Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has reintroduced the Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act. This legislation aims to expand access to preventive cancer screenings at safety net health care providers, such as Planned Parenthood. It establishes new grant and pilot programs focused on enhancing services for breast and gynecological cancers, particularly for low-income women and women of color, and includes training for healthcare providers on high-quality cancer screening and follow-up care.
The bill is named after Jeanette Acosta, a passionate women’s health advocate who worked as a congressional staffer and White House intern during the Obama administration. Sadly, she lost her battle with cervical cancer in 2017 at the age of 32.
Senator Murray expressed her pride in reintroducing the bill, stating, “Too many women suffer preventable deaths because they didn’t have access to the cancer screenings that would have detected their condition early on. That is an unacceptable tragedy… I’m not going to stop fighting to pass this crucial piece of legislation in Jeanette’s memory.”
Jeanette’s father, Frank X. Acosta, Ph.D., shared, “This bill will have a lasting and positive national impact in the fight against cancers that afflict women… Jeanette would adamantly support this bill.”
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, emphasized the importance of the bill in increasing access to life-saving screenings for marginalized communities.
The bill is co-sponsored by a group of Democratic senators, including Baldwin (D-WI), Booker (D-NJ), and Gillibrand (D-NY). It has garnered endorsements from various organizations advocating for women’s health and social justice.
For the full text of the legislation, click here.
