HR 18 (LSB 2606HH (6) 86)

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’ commitment to women’s health and well-being.

   WHEREAS, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 182,690 Iowa women were in need of publicly supported family planning services in 2012; and
   WHEREAS, according to a study in 2009 by the University of Iowa Public Policy Center entitled “The Cost of Unintended Pregnancy in Iowa”, every dollar invested in family planning services saved $15.12 in public expenditures over a five-year time period; and
   WHEREAS, improving the health and well-being of women is a goal of the Healthiest State Initiative; and
   WHEREAS, access to comprehensive reproductive health care is critical to improving the health and well-being of women; and
   WHEREAS, significant racial and ethnic disparities exist in women’s health, particularly in maternal mortality, infant mortality, and incidence of premature or low birth weight births; and
   WHEREAS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) women have unique health care needs and confront a unique set of disparities in the current health care system; and
   WHEREAS, approximately half of pregnancies are unintended, and preventing unintended pregnancies benefits child health, maternal health, and the health and well-being of families and society as a whole; and
   WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) included family planning in their published list of “Ten Great Public Health Achievements in the 20th Century”; and
   WHEREAS, many women lack access to comprehensive, affordable insurance coverage, even though all women should have such coverage for all pregnancy-related care, including prenatal care, miscarriage management, family planning services, abortion, labor and delivery services, and postnatal care; and
   WHEREAS, according to the Guttmacher Institute, more abortion restrictions were enacted in the period from 2011-2013 than in the entire previous decade; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives supports efforts to do all of the following:
   1.  Make improving women’s health a priority during the 86th General Assembly.
   2.  Ensure that all women have access to the best available, scientifically based health care.
   3.  Ensure that women have access to safe childbearing, with resources available to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.
   4.  Ensure that women have the autonomy to decide whether to have children, the number and spacing of their children, and to have medically accurate information, education, and access to health services to make these decisions.
   5.  Ensure that women have access to affordable insurance coverage for all of their pregnancy-related health care needs, including contraception and abortion, as well as for their general health care needs including coverage through Medicare, the Iowa Wellness Plan, and the Iowa Marketplace Choice Plan.
   6.  Ensure that women are afforded autonomous decision making, informed consent, privacy, and confidentiality regarding their health care.
   7.  Work to end health disparities for women, including with regard to ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation.