Congressman Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, and Congressman Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, introduced H.R. 3580, the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Data Reporting Act, on Friday. The purpose of 3580 is to improve the reporting of abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Accurate and transparent reporting on abortion and children who survive abortion attempts is essential to public health research and to determining sound policy,” Palmer said. “Reporting abortion data has been voluntary for too long, and this has led to states withholding many data points routinely requested by the CDC. We must standardize and enforce reporting processes in this area and ensure that states have necessary assistance in collecting the required abortion data. States should not be allowed to distort or provide faulty data in an effort to cover up the true numbers of innocent lives lost by abortion.”
“The reality is we have no idea how many abortions are actually performed each year in this country,” Norman said. “States are asked to provide these numbers to the federal government, but they are not required to do so, which allows states like California and Maryland to intentionally withhold this data.”
“Meanwhile, these states have no problem using federal tax dollars for family planning services,” Norman added. “There’s a special provision in Medicaid that provides family planning funds to states, and those dollars can even be used by those who are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid.”
If passed, H.R. 3580 would mandate accurate reporting of abortion data to the CDC and ensure that states are given technical assistance to help with data collection. Required data points would include number of abortions and number of children who survive abortion attempts in said state. States that withhold or falsify such information would be penalized by losing eligibility for family planning services funding from Medicaid for a time.
Palmer and Norman will need Democratic support to move their legislation in the democrat-controlled House of Representatives.
Gary Palmer represents Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District.
