Reps. Norman and Palmer introduce bill to incentivize states to report abortion data

Press Release

On Thursday, Rep. Ralph Norman (SC-05) and Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would incentivize states to report abortion data to the Center for Disease Control ("CDC").

The Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2021 would incentivize states to report abortion data -- including the number of abortions performed and the number born alive after a botched abortion attempt -- to the CDC so that Congress has a better understanding of how effective Medicaid funding has been spent on various family planning programs.

This is a re-introduction of an identical bill introduced by Reps. Norman and Palmer during the 116th Congress. This bill has received support from:
· March for Life Action
· National Right to Life Committee
· U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
· Susan B. Anthony List
· Family Research Council
· House Republican Policy Committee

Rep. Norman issued the following statement on this legislation:

"The true purpose of any family planning program is to promote health, and to help parents manage the number and spacing of their children. Proactively -- before pregnancy occurs. If a pregnancy results in an abortion for convenience, it means that legitimate family planning failed in its objective.
"Since tax dollars are being used for family planning programs, we must be able to measure their effectiveness, but we cannot do that without accurate abortion data from the states.
"I want to thank Rep. Gary Palmer for his leadership on this important issue. This legislation will incentivize states to accurately report their abortion data to the CDC, and ultimately help Congress understand how effective taxpayer subsidized family planning programs have been."

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