1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2017 . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Women are serving in the Armed Forces at increasing rates, playing a critical role in the national security of the United States. Women comprise just over 15 percent of military service members and more than 200,000 women serve on active duty in the Armed Forces or in the Selected Reserve. (2) More than 95 percent of women serving in the military are of reproductive age. And approximately 1,100,000 female spouses and dependents of active duty military personnel are of reproductive age. (3) TRICARE covered approximately 1,400,000 women of reproductive age in 2015, including female spouses and dependents of active duty military personnel. For approximately 900,000 of these women, TRICARE was their only source of coverage. (4) Contraception is critical for women's health and is highly effective at reducing unintended pregnancy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe contraception as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the twentieth century. (5) Contraceptive access is strongly connected to women’s greater educational and professional opportunities and increased lifetime earnings. Increased wages and increased control over reproductive decisions provide women with educational and professional opportunities that have increased gender equality over the decades since contraception was introduced. (6) Studies have shown that when cost barriers to the full range of methods of contraception are eliminated, and women receive comprehensive counseling on the various methods of contraception (including highly effective and more expensive Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs)), rates of unintended pregnancy decline. Costs can be prohibitive, particularly for LARCs which can have high upfront costs. (7) Research has also shown that investments in effective contraception save public and private dollars. (8) In