Sponsors (4)
The bill improves data to help target federal support and address contraceptive access gaps in underserved areas, but it relies on a limited study definition and diverts HHS resources to research, which could delay direct aid and miss some barriers to access.
Women living in health-care deserts will gain clearer, location-level data on which contraceptive methods community health centers provide, enabling better-informed local policy and advocacy to improve contraceptive access.
Women and low-income individuals will benefit because Congress will identify reimbursement, stocking, training, and education barriers, enabling targeted funding or regulatory fixes to expand contraceptive services.
Low-income individuals and women who rely on community health centers will get clearer information about which centers receive Title X funding, helping federal support be prioritized to clinics serving contraceptive needs.
Women and low-income individuals could experience delays in improved access because HHS resources must be used for the study, so researching barriers may postpone direct funding or immediate service changes.
Women seeking emergency contraception could have their access issues undercounted because the bill's narrow definition of contraceptive methods excludes emergency contraception.
Rural communities and low-income individuals may still be mischaracterized as having adequate access because defining 'health care desert' by community health center density per 1,000 women ignores other barriers (transportation, clinic hours, etc.).
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires HHS to study and report within 180 days on access to at least two contraceptive methods at community health centers in "health care deserts," analyzing barriers like reimbursement, stocking, training, and education.
Introduced March 25, 2026 by Ashley Hinson · Last progress March 25, 2026
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study access by "women in need" to a range (at least two) of contraceptive methods at community health centers located in defined "health care deserts." The study must analyze barriers such as reimbursement, inventory stocking, provider training, patient education, and other obstacles, identify which centers receive Title X funding, and report results to Congress within 180 days after enactment. Defines key terms used in the study: what counts as a "community health center," how "health care deserts" are measured (fewer than one community health center per 1,000 women in need), what counts as a "contraceptive method" (certain drugs and devices, excluding emergency contraceptive uses, plus sexual risk avoidance education and natural family planning), and who qualifies as "women in need." The law does not provide funding or require service changes—only the HHS study and a congressional report.