Access to Contraception

Floor Speech

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I was lucky, had excellent doctors who detected the cancer by chance in Stage 1. I am alive today by the grace of God and biomedical research. Many women today are not so lucky.

Ten women in the U.S. are diagnosed with a gynecological cancer every hour, and yet we know that using contraception for a year reduces the risk of ovarian cancer by 10 to 12 percent, using it for 5 years reduces that risk by roughly 50 percent. Twenty-six thousand women will die from these terrible cancers each and every year. This is just one of the ways that access to contraception is beneficial to women's health.

Improved access to birth control is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality and helps to reduce unintended pregnancies. It significantly reduces a woman's risk of endometrial cancer. That is why, after an impartial and comprehensive review of the scientific data, the Institute of Medicine made the decision to include contraception among covered preventive services under the Affordable Care Act because contraception is very much part of women's health. It can help prevent ovarian cancer. It can save women's lives.

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