SF 2057 (LSB 5728XS (3) 91)

SENATE FILE 2057

BY  WAHLS

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the right to contraception.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.  The general assembly finds all of the following:
   1.  The right to contraception is a fundamental right, central to a person’s privacy, health, well-being, dignity, liberty, equality, and ability to participate in the social and economic life of the state.
   2.  The United States supreme court has repeatedly recognized the constitutional right to contraception.
   a.  In Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), the United States supreme court first recognized the constitutional right for married people to use contraceptives.
   b.  In Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972), the United States supreme court confirmed the constitutional right of all people to legally access contraceptives regardless of marital status.
   c.  In Carey v. Population Services International, 431 U.S. 678 (1977), the United States supreme court affirmed the constitutional right to contraceptives for minors.
   3.  The right to contraceptives is protected under the Iowa Constitution by Article I, section 1, as well as under the United States Constitution right to privacy as determined by Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), and the due process clause as determined in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 573-74 (2003). 
   4.  The right to contraception has been repeatedly recognized internationally as a human right.
   a.  The United Nations population fund has published several reports outlining family planning as a basic human right that advances women’s health, economic empowerment, and equality.
   b.  Access to contraceptives is internationally recognized by the world health organization as advancing other human rights such as the right to life, liberty, expression, health, work, and education.
   5.  Contraception is safe, essential health care, and access to contraceptive products and services is central to a person’s ability to participate equally in economic and social life. 
   6.  Contraception allows a person to make decisions about their families and their lives.
   7.  Contraception is key to sexual and reproductive health.
   8.  Contraception is critical to preventing unintended pregnancy, and many contraceptives are highly effective in preventing and treating a wide array of often severe medical conditions and in decreasing the risk of certain cancers.
   9.  Family planning improves health outcomes for women, their families, and their communities and reduces rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity.
   10.  The United States has a long history of reproductive coercion, including the childbearing forced upon enslaved women, as well as the forced sterilization of African American women, Puerto Rican women, indigenous women, immigrant women, and women with disabilities, and reproductive coercion continues to occur.
   11.  The right to make personal decisions about contraceptive use is important for all people, and is especially critical for people who are part of historically marginalized groups and people living in rural and underserved areas. Many people who are part of historically marginalized groups face barriers, exacerbated by social, political, economic, and environmental inequities, to comprehensive health care, including reproductive health care, that reduce their ability to make decisions about their health, families, and lives. For the purposes of this subsection, “historically marginalized groups” means groups of people that have been excluded, oppressed, or disadvantaged due to factors including but not limited to race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, and sexual orientation.
   12.  Policies governing pharmaceutical and insurance policies affect the accessibility of contraceptives and the settings in which contraception services are delivered.
   13.  Despite the clearly established constitutional right to contraception, access to contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives and long-acting reversible contraceptives, has been obstructed in various ways.
   14.  The refusals of providers to offer contraceptives and contraception-related information on the basis of the providers’ own personal beliefs impede patients from obtaining their preferred method.
   15.  States have attempted to define abortion expansively in order to include contraceptives in state bans on abortion and have also restricted access to emergency contraception.
   16.  In June 2022, Justice Thomas, in his concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), stated that the United States supreme court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell” and that the court has “a duty to correct the error established in those precedents” by overruling them.
   17.  To further public health and to combat efforts to restrict access to reproductive health care, action is necessary to protect access to contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information for everyone, regardless of actual or perceived race; ethnicity; sex, including gender identity and sexual orientation; income; disability; national origin; immigration status; or geographic location.
    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  135S.1  Short title.
   This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Right to Contraception Act”.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  135S.2  Definitions.
   As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

