Bonamici Introduces Bill To Prevent Unintended Pregnancies and Increase Likelihood of Healthy Pregnancies

Press Release

Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) introduced legislation to promote pregnancy intention screenings. These screenings increase conversations between patients and health care providers about whether the patient intends to become pregnant, helping people access the care they need to prevent unintended pregnancies and improve the likelihood of healthy pregnancies.

The Enhancing Questions to Understand Intentions for Pregnancy (EQUIP) Act would create a pilot program at the Centers for Disease Control to scale up the adoption of evidence-based initiatives that allow health care and social service providers to routinely screen people of child-bearing age about their pregnancy plans.

Bonamici crafted this legislation based on successful initiatives like One Key Question®, a transformative approach to help health and social services providers start a conversation with patients about their pregnancy desires by routinely asking "Would you like to become pregnant in the next year?" Follow-up counseling is patient-centered and tailored appropriately based on a patient's desire to become pregnant, desire to avoid becoming pregnant, or ambivalence about pregnancy in the next year of their life. This question then results in patients receiving information about contraception or pre-natal care, depending on the patient's unique situation. The model began in Oregon and is now being implemented in states across the country, with support from Power to Decide.

"The decision about whether or when to have a child is intensely personal and shapes lifelong reproductive health and economic well-being," said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. "Following the disastrous Dobbs decision, it is more important than ever for people to have access to reproductive health care that meets their needs and goals. The EQUIP Act will facilitate important conversations between patients and the providers they trust, empowering people to prevent unintended pregnancies and access care that improves the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy."

"At Power to Decide, we believe all people should have access to the information, services and support they need to make their own decisions when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health," said Power to Decide CEO Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH. "We also know that the ability to plan pregnancies is directly linked to a long list of benefits -- not only healthier pregnancies, but also healthier children, families and communities. Unfortunately, longstanding racial and economic barriers have limited access to quality and person-centered reproductive care for far too many people. This is why we are proud to support the EQUIP Act, which would support and expand efforts to ensure that all people have the power to decide for themselves if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child."

The EQUIP Act is endorsed by: Power to Decide, American Nurses Association, National Council of Jewish Women, American College of Nurse-Midwives, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, and Physicians for Reproductive Health.

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