Why We Need a Policy Change (Part I)

The Pregnant Women Support Act (2009) is “a bill to provide programs that reduce the need for abortion, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents” (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s270/show). This bill has the potential to impact women and their families in many ways. One way would be:

1) To decrease the number of abortions seen every year in the United States.

4 out of 10 unintended pregnancies end in an elective abortion.

22% of all pregnancies end in abortion.

The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than 4 times taht of women above 300% the poverty level.

Info from: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

Introduction of S. 270

The Pregnant Women Support Act 2009
S. 270. IS

Title: A bill to provide for programs that reduce the need for abortion, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents (The Library of Congress; Thomas).

Major topics:

• Public awareness and assistance for pregnant women and new parents
• Increasing women's knowledge about their pregnancy
• Pregnancy as a preexisting condition
• Medicaid and SCHIP coverage of pregnant women and unborn children
• Disclosure of information on abortion services
• Services to patients receiving positive tests, diagnosis of Down Syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions
• Support for pregnant and parenting college students
• Support for pregnant and parenting teens
• Improving services for pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking
• Life support centers for pregnant women, mothers, and children
• Providing support to new parents
• Collecting and reporting abortion data

To view this bill in more detail please see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas

Supporting Sponsors:

S. 270. IS


Sen. Robert Casey [D-PA]



Cosponsor

Sen. Ben Nelson [D-NE]

To view Senator Casey's introduction of S. 270 to the Senate please use the following link: http://casey.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=f4577a46-d28f-42ca-a356-e9dde9d5d5db