   1.  “Contraception” means an action taken to prevent pregnancy, including the use of contraceptives or fertility-awareness-based methods and sterilization procedures.
   2.  “Contraceptive” means any drug, device, or biological product intended for use in the prevention of pregnancy, whether specifically intended to prevent pregnancy or for other health needs, that is legally marketed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, such as oral contraceptives, long-acting reversible contraceptives including intrauterine devices, emergency contraceptives, internal and external condoms, injectables, vaginal barrier methods, transdermal patches, vaginal rings, and other contraceptives.
   3.  “Health care provider” means the same as defined in section 135P.1.
   4.  “Political subdivision” means a city, county, township, village, or school district.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  135S.3  Statutory right —— limitations or requirements.
   1.  A person has a statutory right under this chapter to obtain contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and a health care provider has a corresponding right to provide contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information.
   2.  The statutory rights specified in subsection 1 shall not be limited or otherwise infringed through any limitation or requirement that does any of the following:
   a.  Expressly, effectively, implicitly, or as implemented singles out:
   (1)  The provision of contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information.
   (2)  Health care providers who provide contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information.
   (3)  Facilities in which contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information is provided.
   b.  Impedes access to contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information.
   3.  To defend against a claim that a limitation or requirement violates a health care provider’s or patient’s statutory rights under subsection 2, a party must establish, by clear and convincing evidence, all of the following:
   a.  The limitation or requirement significantly advances the safety of contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information.
   b.  The safety of contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information or the health of patients cannot be advanced by a less restrictive alternative measure or action.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  135S.4  Applicability.
   1.  The state and any political subdivision of the state shall not administer, implement, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law in a manner that does any of the following:
   a.  Prohibits or restricts the sale, provision, or use of any contraceptives that have been approved by the United States food and drug administration for contraceptive purposes.
   b.  Prohibits or restricts any person from aiding another person in obtaining any contraceptives approved by the United States food and drug administration for contraceptive methods.
   c.  Exempts any contraceptives approved by the United States food and drug administration from any other generally applicable law in a way that would make it more difficult to sell, provide, obtain, or use those contraceptives or contraceptive methods.
   2.  This section does not supersede or otherwise affect any provision relating to coverage under group health plans or group or individual health insurance coverage and may not be construed as requiring the provision of specific benefits under those plans or coverage.
   3.  A person who is subject to a limitation or requirement that violates this chapter may raise this section as a defense to any cause of action against the person.
    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  135S.5  Construction.
   1.  This chapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes.
   2.  This chapter shall not be construed to do any of the following:
   a.  Authorize any government or political subdivision to interfere with a health care provider’s ability to provide contraceptives or contraception-related information or a person’s ability to obtain contraceptives or to engage in contraception.
   b.  Permit or sanction the conduct of any sterilization procedure without the patient’s voluntary and informed consent.
   3.  The constitutional protections relating to contraception as a fundamental right shall not be limited by federal or state law. 
    Sec. 7.  NEW SECTION.  135S.6  Enforcement.
   1.  The attorney general may commence a civil action on behalf of the state against any person that violates or enforces a limitation or requirement that violates this chapter. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, in a civil action brought under this chapter, the attorney general may compromise and settle the action as the attorney general determines to be in the best interest of the state.
   2.  Any person, including any health care provider or patient, adversely affected by an alleged violation of this chapter may commence a civil action against any person that violates, implements, or enforces a limitation or requirement that violates this chapter.
   3.  A health care provider may commence an action for relief on the health care provider’s own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, or on behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be adversely affected by an alleged violation of this chapter.
   4.  If a court finds that there has been a violation of this chapter, the court shall set aside the limitation or requirement as unlawful. In any action under this chapter, the court may award appropriate equitable relief, including temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief.
   5.  Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, in any action under this chapter, the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to any prevailing plaintiff. Unless a court determines an action is frivolous, the court shall not hold a plaintiff liable to a defendant for costs and attorney fees in an action under this chapter.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the right to contraception.
   The bill provides legislative findings including the recognition by the United States supreme court of the right to contraception as a fundamental right. 
   The bill establishes that a person has a statutory right to obtain contraceptives, to engage in contraception, and that a health care provider has a corresponding right to provide contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information. Under the bill, these rights may not be limited or otherwise infringed through any limitation or requirement that expressly, effectively, implicitly, or as implemented singles out: the provision of contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information; health care providers who provide contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information; or facilities in which contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information is provided; or that impedes access to contraceptives, contraception, or contraception-related information. The bill provides that a party may defend against a claim that a limitation or requirement violates the rights established under the bill by establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, both that the limitation or requirement significantly advances the safety of contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information, and that the safety of contraceptives, contraception, and contraception-related information or the health of patients cannot be advanced by a less restrictive alternative measure or action.
   The bill specifically provides that neither the state nor any political subdivision of the state shall administer, implement, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law in a manner that prohibits or restricts the sale, provision, or use of any contraceptives that have been approved by the United States food and drug administration (FDA) for contraceptive purposes; prohibits or restricts any person from aiding another person in obtaining any contraceptives approved by the FDA or contraceptive methods; or exempts any contraceptives approved by the FDA from any other generally applicable law in a way that would make it more difficult to sell, provide, obtain, or use those contraceptives or contraceptive methods. The bill is to be liberally construed and provides limitations regarding how the bill may be construed. The bill provides that the constitutional protections relating to the right to contraception as a fundamental right shall not be limited by federal or state law. The bill authorizes the attorney general on behalf of the state or any person, including any health care provider or patient, to bring a cause of action for a violation of the bill.