What This Bill Does
This bill changes the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 to require abortion providers to report to the National Human Trafficking Hotline when they suspect a patient may be a trafficking victim. The bill aims to help identify and assist people being exploited through human trafficking.
Who It Affects
Abortion providers and their employees, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, state attorneys general, and state and local law enforcement agencies.
Key Provisions
• Abortion providers must notify the National Human Trafficking Hotline within 24 hours if they reasonably suspect a patient is a trafficking victim (Sec. 3, paragraph 2(A)).
• The Secretary of Health and Human Services must notify the Attorney General within 24 hours after an abortion provider reports suspected trafficking, and the Attorney General must then notify state and local law enforcement within 24 hours (Sec. 3, paragraph 2(B)).
• Abortion providers who fail to report suspected trafficking face a fine of $10,000 for each violation, imprisonment of up to 6 months, or both (Sec. 3, paragraph 2(C)).
• Abortion providers must annually require their employees to complete human trafficking training and submit proof of completion to the Office on Trafficking in Persons by January 30 (Sec. 3, paragraph 3(B)).
• Abortion providers who fail to complete the annual training requirement face a fine of $1,000 for each day they do not comply (Sec. 3, paragraph 3(C)).
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, abortion providers would have new legal obligations to report suspected trafficking victims and conduct annual staff training on identifying trafficking victims. Failure to comply would result in federal criminal penalties and daily fines. State attorneys general would be able to sue providers in federal court for violations.
Important Definitions
• Abortion provider: a person who performs an abortion, including by providing a drug that induces abortion (Sec. 3, paragraph 1(A)).
• Victim of trafficking: the bill states this term has the meaning given in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Sec. 3, paragraph 1(B)). The specific definition from that statute is not included in this bill text.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 959
To amend the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 to require
abortion providers to notify the National Human Trafficking Hotline
of victims of trafficking, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 23, 2023
Mr. BUDD (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. RISCH,
Mr. RUBIO, Mr. LANKFORD, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, and Mr. HAWLEY) intro-
duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of
2015 to require abortion providers to notify the National
Human Trafficking Hotline of victims of trafficking, 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 ‘‘Stopping Traffickers
4
and Their Accomplices Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
Congress finds the following:
7
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•S 959 IS
(1) Slavery and involuntary servitude are in-
1
compatible with the society and law of the United
2
States.
3
(2) The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of
4
the United States abolished legal slavery and invol-
5
untary servitude in the United States.
6
(3) Despite slavery being abolished in 1865,
7
modern forms of slavery still exist throughout the
8
United States.
9
(4) Every year, hundreds of thousands of peo-
10
ple of the United States and immigrants are coerced
11
into commercial sex acts against their will.
12
(5) In addition to sexual exploitation, victims of
13
trafficking suffer repeated physical, mental, and
14
emotional abuse at the hands of their traffickers.
15
(6) Abortion providers and facilities aid sex
16
traffickers by turning a blind eye to the plight of
17
abused women.
18
(7) The Department of State’s 2017 Traf-
19
ficking in Persons Report indicated that sex traf-
20
fickers coerce women into receiving abortions against
21
their will.
22
(8) Research conducted by Laura J. Lederer
23
and Christopher A. Wetzel entitled ‘‘The Health
24
Consequences of Sex Trafficking and Their Implica-
25
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•S 959 IS
tions for Identifying Victims in Healthcare Facili-
1
ties’’ and published in the Annals of Health Law
2
Journal indicated that 71 percent of women coerced
3
into commercial sex acts reported at least 1 preg-
4
nancy, and 21 percent reported 5 or more preg-
5
nancies while being trafficked.
6
(9) Lederer and Wetzel’s research found that
7
almost a third of trafficked women reported under-
8
going numerous abortions as victims of trafficking.
9
More than half of respondents answered that their
10
abortion while a victim of sex trafficking was a re-
11
sult of coercion. One victim of sex trafficking re-
12
counted, ‘‘[in most of my 6 abortions], I was under
13
serious pressure from my pimps to abort the ba-
14
bies’’.
15
(10) A moral obligation exists to report sus-
16
pected instances of sex trafficking to authorities.
17
(11) Section 2 of the 13th Amendment to the
18
Constitution of the United States empowers Con-
19
gress to enact appropriate legislation to combat all
20
forms of slavery and involuntary servitude, including
21
forced sex trafficking.
