What This Bill Does
This bill prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from declaring or using any public health emergency related to abortion. It also requires that abortion drugs can only be dispensed (given out) at clinics, medical offices, and hospitals under the supervision of a certified health care provider. Additionally, the bill establishes data collection requirements that all states must follow before any changes can be made to the rules governing abortion drugs.
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Who It Affects
The Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Commissioner of Food and Drugs; officials within the Department of Health and Human Services; all 50 states; health care providers who prescribe abortion drugs; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Key Provisions
- The Secretary of Health and Human Services cannot declare or use any public health emergency with respect to abortion, and any existing emergency declarations are immediately terminated (Sec. 2(a) and 2(b)).
- Abortion drugs can only be dispensed at clinics, medical offices, and hospitals under the supervision of a certified health care provider (Sec. 3(a)(2) and 3(b)(2)).
- Officials cannot reduce protections for abortion drug safety guidelines until every state submits abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention using a standardized form with specific required information (Sec. 3(b)(1)).
- Officials cannot use enforcement discretion (flexible application of rules) regarding requirements for how abortion drugs are dispensed and used (Sec. 3(a)(1)).
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, the federal government loses the ability to declare a public health emergency about abortion. Any current emergency declarations related to abortion are immediately canceled. Rules requiring that abortion drugs be given out only in person at medical facilities by certified providers would be reinstated and cannot be waived. States would be required to collect and report specific abortion data to a federal system before any changes can be made to the safety guidelines for abortion drugs.
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Important Definitions
- **Abortion**: The use of any instrument, medicine, drug, or substance to intentionally kill an unborn child or terminate a pregnancy, with specific exceptions for pregnancies after viability (when a fetus can survive outside the womb) that are medically necessary, ectopic pregnancies (pregnancies outside the uterus), or removal of a dead unborn child.
- **Abortion drug**: Any medicine, drug, or substance used to perform an abortion.
- **Certified health care provider**: A health care provider who has completed required paperwork agreeing to specific qualifications, including ability to measure how far along a pregnancy is, diagnose ectopic pregnancies, and handle emergency situations like incomplete abortion or severe bleeding.
- **Unborn child**: A human organism from fertilization until birth.
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Effective Date
The law takes effect on the date the bill is enacted (passed and signed). The in-person dispensing requirement specifically takes effect on the date of enactment (Sec. 3(a)(2)).
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 384
To prohibit the use or declaration of a public health emergency with respect
to abortion, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 17, 2023
Mr. HERN (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. DUNCAN,
Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ELLZEY, Mr. BABIN, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr.
FEENSTRA, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. GUEST, Mr.
PFLUGER, Mr. FRY, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. ROSE,
Mr. JACKSON of Texas, Mr. CLINE, Mr. MAST, Mr. FINSTAD, Mrs.
BOEBERT, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BAIRD, Mrs.
HINSON, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. BANKS,
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi,
Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. GOSAR) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To prohibit the use or declaration of a public health
emergency with respect to abortion, 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,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Life from
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Chemical Abortions Act’’.
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•HR 384 IH
SEC. 2. NO DECLARATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
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WITH RESPECT TO ABORTION.
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(a) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary of Health and
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Human Services shall not use or declare any public health
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emergency under section 319 or 319F–3 of the Public
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Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d, 247d–6b) with re-
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spect to abortion.
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(b) TERMINATION OF ANY DECLARATION IN EF-
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FECT.—Any declaration described in subsection (a) that
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is in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act is here-
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by terminated.
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SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON ABORTION DRUG.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
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Human Services, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs,
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or any other official within the Department of Health and
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Human Services, with respect to the applicable risk eval-
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uation and mitigation strategy under section 505–1 of the
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Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355–
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1) relating to abortion drugs—
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(1) may not exercise enforcement discretion
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with respect to any requirement under such strategy;
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and
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(2) shall, effective on the date of the enactment
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of this Act, reinstate the requirement under such
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strategy that abortion drugs be dispensed in only
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clinics, medical offices, and hospitals by or under the
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•HR 384 IH
supervision of a certified health care provider (com-
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monly referred to as the ‘‘in-person dispensing re-
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quirement’’).
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(b) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—With respect to the appli-
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cable risk evaluation and mitigation strategy under section
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505–1 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
6
U.S.C. 355–1) relating to an abortion drug, the Secretary
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of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Food
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and Drugs, or any other official within the Department
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of Health and Human Services—
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(1) may not reduce protections (including by
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means of any update) in such strategy until every
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State submits to the abortion surveillance system of
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the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the
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abortion data collected in the aggregate from the
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States and entered into a standardized worksheet
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that includes questions on the variables specified in
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subsection (c); and
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(2) may not waive the requirement under such
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strategy that such drugs be dispensed in only clinics,
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medical offices, and hospitals by or under the super-
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vision of a certified health care provider (commonly
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referred to as the ‘‘in-person dispensing require-
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ment’’).
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•HR 384 IH
(c) MANDATORY VARIABLES.—The mandatory vari-
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ables specified in this subsection shall be treated as man-
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datory questions for purposes of section 1903(bb) of the
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Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(bb)) and shall in-
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clude the following:
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(1) Maternal age in years.
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(2) Gestational age in completed weeks at the
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time of abortion.
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(3) Maternal race.
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(4) Maternal ethnicity.
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(5) Maternal race by ethnicity.
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(6) The abortion method type.
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(7) Maternal marital status.
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(8) Previous pregnancies of the mother, includ-
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ing the number of previous live births, the number
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of previous induced abortions, and the number of
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previous spontaneous abortions.
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(9) Maternal residence (State or county).
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(10) Whether the child survived the abortion.
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(11) Congenital anomalies.
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(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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(1) The term ‘‘abortion’’ means the use or pro-
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vision of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any
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other substance or device—
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•HR 384 IH
(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child of
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a woman known to be pregnant; or
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(B) to intentionally terminate the preg-
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nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with
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an intention other than—
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(i) after viability to produce a live
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birth that, if premature, is medically indi-
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cated, and to preserve the life and health
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of the child born alive;
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(ii) to treat an ectopic pregnancy; or
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(iii) to remove a dead unborn child.
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(2) The term ‘‘abortion drug’’ means any medi-
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cine, drug, or any other substance or combination of
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drugs, medicine, or substances used for an abortion.
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(3) The term ‘‘certified health care provider’’
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means a health care provider that has completed a
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Prescriber Agreement Form pursuant to the ele-
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ments for safe use under the applicable risk evalua-
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tion and mitigation strategy under section 505–1 of
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the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
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U.S.C. 355–1) relating to abortion drugs, under
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which the provider agrees to the following:
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(A) The provider has the following quali-
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fications:
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•HR 384 IH
(i) Ability to assess the duration of
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pregnancy accurately.
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(ii) Ability to diagnose ectopic preg-
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nancies.
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(iii) Ability to provide surgical inter-
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vention in cases of incomplete abortion or
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severe bleeding, or to have made plans to
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provide such care through others, and abil-
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ity to assure patient access to medical fa-
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cilities equipped to provide blood trans-
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fusions and resuscitation, if necessary.
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(B) The provider will follow the guidelines
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for use of mifepristone under the applicable risk
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evaluation and mitigation strategy under sec-
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tion 505–1 of the Federal Food, Drug, and
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Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355–1) relating to
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abortion drugs.
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(4) The term ‘‘unborn child’’ means an indi-
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vidual organism of the species homo sapiens, begin-
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ning at fertilization, until the point of being born
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alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 18, United
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States Code.
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Æ
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