I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 421
To prohibit chemical abortions performed without the presence of a healthcare
provider, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY20, 2023
Mr. G
OODof Virginia (for himself, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr.
B
ISHOPof North Carolina, Mrs. MILLERof Illinois, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr.
L
AMBORN, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. KELLYof Mississippi, Mr. JOHNSONof
Louisiana, Mr. C
LOUD, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mr. BANKS, Mr. JACKSON
of Texas, Mr. W
ILLIAMSof Texas, Mr. SELF, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. CLYDE,
Mr. B
ABIN, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. BURLISON, Mr. DAVIDSON,
Mr. S
ESSIONS, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. GUEST, and Ms.
H
AGEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prohibit chemical abortions performed without the
presence of a healthcare provider, 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 ‘‘Teleabortion Preven-4
tion Act of 2023’’. 5
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SEC. 2. CHEMICAL ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A 1
HEALTHCARE PROVIDER PRESENT. 2
(a) C
HEMICALABORTIONSPROHIBITEDWITHOUT A 3
P
HYSICIANPRESENT.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United 4
States Code, is amended— 5
(1) in the chapter heading by striking ‘‘PAR-6
TIAL-BIRTH’’; and 7
(2) by inserting after section 1531 the fol-8
lowing: 9
‘‘§ 1532. Chemical abortions prohibited without a 10
healthcare provider physically present 11
‘‘(a) O
FFENSE.—Any healthcare provider who, in or 12
affecting interstate or foreign commerce, who knowingly 13
provides or attempts to provide a chemical abortion— 14
‘‘(1) without physically examining the patient; 15
‘‘(2) without being physically present at the lo-16
cation of the chemical abortion; and 17
‘‘(3) without scheduling a follow-up visit for the 18
patient to occur not more than 14 days after the ad-19
ministration or use of the drug to assess the pa-20
tient’s physical condition, 21
shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not 22
more than 2 years, or both. This subsection does not apply 23
to a chemical abortion that is necessary to save the life 24
of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical dis-25
order, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life- 26
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•HR 421 IH
endangering physical condition caused by or arising from 1
the pregnancy itself. 2
‘‘(b) N
OLIABILITY OF THE PATIENT.—A patient 3
upon whom an abortion is performed may not be pros-4
ecuted under this section or for a conspiracy to violate 5
this section. 6
‘‘(c) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 7
‘‘(1) A
BORTION DRUG.—The term ‘abortion 8
drug’ means any medicine, drug or any other sub-9
stance, or any combination of drugs, medicines or 10
substances, when it is used— 11
‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 12
of a woman known to be pregnant; or 13
‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg-14
nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 15
an intention other than— 16
‘‘(i) to produce a live birth; or 17
‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 18
‘‘(2) A
TTEMPTS TO PROVIDE .—In this section, 19
the term ‘attempts to provide’, means conduct that, 20
under the circumstances as the actor believes them 21
to be, constitutes a substantial step in a course of 22
conduct planned to culminate in a chemical abortion. 23
‘‘(3) H
EALTHCARE PROVIDER .—The term 24
‘healthcare provider’ means any person licensed to 25
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prescribe prescription drugs under applicable Fed-1
eral and State laws. 2
‘‘(4) P
ROVIDE.—In this section, the term ‘pro-3
vide’, means to dispense or prescribe an abortion 4
drug, or to otherwise make an abortion drug avail-5
able to a patient. 6
‘‘(5) C
HEMICAL ABORTION .—The term ‘chem-7
ical abortion’ refers to the use of an abortion drug 8
to— 9
‘‘(A) intentionally kill the unborn child of 10
a woman known to be pregnant; or 11
‘‘(B) intentionally terminate the pregnancy 12
of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in-13
tention other than— 14
‘‘(i) to produce a live birth; or 15
‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 16
‘‘(6) U
NBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 17
means an individual organism of the species homo 18
sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of 19
being born alive as defined in section 8(b). 20
‘‘(d) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTIONREGARDINGECTOPIC 21
P
REGNANCY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 22
to have any impact on the treatment of a verified ectopic 23
pregnancy. 24
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‘‘(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 1
or the application of such provision to any person or cir-2
cumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec-3
tion and the application of the provisions of the remainder 4
to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there-5
by.’’. 6
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENTS.— 7
(1) C
HAPTER 74.—The table of sections for 8
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 9
relating to section 1531 the following: 10
‘‘1532. Chemical abortions prohibited without a healthcare provider physically
present.’’.
(2) PART I.—The table of chapters for part I 11
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik-12
ing the item relating to chapter 74, and inserting 13
the following: 14
‘‘74. Abortions .......................................................................................... 1531’’.
Æ
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