OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act

Floor Speech

Date: June 24, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Women Veterans Reproduction

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Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 239, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, led by the chairwoman of the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, Congresswoman Julia Brownley.

Chairwoman Brownley and I have worked together on this issue for years. It is about fairness, fairness for the nearly 2 million women veterans who currently don't have access to the same healthcare as civilian women.

The Affordable Care Act requires private insurance plans to provide contraceptive services without copays, but veterans using VA care have to pay out of pocket for those same services. It is unacceptable that women who have served our country bear financial burdens that most other Americans don't have to worry about.

This fix is long overdue. And last week's unconscionable delay by our Republican colleagues harmed our veterans even more.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to put partisanship aside and vote for H.R. 239.

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