Federal

Prohibiting Federal Emergencies for Abortion Act

Source: Congress.gov · 888 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill stops the President and the federal government from declaring emergencies related to abortion. The bill applies to three different types of emergency declarations that the government can make. It prevents emergency declarations that would promote, support or expand access to abortion, or take action against states that restrict abortion.

Who It Affects

The President, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and federal agencies that handle emergency declarations are directly affected by this bill.

Key Provisions

• The President cannot declare a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act (a law that lets the President declare emergencies) for purposes of promoting, supporting or expanding access to abortion or taking legal action against states that prohibit or restrict abortion (Sec. 2(a)) • The Secretary of Health and Human Services cannot declare a public health emergency (a serious health crisis) for purposes of promoting, supporting or expanding access to abortion or taking legal action against states that prohibit or restrict abortion (Sec. 2(b)) • The President cannot declare that an emergency exists under the disaster relief law for purposes of promoting, supporting or expanding access to abortion or taking legal action against states that prohibit or restrict abortion (Sec. 2(c))

What Changes

If this becomes law, the President and federal health officials would be prohibited from using emergency powers for abortion-related purposes.

Important Definitions

The bill defines "abortion" as using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, substance or device to intentionally kill an unborn child or prematurely end a pregnancy, unless the intention is to increase chances of live birth, preserve the life or health of the child after birth, or remove a dead unborn child.

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1143 To prohibit the declaration of a Federal emergency relating to abortion. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 21, 2023 Mr. PFLUGER (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ALFORD, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit the declaration of a Federal emergency relating to abortion. 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 ‘‘Prohibiting Federal 4 Emergencies for Abortion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DECLARATION OF FEDERAL 6 EMERGENCY RELATING TO ABORTION. 7 (a) PROHIBITION ON DECLARATIONS OF NATIONAL 8 EMERGENCIES RELATING TO ABORTION UNDER NA- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1143.IH H1143 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1143 IH TIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT.—Section 201 of the National 1 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) is amended by adding 2 at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON DECLARING NATIONAL 4 EMERGENCES RELATING TO ABORTION.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may not de- 6 clare a national emergency under subsection (a) for 7 purposes of— 8 ‘‘(A) promoting, supporting, or expanding 9 access to abortion; or 10 ‘‘(B) taking adverse action against or liti- 11 gating against States that prohibit or otherwise 12 restrict abortion. 13 ‘‘(2) ABORTION DEFINED.—In this subsection, 14 the term ‘abortion’ means the use or prescription of 15 any instrument, medicine, drug, or other substance 16 or device to intentionally— 17 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 18 known to be pregnant; or 19 ‘‘(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 20 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in- 21 tention other than to— 22 ‘‘(i) increase the probability of a live 23 birth or of preserving the life or health of 24 the child after live birth; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1143.IH H1143 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1143 IH ‘‘(ii) remove a dead unborn child.’’. 1 (b) PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.—Section 319 of 2 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) is amend- 3 ed by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding this sec- 6 tion, the Secretary may not declare a public health 7 emergency under this section for the purpose of— 8 ‘‘(A) promoting, supporting, or expanding 9 access to abortion; or 10 ‘‘(B) taking adverse action against or liti- 11 gating against States that prohibit or otherwise 12 restrict abortion. 13 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 14 ‘abortion’ means the use or prescription of any in- 15 strument, medicine, drug, or other substance or de- 16 vice to intentionally— 17 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 18 known to be pregnant; or 19 ‘‘(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 20 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in- 21 tention other than to— 22 ‘‘(i) increase the probability of a live 23 birth or of preserving the life or health of 24 the child after live birth; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1143.IH H1143 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1143 IH ‘‘(ii) remove a dead unborn child.’’. 1 (c) EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS UNDER THE ROB- 2 ERT T. STAFFORD DISASTER RELIEF AND EMERGENCY 3 ASSISTANCE ACT.—Section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford 4 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5 5191) is amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON DECLARATIONS RELATING TO 7 ABORTION.— 8 ‘‘(1) ABORTION DEFINED.—In this subsection, 9 the term ‘abortion’ means the use or prescription of 10 any instrument, medicine, drug, or other substance 11 or device to intentionally— 12 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 13 known to be pregnant; or 14 ‘‘(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 15 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in- 16 tention other than to— 17 ‘‘(i) increase the probability of a live 18 birth or of preserving the life or health of 19 the child after live birth; or 20 ‘‘(ii) remove a dead unborn child. 21 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—The President may not 22 declare that an emergency exists under subsection 23 (a) for the purpose of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1143.IH H1143 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1143 IH ‘‘(A) promoting, supporting, or expanding 1 access to abortion; or 2 ‘‘(B) taking adverse action against or liti- 3 gating against States that prohibit or otherwise 4 restrict abortion.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1143.IH H1143 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.