I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 451
To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize abuse with respect
to assisted reproductive technology, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY24, 2023
Mrs. B
ICE(for herself, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. LETLOW, and Ms. HOULAHAN)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize abuse
with respect to assisted reproductive technology, 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 ‘‘Protecting Families 4
from Fertility Fraud Act of 2023’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H451.IH H451
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 451 IH
SEC. 2. ABUSE WITH RESPECT TO ASSISTED REPRODUC-1
TIVE TECHNOLOGY. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 109A of title 18, United 3
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-4
lowing: 5
‘‘SEC. 2249. ABUSE WITH RESPECT TO ASSISTED REPRO-6
DUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY. 7
‘‘(a) O
FFENSE.—Whoever, in any circumstance de-8
scribed in subsection (b), knowingly misrepresents the na-9
ture or source of DNA used in assisted reproductive tech-10
nology (including any treatment or procedure that involves 11
the handling of human oocytes or embryos such as in vitro 12
fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, and zygote 13
intrafallopian transfer) or assisted insemination (including 14
any procedure that involves the handling of sperm includ-15
ing intrauterine insemination) shall be fined under this 16
title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both. 17
‘‘(b) C
IRCUMSTANCEDESCRIBED.—For the purposes 18
of subsection (a), the circumstances described in this sub-19
section are that— 20
‘‘(1) the defendant or victim traveled in inter-21
state or foreign commerce, or traveled using a 22
means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of inter-23
state or foreign commerce, in furtherance of or in 24
connection with the conduct described in subsection 25
(a); 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H451.IH H451
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 451 IH
‘‘(2) the defendant used a means, channel, fa-1
cility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign 2
commerce in furtherance of or in connection with 3
the conduct described in subsection (a); 4
‘‘(3) any payment of any kind was made, di-5
rectly or indirectly, in furtherance of or in connec-6
tion with the conduct described in subsection (a) 7
using any means, channel, facility, or instrumen-8
tality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or af-9
fecting interstate or foreign commerce; 10
‘‘(4) the defendant transmitted in interstate or 11
foreign commerce any communication relating to or 12
in furtherance of the conduct described in subsection 13
(a) using any means, channel, facility, or instrumen-14
tality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or af-15
fecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means 16
or manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or 17
electromagnetic transmission; 18
‘‘(5) any instrument, item, substance, or other 19
object that has traveled in interstate or foreign com-20
merce was used to perform the conduct described in 21
subsection (a); 22
‘‘(6) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc-23
curred within the special maritime and territorial ju-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H451.IH H451
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 451 IH
risdiction of the United States, or any territory or 1
possession of the United States; or 2
‘‘(7) the conduct described in subsection (a) 3
otherwise occurred in or affected interstate or for-4
eign commerce. 5
‘‘(c) S
TATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—In the case in 6
which DNA testing leads to the identification of a person 7
who has violated subsection (a), no statute of limitations 8
that would otherwise preclude the prosecution of an of-9
fense under subsection (a) shall preclude such prosecution 10
until the date that is 10 years after the date on which 11
such person was identified.’’. 12
(b) R
ACKETEERINGACTIVITY.—Section 1961(1) of 13
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘sec-14
tion 2249 (relating to abuse with respect to assisted repro-15
ductive technology),’’ after ‘‘(relating to nuclear mate-16
rials),’’. 17
(c) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of sections for 18
chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, is amended 19
by adding at the end the following: 20
‘‘2249. Abuse with respect to assisted reproductive technology.’’.
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H451.IH H451
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB