Rep. Jimmy Gomez pushing for bill that would make cervical cancer screenings more accessible

Planned Parenthood gets a lot of attention when the fight is over reproductive rights, but the clinics offer a range of services for women's health.

Congressman Jimmy Gomez wants them to do even more in an effort to make a big difference for those who don't have access to affordable health care.

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month and Gomez is hoping it will bring attention to his proposed legislation. The Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women's Health Act is named after a congressional aide who died two years ago of cervical cancer.

"It actually creates a grant program for clinics like Planned Parenthood to have preventative screenings, pap smears also make sure that people get the treatments that they need," Gomez said.

If the bill passes, anyone will be able to get screenings. Jeanette's father, Dr. Frank Acosta, is convinced it would have saved his daughter's life.

"There are huge gaps in how many women access preventative screenings for cancer and the act would help close some of that gap," he said.

Gomez admits that getting the bill passed will be a challenged in polarized Washington D.C., but he says he's not giving up.