Teleabortion Prevention Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 626 To prohibit chemical abortions performed without the presence of a healthcare provider, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. WRIGHT (for himself, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BABIN, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. BANKS, Mr. JACKSON, and Ms. HERRELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit chemical abortions performed without the presence of a healthcare provider, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teleabortion Preven- 4 tion Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 626 IH SEC. 2. CHEMICAL ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A 1 HEALTHCARE PROVIDER PRESENT. 2 (a) CHEMICAL ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A 3 PHYSICIAN PRESENT.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United 4 States Code, is amended— 5 (1) in the chapter heading by striking ‘‘PAR- 6 TIAL-BIRTH’’; and 7 (2) by inserting after section 1531 the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘§ 1532. Chemical abortions prohibited without a 10 healthcare provider physically present 11 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any healthcare provider who, in or 12 affecting interstate or foreign commerce, who knowingly 13 provides or attempts to provide a chemical abortion— 14 ‘‘(1) without physically examining the patient; 15 ‘‘(2) without being physically present at the lo- 16 cation of the chemical abortion; or 17 ‘‘(3) without scheduling a follow-up visit for the 18 patient to occur not more than 14 days after the ad- 19 ministration or use of the drug to assess the pa- 20 tient’s physical condition, 21 shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not 22 more than 2 years, or both. This subsection does not apply 23 to a chemical abortion that is necessary to save the life 24 of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical dis- 25 order, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 626 IH endangering physical condition caused by or arising from 1 the pregnancy itself. 2 ‘‘(b) NO LIABILITY OF THE PATIENT.—A patient 3 upon whom an abortion is performed may not be pros- 4 ecuted under this section or for a conspiracy to violate 5 this section. 6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 ‘‘(1) ABORTION DRUG.—The term ‘abortion 8 drug’ means any medicine, drug or any other sub- 9 stance, or any combination of drugs, medicines or 10 substances, when it is used— 11 ‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 12 of a woman known to be pregnant; or 13 ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg- 14 nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 15 an intention other than— 16 ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth; or 17 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 18 ‘‘(2) ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE.—In this section, 19 the term ‘attempts to provide’, means conduct that, 20 under the circumstances as the actor believes them 21 to be, constitutes a substantial step in a course of 22 conduct planned to culminate in a chemical abortion. 23 ‘‘(3) HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.—The term 24 ‘healthcare provider’ means any person licensed to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 626 IH prescribe prescription drugs under applicable Fed- 1 eral and State laws. 2 ‘‘(4) PROVIDE.—In this section, the term ‘pro- 3 vide’, means to dispense or prescribe an abortion 4 drug, or to otherwise make an abortion drug avail- 5 able to a patient. 6 ‘‘(5) CHEMICAL ABORTION.—The term ‘chem- 7 ical abortion’ refers to the use of an abortion drug 8 to— 9 ‘‘(A) intentionally kill the unborn child of 10 a woman known to be pregnant; or 11 ‘‘(B) intentionally terminate the pregnancy 12 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in- 13 tention other than— 14 ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth; or 15 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 16 ‘‘(6) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 17 means an individual organism of the species homo 18 sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of 19 being born alive as defined in section 8(b). 20 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING ECTOPIC 21 PREGNANCY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 22 to have any impact on the treatment of a verified ectopic 23 pregnancy. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 626 IH ‘‘(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 1 or the application of such provision to any person or cir- 2 cumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec- 3 tion and the application of the provisions of the remainder 4 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there- 5 by.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 7 (1) CHAPTER 74.—The table of sections for 8 such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 9 relating to section 1531 the following: 10 ‘‘1532. Chemical abortions prohibited without a healthcare provider physically present.’’. (2) PART I.—The table of chapters for part I 11 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik- 12 ing the item relating to chapter 74, and inserting 13 the following: 14 ‘‘74. Abortions .......................................................................................... 1531’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H626.IH H626 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS