Recognizing the United States legacy of dismissed pain and denied autonomy in women's health care, and affirming the Federal Government's duty to protect individual dignity and advance patient-centered care in women's health.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1147 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1147

   Recognizing the United States legacy of dismissed pain and denied 
autonomy in women's health care, and affirming the Federal Government's 
duty to protect individual dignity and advance patient-centered care in 
                            women's health.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2026

   Ms. Ansari (for herself, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bell, Ms. Brownley, Mr. 
 Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Goldman 
  of New York, Mrs. Grijalva, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of 
Georgia, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. McGarvey, Ms. 
  Norton, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Ross, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, 
Mrs. Trahan, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Wilson of 
Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Recognizing the United States legacy of dismissed pain and denied 
autonomy in women's health care, and affirming the Federal Government's 
duty to protect individual dignity and advance patient-centered care in 
                            women's health.

Whereas for generations, women in the United States--especially Black, 
        indigenous, immigrant, LGBTQ+, disabled, and low-income women--have 
        endured a system that too often treats their comfort as secondary, their 
        pain as exaggerated, and their autonomy as negotiable;
Whereas the field of gynecology, while ranked high in patient trust and 
        satisfaction compared to other medical disciplines, was historically 
        built in part on the exploitation and sterilization of Black, enslaved, 
        Puerto Rican, indigenous, immigrant, and disabled women without their 
        consent, and remains a relatively under-researched area of medicine;
Whereas this history also includes the coercive testing of contraceptive pills 
        on women and girls in Puerto Rico;
Whereas countless women continue to experience their pain being dismissed or 
        minimized, contributing to delayed diagnoses, untreated conditions, and 
        unnecessary physical and psychological suffering that could have been 
        prevented;
Whereas American history is marked by laws and medical practices that have 
        required spousal or State approval for women to make choices about their 
        own bodies and private medical decisions, like whether to access 
        contraception, undergo sterilization, or terminate a pregnancy;
Whereas recent escalation of rollbacks on reproductive rights, including on the 
        constitutional right to abortion, have only worsened access to care for 
        women's health conditions, endangering reproductive health outcomes and 
        directly causing preventable medical emergencies not seen in over half a 
        century; and
Whereas the future of women's health care must center justice, bodily autonomy, 
        and empowering patients to make informed decisions about their 
        reproductive, sexual, and menstrual health: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the historical and ongoing injustices that 
        deny women the dignity, seriousness, and respect they deserve;
            (2) honors the women, especially marginalized women, who 
        have been denied agency over their bodies and suffered due to 
        systemic neglect and bias;
            (3) affirms the need for shared decision-making and 
        patient-centered approaches to gynecological and reproductive 
        care, including patient education, procedural transparency, and 
        expanded research on women's health conditions;
            (4) commits to expanding access to reproductive and 
        gynecological health care, strengthening protections for bodily 
        autonomy, increasing Federal investment in women's health 
        research, and holding institutions accountable for bias and 
        harm; and
            (5) emphasizes the need to end the normalization of pain 
        and address the implicit and structural biases within 
        reproductive and gynecological care.
                                 <all>