Informed Consent Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8498 To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize any abortion or steri- lization procedure performed without the informed consent of the person on whom such procedure is performed, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, and Ms. FOXX of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize any abortion or sterilization procedure performed without the informed consent of the person on whom such procedure is performed, 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 ‘‘Informed Consent 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8498.IH H8498 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8498 IH SEC. 2. ABORTION AND STERILIZATION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United 2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘§ 120. Abortion and sterilization without informed 5 consent 6 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Whoever, under the circumstances 7 described in subsection (b), knowingly performs an abor- 8 tion or a sterilization procedure on a person without the 9 informed consent of such person shall be fined under this 10 title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 11 ‘‘(b) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 12 subsection (a), the circumstances described in this sub- 13 section are that— 14 ‘‘(1) the defendant is an officer, employee, or 15 contractor of the Federal Government; 16 ‘‘(2) the defendant is a recipient of Federal 17 funds from the Secretary of Health and Human 18 Services or a program administered by the Secretary 19 of Health and Human Services; or 20 ‘‘(3) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc- 21 curred in or affected interstate commerce. 22 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—This section does not apply to an 23 abortion or sterilization procedure that, on the basis of 24 the physician’s good faith clinical judgment, is necessary 25 to save the life of an individual whose life is endangered 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8498.IH H8498 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8498 IH by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, 1 including a life-endangering physical condition caused by 2 or arising from the pregnancy or reproductive organs of 3 the individual, or for which a delay will create serious risk 4 of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bod- 5 ily function.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 7 for chapter 7 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 8 by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘120. Abortion and sterilization without informed consent.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8498.IH H8498 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS