VAWA Reauthorized, Bills Introduced About Abortion, Firearms, Reduction of Unintended Pregnancy and STDs

Senate Passes Bill to Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act
On February 12, the Senate passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) (S. 47), as amended.

Senate Panel Advances Bill to Reduce Preterm Delivery
On February 13, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Act (S. 252). 

Bills Introduced

Abortion

S. 356—-Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (2/14/13)—A bill to ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child.

S. 369—-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)/Judiciary (2/14/13)—A bill to prohibit taking minors across state lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.

H.R. 732—-Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)/Judiciary (2/14/13)—A bill to prohibit taking minors across state lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.

Child Care/Education

H.R. 791—-Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO)/Education and the Workforce (2/15/13)—A bill to strengthen connections to early childhood education programs, and for other purposes.

Child Protection

H.R. 619—-Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)/Judiciary (2/12/13)—A bill to place limitations on the possession, sale, and other disposition of a firearm by persons convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses against children.

Former First Lady Laura Bush and Rae Leigh Bradbury (right); the then 9-year-old introduced Mrs. Bush during the future opening announcement of  the Texas Regional Office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2007. Rae Leigh was the first child in the United States to be recovered as a result of an AMBER Alert when she was 8 weeks old in November 1998. Wikipedia

H.R. 680—-Rep. Fredhttp://cartoonart.org/erica Wilson (D-FL)/Ways and Means, Judiciary (2/13/13)—A bill to require state child welfare agencies to promptly report information on missing or abducted children to law enforcement authorities, and for other purposes.

Health

H.R. 752—-Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA)/Energy and Commerce (2/15/13)—A bill to provide for the establishment of a drug-free workplace information clearinghouse, to support residential methamphetamine treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women, to improve the prevention and treatment of methamphetamine addiction, and for other purposes.

Military

H.R. 747—-Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)/Armed Services (2/15/13)—A bill to require the registration of women with the Selective Service System in light of the Department of Defense elimination of the rule excluding women from direct ground combat assignments in the armed forces.

H.R. 748—-Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)/Armed Services (2/15/13)—A bill to require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or as civilian service in a federal, state, or local government program or with a community-based agency or community-based entity, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to provide for the registration of women under the Military Selective Service Act, and for other purposes.