Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BROWNLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 239, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman and Ranking Member Bost for their support. This bill is a simple one. It only addresses the disparity between veterans who must pay for contraception, and civilians and women currently serving in uniform, who do not have to pay for contraception.

As the chairwoman of the Women's Veterans Task Force and chair of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, I have worked to identify disparities in healthcare for our women veterans, and where necessary, introduce, advocate for, and pass legislation that eliminates those gaps.

Madam Speaker, I was proud to work with my Republican colleagues to pass the bipartisan Deborah Sampson Act last Congress. This legislation, which was the most comprehensive bill to address the needs of women veterans in more than a decade, received overwhelming bipartisan support. But there are still far too many areas where women veterans have to pay more for their healthcare than men; and in this case, they have to pay more than nonveteran women.

These inequities create an environment that perpetuates the notion that women are not equal to men, and in this case, veteran women are not even equal to other women. This bill passed through the House last Congress by voice vote. It also passed out of the VA Committee this Congress with strong bipartisan support.

It was deeply troubling that misinformation and politics got in the way of helping our women veterans last week, when the bill failed to pass under suspension, which is why we are back here again this week.

Let us be clear, this was a direct slap in the face to nearly 2 million women veterans living in the United States. Because of the Affordable Care Act, women using civilian health insurance may access basic contraceptive services, like the pill, or an IUD without any copay. Additionally, Active Duty servicemembers receive contraceptive care without any copays. So current law is specifically penalizing our women veterans. As we know, choosing when, or if, to have a family is essential to women's health and to their economic security.

Madam Speaker, 87 percent of Americans agree that everyone deserves access to the full range of birth control methods, no matter who they are, where they live, what their economic status is. The vast majority of the American people believe veteran women deserve to be recognized and deserve to be treated with the respect they have earned. The vast majority of the American people also believe that birth control should be a basic part of women's healthcare.

I am particularly disappointed that this bipartisan commitment to supporting our women veterans seems to have hit a roadblock this Congress. Our veterans, both men and women, have sacrificed so much for our country. It is past time that we ensure they get the equitable healthcare they have earned and deserve.

Let us do the right thing today on behalf of our women veterans, for their equality, for their liberty, for their healthcare, and for their economic security.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 239.

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