Senator Patty Murray Introduces Bill to Expand Access to Lifesaving Health Care for Women

The Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act of 2019 would increase access to preventive care, fund increased training for health practitioners

The bill’s namesake, Jeanette Acosta, was a fierce women’s health advocate who passed away at the age of 32 after a diagnosis of cervical cancer that was first detected at a Planned Parenthood facility 

New bill from Senator Murray seeks to address racial and economic health disparities with the establishment of targeted grants, programs

(Washington, D.C.)  – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, introduced legislation to bolster women’s health care in Washington state and across the country. The Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act of 2019, named after ardent women’s health advocate Jeanette Acosta who lost her battle with cervical cancer at the age of 32, would increase women’s access to preventive and lifesaving cancer screenings, including those designed to detect cancers such as Jeanette’s. In the spirit of Jeanette’s activism, the bill focuses on increasing access to preventive care and increasing training for health care providers, with an emphasis on providing care and training for low-income and women of color, who are disproportionately impacted by breast and gynecological cancers.

“We know that making sure every woman in this country can get preventive and lifesaving cancer screenings – no matter who she is, where she lives, or how much she makes – can make an enormous difference. This is especially true for women of color who are more likely to die from some of the same cancers early screening can help catch,” said Senator Murray. “Jeanette Acosta was a warrior and a champion for women’s health who worked to move us toward that goal, and I’m proud to honor her legacy by introducing the Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act of 2019, which would increase the availability of preventive and lifesaving cancer screenings at critical health care providers like Planned Parenthood.”

Senator Murray has been a strong leader on the issue of women’s health care, particularly reproductive care, recently introducing legislation to ensure that women across the country are able to get the reproductive health care that they need. This bill is the most recent effort by Senator Murray to address health care issues in Washington and across the country, following her recent introduction of new, bipartisan bills to help reduce health care costs and remove obstacles that can keep lower cost generic drugs from being available to patients and families. The Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act of 2019 is also a continued effort to address women’s health issues that disproportionately affect women of color, as it is a re-introduction of legislation that Senator Murray introduced in 2017.