Sec. 508. Reducing unintended teenage pregnancies
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Title III of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 241 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following new part: It is the purpose of this part to develop and carry out research and multimedia campaigns on new and existing program interventions to provide youth in communities at disproportionate risk for unintended teen pregnancy (particularly young people of color, immigrant communities, youth in the foster care system, youth in the juvenile justice system, rural youth, and LGBTQ youth) the information and skills needed to prevent unintended teenage pregnancies, build healthy relationships, and improve overall health and well-being.
No Federal funds provided under this Act may be used for media awareness campaigns that— withhold health-promoting or life-saving information about sexuality-related topics; undermine young people’s confidence in the effectiveness of contraception; are medically inaccurate or have been scientifically shown to be ineffective; promote gender, racial, or ethnic stereotypes; are insensitive and unresponsive to the needs of sexually active youth, LGBTQ youth, or youth survivors of sexual violence; are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives of medicine and public health; or stigmatize and shame youth who are parenting or choose to parent.
The Secretary shall award competitive grants to public and private entities, including national or regional intermediaries with affiliates located in urban communities, to carry out multimedia campaigns to provide public education and increase public awareness regarding teen sexual health, including unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, sexual violence, and related relationship, emotional, social, and cultural issues. In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants proposing to carry out campaigns developed for communities with a high prevalence of unintended teen pregnancy (particularly young people of color, immigrant communities, youth in the foster care system, youth in the juvenile justice system, rural youth, and LGBTQ youth).
As a condition of receipt of a grant under this section, an entity shall agree to use the grant to carry out multimedia campaigns described in subsection
(a)that— at a minimum, shall provide information on— human development; healthy relationships and personal skills including communication, consent, and violence prevention; and sexual behavior and health, including abstinence, prevention of unintended teen pregnancy, and HIV and other sexually transmitted infections; and may provide information on the prevention of dating violence and sexual assault. The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall make grants to public and private entities to conduct, support, or coordinate research on teen sexual health (including unintended teen pregnancy, dating violence, and healthy relationships among persons of color and immigrant communities) that— improves data collection on— sexual and reproductive health, including unintended teenage pregnancies and births, among all minority communities and subpopulations in which such data are not collected, including American Indian and Alaska Native youth; sexual behavior, reproductive and sexual coercion, and teenage contraceptive use patterns at the State level, as appropriate; unintended teenage pregnancies among youth in and aging out of foster care or juvenile justice systems and the underlying factors that lead to unintended teenage pregnancy among youth in foster care or juvenile justice systems; and sexual and reproductive health, including teenage pregnancies and births, sexual behavior, reproductive and sexual coercion, and teenage contraceptive use among— LGBTQ youth; and rural youth; investigates— the variance in the rates of unintended teenage pregnancy by— racial and ethnic group (such as Hispanic, Asian-American, African-American, Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native); and socioeconomic status, based on the income of the family and education attainment; factors affecting the risk for youth of unintended teenage pregnancy or dating violence, including the physical and social environment, level of acculturation, access to health care, aspirations for the future, and history of physical or sexual violence or abuse; the role that violence and abuse play in teenage sex, pregnancy, and childbearing; strategies to address the disproportionate rates of unintended teenage pregnancies and dating violence in racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities; how effective interventions can be replicated or adapted in other settings to serve racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities in a culturally appropriate manner; and the effectiveness of media campaigns in addressing healthy relationship development, dating violence prevention, and unintended teenage pregnancy; and tests research-based strategies for addressing high rates of unintended teenage pregnancy through programs that emphasize healthy relationships and violence prevention. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall give priority to research that incorporates— interdisciplinary approaches; a strong emphasis on community-based participatory research; consideration and assessment of State and local education and health policies that may impact teen sexual health; or translational research. Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this part, the Secretary shall direct the interagency adolescent health workgroup within the Office of Adolescent Health of the Department of Health and Human Services to— include in the work of the group strategies for teenage dating violence prevention and healthy teenage relationships with a particular focus among racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities; and with respect to including such strategies, consult, to the greatest extent possible, with the Federal Interagency Workgroup on Teen Dating Violence formed under the leadership of the National Institute of Justice of the Department of Justice. The Secretary, through the Office of Adolescent Health, shall periodically submit to Congress a report that— includes a review of the evidence-based programs on preventing unintended teenage pregnancy, which are carried out and identified by the Office; and identifies the programs of the Department of Health and Human Services that include teenage dating violence prevention and the promotion of healthy teenage relationships as part of a strategy to prevent unintended teenage pregnancy. To seek a grant under this part, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary in such form, in such manner, and containing such agreements, assurances, and information as the Secretary may require. A grant may be made under this part only if the applicant involved agrees that information, activities, and services provided under the grant— will be evidence-based or evidence-informed; will be factually and medically accurate and complete; and if directed to a particular population group, will be provided in an appropriate language and cultural context. Of the total amount made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall use 10 percent to provide, directly or through a competitive grant process, training and technical assistance to the grant recipients under this part, including by disseminating research and information regarding effective and promising practices, providing consultation and resources on a broad array of teenage and unintended pregnancy and violence prevention strategies, and developing resources and materials. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall collaborate with Federal, State, public, and private entities that have expertise in sexual health education, prevention of unintended teen pregnancy, healthy relationship development, minority health and health disparities, and violence prevention. In this part: The terms evidence-based or evidence-informed mean having been proven through rigorous evaluation to change sexual behavior or incorporate characteristics of effective programs, including development, content, and implementation of such programs, that— have been shown to be effective in terms of increasing knowledge, clarifying values and attitudes, increasing skills, and impacting upon behavior; and are widely recognized by leading medical and public health agencies to be effective in changing sexual behaviors that lead to unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and dating violence and sexual assault among young people. The term LGBTQ youth means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The term medically accurate and complete means, with respect to information, activities, or services, verified or supported by the weight of research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods and— published in peer-reviewed journals, where applicable; or comprising information that leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field recognize as accurate, objective, and complete. The term racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities means communities with a substantial number of residents who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups or who are immigrants. The term reproductive and sexual coercion — means, with respect to a person, coercive behavior that interferes with the ability of such person to control the reproductive decisionmaking of such person, such as intentionally exposing such person to sexually transmitted infections; attempting to impregnate such person against their will; intentionally interfering with the person’s birth control; or threatening or acting violent if the person does not comply with the perpetrator’s wishes regarding contraception or the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy; and includes a range of behaviors that a partner may use related to sexual decision-making to pressure or coerce a person to have sex without using physical force, such as repeatedly pressuring a partner to have sex when they do not want to; threatening to end a relationship if a person does not have sex; and threatening retaliation if notified of a positive sexually transmitted infection test result. The term youth means individuals who are 11 to 19 years of age. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this part, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the use of funds provided pursuant to this part. Not later than March 1, 2021, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the impact of the programs under this part on reducing unintended teenage pregnancies. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2017 through 2021. Amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a)— are authorized to remain available until expended; and are in addition to amounts otherwise made available for such purposes. .
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Sec. 508
Reducing unintended teenage pregnancies
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