Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB461 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 118THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 461
55 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination by abortion
66 against an unborn child on the basis of Down syndrome.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 JANUARY24, 2023
99 Mr. E
1010 STES(for himself, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BANKS, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr.
1111 G
1212 AETZ, Mr. HIGGINSof Louisiana, Mr. KELLYof Mississippi, Mrs. MIL-
1313 LERof Illinois, Mr. SMITHof New Jersey, and Mr. STAUBER) introduced
1414 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
1515 A BILL
1616 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimi-
1717 nation by abortion against an unborn child on the basis
1818 of Down syndrome.
1919 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2020 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2121 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2222 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Individuals 4
2323 with Down Syndrome Act’’. 5
2424 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
2525 Congress finds the following: 7
2626 (1) On June 24, 2022, the United States Su-8
2727 preme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson 9
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3131 Women’s Health Organization (No. 19–1392, 2022 1
3232 WL 2276808 (2022)), which overturned its prior, 2
3333 egregiously wrong holding in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 3
3434 113 (1973)). 4
3535 (2) Dobbs correctly affirmed that there is no 5
3636 constitutional right to abort an unborn child and 6
3737 that the Court’s prior decision in Roe was not based 7
3838 in the Constitution’s text nor was it deeply rooted in 8
3939 the history and tradition of the United States. 9
4040 (3) Federal law protects individuals with dis-10
4141 abilities against discrimination, including in the pro-11
4242 vision of medical care. 12
4343 (4) As Congress has previously affirmed, 13
4444 ‘‘[d]isability is a natural part of the human experi-14
4545 ence and in no way diminishes the right of individ-15
4646 uals to live independently, enjoy self-determination, 16
4747 make choices, contribute to society, pursue meaning-17
4848 ful careers, and enjoy full inclusion and integration 18
4949 in the economic, political, social, and educational 19
5050 mainstream of American society.’’. 20
5151 (5) It is the policy of the United States to re-21
5252 spect the lives and the dignity of individuals with 22
5353 disabilities, including individuals with Down syn-23
5454 drome. 24
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5858 (6) Federal, State, and local government all 1
5959 have a role to play in preventing discrimination 2
6060 based on disability, including discrimination against 3
6161 individuals with Down syndrome. 4
6262 (7) Consistent with the overarching Federal 5
6363 policy of nondiscrimination, and in light of the 6
6464 shameful history of targeting unborn children for 7
6565 abortion based on race, gender, or disabilities, Con-8
6666 gress must combat invidious discrimination by pro-9
6767 hibiting doctors from aborting unborn children be-10
6868 cause the unborn child has been diagnosed with 11
6969 Down syndrome. 12
7070 (8) Tragically, in some countries that have 13
7171 failed to protect unborn children diagnosed with 14
7272 Down syndrome, virtually every unborn child diag-15
7373 nosed with Down syndrome is aborted. 16
7474 (9) Individuals with Down syndrome are inher-17
7575 ently valuable and worthy of dignity and respect. 18
7676 They enrich and strengthen our society in countless 19
7777 ways, including but not limited to by building mean-20
7878 ingful relationships, participating in and creating 21
7979 families, learning, and working alongside other 22
8080 Americans. 23
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8484 SEC. 3. DISCRIMINATION BY ABORTION AGAINST AN UN-1
8585 BORN CHILD ON THE BASIS OF DOWN SYN-2
8686 DROME PROHIBITED. 3
8787 (a) I
8888 NGENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 4
8989 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-5
9090 lowing: 6
9191 ‘‘§ 250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn 7
9292 child on the basis of Down syndrome pro-8
9393 hibited 9
9494 ‘‘(a) D
9595 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 10
9696 ‘‘(1) A
9797 BORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 11
9898 the act of using or prescribing any instrument, med-12
9999 icine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means 13
100100 with the intent to— 14
101101 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 15
102102 known to be pregnant; or 16
103103 ‘‘(B) terminate the pregnancy of a woman 17
104104 known to be pregnant, with an intention other 18
105105 than— 19
106106 ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth and pre-20
107107 serve the life and health of the child born 21
108108 alive; 22
109109 ‘‘(ii) to save the life of the pregnant 23
110110 woman; or 24
111111 ‘‘(iii) to remove a dead unborn child. 25
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115115 ‘‘(2) DOWN SYNDROME.—The term ‘Down syn-1
116116 drome’ means a chromosomal disorder associated 2
