premature 18 or low birth weight births; and 19 WHEREAS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 20 (LGBT) women have unique health care needs and confront 21 a unique set of disparities in the current health care 22 system; and 23 -1- LSB 2606HH (6) 86 pf/nh 1/ 3
H.R. 18 WHEREAS, approximately half of pregnancies are 24 unintended, and preventing unintended pregnancies 25 benefits child health, maternal health, and the health 26 and well-being of families and society as a whole; and 27 WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease 28 Control and Prevention (CDC) included family planning 1 in their published list of “Ten Great Public Health 2 Achievements in the 20th Century”; and 3 WHEREAS, many women lack access to comprehensive, 4 affordable insurance coverage, even though all women 5 should have such coverage for all pregnancy-related 6 care, including prenatal care, miscarriage management, 7 family planning services, abortion, labor and delivery 8 services, and postnatal care; and 9 WHEREAS, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 10 more abortion restrictions were enacted in the period 11 from 2011-2013 than in the entire previous decade; NOW 12 THEREFORE, 13 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That 14 the House of Representatives supports efforts to do all 15 of the following: 16 1. Make improving women’s health a priority during 17 the 86th General Assembly. 18 2. Ensure that all women have access to the best 19 available, scientifically based health care. 20 3. Ensure that women have access to safe 21 childbearing, with resources available to reduce 22 maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. 23 4. Ensure that women have the autonomy to decide 24 whether to have children, the number and spacing 25 -2- LSB 2606HH (6) 86 pf/nh 2/ 3
H.R. 18 of their children, and to have medically accurate 26 information, education, and access to health services 27 to make these decisions. 28 5. Ensure that women have access to affordable 29 insurance coverage for all of their pregnancy-related 30 health care needs, including contraception and 1 abortion, as well as for their general health care 2 needs including coverage through Medicare, the Iowa 3 Wellness Plan, and the Iowa Marketplace Choice Plan. 4 6. Ensure that women are afforded autonomous 5 decision making, informed consent, privacy, and 6 confidentiality regarding their health care. 7 7. Work to end health disparities for women, 8 including with regard to ethnicity, race, gender, and 9 sexual orientation. 10 -3- LSB 2606HH (6) 86 pf/nh 3/ 3