Sponsors (20)
Official title: Amend the Public Health Service Act to improve reproductive health care of individuals with disabilities.
Introduced May 14, 2026 by Patty Murray · Last progress May 14, 2026
The bill aims to improve sexual and reproductive health access and workforce capacity for people with disabilities through targeted funding, training, and technical assistance, but it requires new federal spending and introduces administrative and implementation challenges—and may face legal or political resistance in some areas.
People with disabilities will get substantially better sexual and reproductive health care because clinicians will receive disability‑competent training, technical assistance, accessible equipment guidance, and evidence‑based education that improve care quality before, during, and after pregnancy.
Individuals with disabilities will have expanded pathways into sexual and reproductive health professions—through recruitment, targeted training, stipends, and nursing programs—growing a more representative workforce and long‑term provider capacity.
Tribal, urban Indian, and organizations led by or serving people with disabilities are explicitly eligible for grants and technical assistance, promoting inclusion of underserved and rural communities in program design and funding.
Taxpayers will fund multiple new authorizations (recurring program grants and workforce funding plus a one‑time study), increasing federal spending to support these initiatives.
Health care providers, hospitals, and community organizations may face additional compliance and implementation costs to meet accessibility standards, provide training, buy/retrofit equipment, and fulfill grant requirements.
New programs include substantial administrative, reporting, and application requirements and leave many operational details to HHS, creating implementation uncertainty, potential delays, and a competitive process that may favor larger institutions.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Establishes grant programs, a national technical assistance center, and a study to improve sexual and reproductive health access for people with disabilities and authorizes funding for FY2027–FY2031.
Creates a set of federal grant programs, training initiatives, a national technical assistance center, and a study to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care for people with disabilities. It funds workforce training, pipeline programs for students with disabilities (including nursing and reproductive health clinicians), accessible patient education and materials, and technical help to health systems and providers so care is culturally competent, legally compliant, and physically accessible. The bill authorizes targeted appropriations for FY2027–FY2031 for multiple programs (training, education, nursing workforce expansion, a national TA center, and a study) and requires reporting to Congress and applicant/recipient evaluations; many programs prioritize multi-entity, disability-led, tribal, and community-based partnerships and exclude awarded stipends from means tests so benefits are not lost.