22
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•S 959 IS
SEC. 3. COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
1
Section 114 of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking
2
Act of 2015 (34 U.S.C. 20709) is amended by adding at
3
the end the following:
4
‘‘(g) NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING HOTLINE NO-
5
TIFICATION BY ABORTION PROVIDERS.—
6
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
7
‘‘(A) ABORTION
PROVIDER.—The term
8
‘abortion provider’ means a person who per-
9
forms an abortion, including by providing to a
10
pregnant woman a drug that induces abortion.
11
‘‘(B) VICTIM OF TRAFFICKING.—The term
12
‘victim of trafficking’ has the meaning given the
13
term in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims
14
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
15
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—
16
‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION TO NATIONAL HUMAN
17
TRAFFICKING
HOTLINE.—Not later than 24
18
hours after consulting with a patient, an abor-
19
tion provider shall notify the National Human
20
Trafficking Hotline if the provider has a rea-
21
sonable suspicion that the patient is a victim of
22
trafficking.
23
‘‘(B) REPORT
TO
ATTORNEY
GENERAL
24
AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.—
25
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•S 959 IS
‘‘(i) NOTIFICATION
TO
ATTORNEY
1
GENERAL.—Not later than 24 hours after
2
an abortion provider notifies the national
3
human trafficking hotline under subpara-
4
graph (A), the Secretary of Health and
5
Human Services shall notify the Attorney
6
General of the notification.
7
‘‘(ii) NOTIFICATION
TO
LAW
EN-
8
FORCEMENT
AGENCIES.—Not later than
9
24 hours after receipt of a notification
10
from the Secretary of Health and Human
11
Services under clause (i), the Attorney
12
General shall notify the appropriate State
13
and local law enforcement agencies.
14
‘‘(C) PENALTY.—An abortion provider who
15
violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined
16
$10,000 for each violation, imprisoned not more
17
than 6 months, or both.
18
‘‘(3) TRAINING.—
19
‘‘(A) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of
20
Health and Human Services shall make avail-
21
able to abortion providers the training entitled
22
‘Foundational
(101)
Human
Trafficking
23
Trainings—SOAR For Health Care’ (or any
24
substantially similar successor training).
25
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•S 959 IS
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—On an annual basis
1
and not later than January 30 of each year,
2
each abortion provider shall—
3
‘‘(i) require each employee of the
4
abortion provider to complete the training
5
provided under subparagraph (A);
6
‘‘(ii) submit to the Director of the Of-
7
fice on Trafficking in Persons of the De-
8
partment of Health and Human Services a
9
certification of the completion of the train-
10
ing required under clause (i); and
11
‘‘(iii) include in the certification re-
12
quired under clause (ii) the protocols that
13
the abortion provider has in place to iden-
14
tify and assist victims of trafficking.
15
‘‘(C) PENALTY.—An abortion provider who
16
fails to comply with subparagraph (B) shall be
17
subject to a fine in an amount of $1,000 for
18
each day of noncompliance.
19
‘‘(4) STATE ENFORCEMENT.—
20
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which
21
the attorney general of a State has reason to
22
believe that an interest of the residents of the
23
State has been or is threatened or adversely af-
24
fected by an action of an abortion provider that
25
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•S 959 IS
violates this subsection, the attorney general of
1
the State may, as parens patriae, bring a civil
2
action on behalf of the residents of the State in
3
an appropriate district court of the United
4
States.
5
‘‘(B) JURISDICTION.—The attorney gen-
6
eral of a State may bring a civil action under
7
subparagraph (A) against any abortion provider
8
that violates paragraph (2)(A) or (3)(B) within
9
that State.
10
‘‘(C) RELIEF.—In a civil action under sub-
11
paragraph (A), the court may fine an abortion
12
provider—
13
‘‘(i) in the case of a violation of para-
14
graph (2)(A), $10,000 for each violation;
15
and
16
‘‘(ii) in the case of a violation of para-
17
graph (3)(B), $1,000 for each day during
18
which the abortion provider is in violation
19
of that paragraph.
20
‘‘(5) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—
21
‘‘(A) NO REQUIREMENT FOR VICTIMS OF
22
TRAFFICKING
TO
SELF-REPORT.—Nothing in
23
this subsection may be construed to require a
24
victim of trafficking to self-report.
25
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•S 959 IS
‘‘(B) NO RIGHT TO ABORTION.—Nothing
1
in this subsection may be construed to provide
2
a right to an abortion.’’.
3
Æ
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