House Passes Hart Amendment to Help Parents and Pregnant Women Complete their Education
House Passes Hart Amendment to Help Parents and Pregnant Women Complete their Education
Amendment includes maternity coverage in health plans and on-campus child care for parents
Washington, D.C. - The House of Representatives has passed an amendment introduced by Congresswoman Melissa Hart that will help pregnant women and parents complete their education by encouraging institutions of higher education to offer critical support services. The language will be included in H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act, which the House is scheduled to give final consideration to later today.
"Many students who are pregnant or who already have children are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet while they are trying to finish their education," said Hart. "My amendment will provide services like affordable on-campus childcare and maternity coverage in their student health plans so they can concentrate on being good parents and good students."
Hart noted the amendment goes a long way in encouraging colleges and other educational institutions to support the 4.5 million students across the country that are parents or pregnant.
"Approximately 27 percent of all undergraduates are parents and 34 percent of all graduate students are parents. In addition, about half of all undergraduate students that have a child are single parents. It is time that we recognize the unique obstacles that these students face and help them complete their education and enter the workforce on solid footing," said Hart.
Funding for institutions to provide these services is authorized by the amendment through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Some of the services the amendment encourages schools to provide include:
Assistance in locating and utilizing child care
Maternity coverage in student health care plans
Increasing availability of family housing
Flexible academic scheduling, such as telecommuting programs
Financial aid, especially for women living independently from their parents.
Congresswoman Hart highlighted that the amendment will help expectant mothers choose life and noted a 2004 survey conducted by the Alan Guttmacher Institute that shows the overwhelming reason college-aged women choose to have an abortion was the fear it would interfere with their education or career.
"We can't just hope that abortion will disappear. We have to help women who are pregnant get the assistance they need so they do not feel that abortion is the only answer," said Hart. "According to a recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, over 70 percent of college-aged women surveyed who have had an abortion cited their fear that it would interfere with their education or career. Often, these women do not have the financial resources to afford childcare while they complete their studies. This legislation will help women choose life by lessening the financial strain they will feel by being both mothers and students."
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