Federal

Dignity for Aborted Children Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,145 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires abortion providers to give patients information about how fetal tissue (the remains from an abortion procedure) will be handled after the procedure. It allows patients to take the tissue themselves or have the abortion provider arrange for burial or cremation. Abortion providers who receive the tissue must arrange for its final disposition within 7 days through burial or cremation under state law.

Who It Affects

Abortion providers (individuals or entities that perform abortions), patients who have abortions, and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Key Provisions

• Abortion providers must give patients a form after an abortion offering two options: the patient can take possession of fetal tissue and arrange burial or cremation, or release the tissue to the abortion provider (Sec. 498F(a)(1)). • Abortion providers must obtain the patient's signature on the consent form and keep it in the patient's file (Sec. 498F(a)(2)). • If a patient releases tissue to the abortion provider, the provider must arrange for burial or cremation within 7 days of the procedure, following state law on how human remains are handled (Sec. 498F(b)). • Abortion providers must submit annual reports to the Secretary showing the total number of procedures performed, the stage of pregnancy (gestational age) for each, and how many fetal remains were transferred for burial or cremation versus released to patients (Sec. 498F(d)). • The Secretary must submit annual reports to Congress about the number of abortions by state, procedure type, and how fetal tissue was handled (Sec. 498F(e)).

What Changes

Abortion providers must follow new federal rules for handling fetal tissue. They must document patient choices about tissue disposal through signed consent forms. Providers who receive tissue from patients must arrange for burial or cremation within 7 days. Both abortion providers and the Secretary must track and report abortion data annually to comply with federal requirements.

Important Definitions

The bill defines "abortion" as using any instrument, medicine, drug, substance or device to intentionally kill an unborn child or intentionally end a pregnancy (with exceptions for cases after viability intended to produce a live birth or to remove a dead unborn child) (Sec. 498F(g)(1)). The bill defines "abortion provider" as an individual or entity that performs abortions (Sec. 498F(g)(2)). The bill defines "human fetal tissue" by reference to the meaning given in another section (Sec. 498A(g)), which is not provided in this bill text.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1102 To protect the dignity of fetal remains, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. BRAUN (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To protect the dignity of fetal remains, 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 ‘‘Dignity for Aborted 4 Children Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 6 Congress enacts the following pursuant to Congress’ 7 power under— 8 (1) the Interstate Commerce Clause of section 9 8 of article I of the Constitution; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1102 IS (2) section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the 1 Constitution of the United States, including the 2 power to enforce the prohibition on government ac- 3 tion denying equal protection of the laws; and 4 (3) section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 5 the United States to make all laws necessary and 6 proper for the carrying into execution of powers 7 vested by the Constitution in the Government of the 8 United States. 9 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF FETAL REMAINS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part H of title IV of the Public 11 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289 et seq.) is amended 12 by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘SEC. 498F. PROTECTION OF FETAL REMAINS. 14 ‘‘(a) CONSENT REQUIREMENT.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any abortion provider, 16 after performing an abortion, shall provide the pa- 17 tient with an informed consent form, offering the 18 patient the following options for disposal of the 19 human fetal tissue from the abortion: 20 ‘‘(A) The patient may take possession of 21 the human fetal tissue and may choose to 22 transfer the tissue to an entity providing inter- 23 ment or cremation services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1102 IS ‘‘(B) The patient may elect to release the 1 human fetal tissue to the abortion provider, 2 who shall be subject to the requirements of sub- 3 section (b). 4 ‘‘(2) CONSENT REQUIREMENTS.—An abortion 5 provider described in paragraph (1) shall— 6 ‘‘(A) obtain a patient signature on each 7 consent form required under paragraph (1); 8 and 9 ‘‘(B) retain each such form in the patient’s 10 file. 11 ‘‘(b) PROVIDER DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT.—It shall 12 be unlawful for any abortion provider who, after per- 13 forming an abortion in which the woman on whom the 14 abortion was performed elects, pursuant to subsection 15 (a)(1)(B), to release the human fetal tissue to the abortion 16 provider, to fail to provide for the final disposition of the 17 human fetal tissue through interment or cremation, con- 18 sistent with State law regarding the disposal of human 19 remains, not later than 7 days after the date on which 20 the abortion procedure was performed. Such final disposi- 21 tion of human fetal tissue may be carried out through in- 22 terment or cremation of tissue from more than one abor- 23 tion procedure collectively. 24 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1102 IS ‘‘(1) INFORMED CONSENT VIOLATIONS.—An 1 abortion provider who fails to maintain the docu- 2 mentation required under subsection (a)(2)(B) shall 3 be subject to civil monetary penalties in an amount 4 not to exceed $50,000. 5 ‘‘(2) DISPOSAL VIOLATIONS.—Any abortion 6 provider who violates subsection (b) shall be fined in 7 accordance with title 18, United States Code, im- 8 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 9 ‘‘(3) BAR TO PROSECUTION.—A patient upon 10 whom an abortion in violation of subsection (b) is 11 performed or attempted may not be prosecuted 12 under, or for a conspiracy to violate, paragraph (1), 13 or for an offense under section 2, 3, or 4 of title 18, 14 United States Code, based on such a violation. 15 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.—Each abortion provider described 16 in subsection (a)(1) shall submit annual reports to the 17 Secretary indicating, with respect to the reporting pe- 18 riod— 19 ‘‘(1) the aggregate number of abortion proce- 20 dures performed by such abortion provider; 21 ‘‘(2) the gestational age at the time of each 22 such procedure; and 23 ‘‘(3) for abortions carried out using an abortion 24 method other than chemical abortion, the aggregate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1102 IS number of fetal remains transferred for interment or 1 cremation and the number released to patients. 2 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.—The 3 Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report on 4 the number of abortions by State, procedure type, and 5 method of disposal of human fetal tissue. 6 ‘‘(f) NON-PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section 7 shall preempt any State requirement that, at a minimum, 8 requires interment or cremation in the same manner that 9 other human remains are required to be treated in such 10 State. 11 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre- 13 scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any 14 other substance or device— 15 ‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 16 of a woman known to be pregnant; or 17 ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg- 18 nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 19 an intention other than— 20 ‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live 21 birth and preserve the life and health of 22 the child born alive; or 23 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1102 IS ‘‘(2) the term ‘abortion provider’ means an in- 1 dividual or entity that performs abortions; and 2 ‘‘(3) the term ‘human fetal tissue’ has the 3 meaning given the term in section 498A(g).’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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.