Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CHU. Madam Speaker, as the chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus' Contraception and Family Planning Task Force, I rise in strong support of Congresswoman Brownley's Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act.

Every day, servicemembers are willing to sacrifice their lives for our constitutional rights. So we must ensure that those rights are available to them when they come home, and that includes the right to contraception.

That is what this bill does, by ensuring that veterans, just like their civilian neighbors, have access to the contraception that works best for them, without the burden of copays. And since we know that not every method of birth control works for every person, this bill requires the VA to cover all FDA-approved contraception, including emergency contraception, which is an especially important option in sexual assault.

Contraception helps people plan for their futures, for their families, and for themselves. This bill removes unnecessary barriers to care for our veterans who have already given this Nation so much.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important legislation.

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