117117 with— 3
118118 ‘‘(A) an extra copy of the chromosome 21, 4
119119 in whole or in part; or 5
120120 ‘‘(B) an effective trisomy for chromosome 6
121121 21. 7
122122 ‘‘(3) Q
123123 UALIFIED PLAINTIFF.—The term ‘quali-8
124124 fied plaintiff’ means— 9
125125 ‘‘(A) a woman upon whom an abortion is 10
126126 performed or attempted in violation of this sec-11
127127 tion; 12
128128 ‘‘(B) a maternal grandparent of the un-13
129129 born child if the woman upon whom an abortion 14
130130 is performed or attempted in violation of this 15
131131 section is an unemancipated minor; 16
132132 ‘‘(C) the father of an unborn child who is 17
133133 the subject of an abortion performed or at-18
134134 tempted in violation of this section unless the 19
135135 pregnancy or abortion resulted from the crimi-20
136136 nal conduct of the father; or 21
137137 ‘‘(D) the Attorney General. 22
138138 ‘‘(4) U
139139 NBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 23
140140 means an individual of the species homo sapiens 24
141141 from the beginning of the biological development of 25
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145145 that individual, including fertilization, until the point 1
146146 of being born alive, as defined in section 8(b) of title 2
147147 1. 3
148148 ‘‘(b) O
149149 FFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to— 4
150150 ‘‘(1) perform an abortion— 5
151151 ‘‘(A) with the knowledge that a pregnant 6
152152 woman is seeking an abortion, in whole or in 7
153153 part, on the basis of— 8
154154 ‘‘(i) a test result indicating that the 9
155155 unborn child has Down syndrome; 10
156156 ‘‘(ii) a prenatal diagnosis that the un-11
157157 born child has Down syndrome; or 12
158158 ‘‘(iii) any other reason to believe that 13
159159 the unborn child has or may have Down 14
160160 syndrome; or 15
161161 ‘‘(B) without first— 16
162162 ‘‘(i) asking the pregnant woman if she 17
163163 is aware of any test results, prenatal diag-18
164164 nosis, or any other evidence that the un-19
165165 born child has or may have Down syn-20
166166 drome; and 21
167167 ‘‘(ii) if the woman is aware that the 22
168168 unborn child has or may have Down syn-23
169169 drome, informing the pregnant woman of 24
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173173 the prohibitions on abortion under this sec-1
174174 tion; 2
175175 ‘‘(2) use force or the threat of force to inten-3
176176 tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur-4
177177 pose of coercing an abortion described in paragraph 5
178178 (1)(A); 6
179179 ‘‘(3) solicit or accept funds for the performance 7
180180 of an abortion described in paragraph (1)(A); or 8
181181 ‘‘(4) knowingly transport a woman into the 9
182182 United States or across a State line for the purpose 10
183183 of obtaining an abortion described in paragraph 11
184184 (1)(A). 12
185185 ‘‘(c) C
186186 RIMINALPENALTY.—Any person that violates, 13
187187 or attempts to violate, subsection (b) shall be fined under 14
188188 this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 15
189189 ‘‘(d) C
190190 IVILREMEDIES.— 16
191191 ‘‘(1) C
192192 IVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR -17
193193 TION IS PERFORMED .—A woman upon whom an 18
194194 abortion has been performed or attempted in viola-19
195195 tion of subsection (b)(2) may bring a civil action in 20
196196 an appropriate court against any person who en-21
197197 gaged in a violation of subsection (b)(2) to obtain 22
198198 appropriate relief. 23
199199 ‘‘(2) C
200200 IVIL ACTION BY RELATIVES.— 24
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204204 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1
205205 subparagraph (B), the father of an unborn 2
206206 child who is the subject of an abortion per-3
207207 formed or attempted in violation of subsection 4
208208 (b), or a maternal grandparent of the unborn 5
209209 child if the pregnant woman is an 6
210210 unemancipated minor, may bring a civil action 7
211211 in an appropriate court against any person who 8
212212 engaged in the violation to obtain appropriate 9
213213 relief. 10
214214 ‘‘(B) E
215215 XCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 11
216216 shall not apply if— 12
217217 ‘‘(i) the pregnancy or abortion re-13
218218 sulted from the criminal conduct of the 14
219219 plaintiff described in subparagraph (A); or 15
220220 ‘‘(ii) the plaintiff described in sub-16
221221 paragraph (A) consented to the abortion. 17
222222 ‘‘(3) A
223223 PPROPRIATE RELIEF.—Appropriate relief 18
224224 in a civil action under this subsection includes— 19
225225 ‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 20
226226 for all injuries, psychological and physical, in-21
227227 cluding loss of companionship and support, oc-22
228228 casioned by the violation of this section; and 23
229229 ‘‘(B) punitive damages. 24
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233233 ‘‘(4) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—A qualified plaintiff 1
234234 may bring a civil action in an appropriate court to 2
235235 obtain injunctive relief to prevent an abortion pro-3
236236 vider from performing or attempting further abor-4
237237 tions in violation of this section. 5
238238 ‘‘(5) A
239239 TTORNEY’S FEES FOR PLAINTIFF .—The 6
240240 court shall award a reasonable attorney’s fee as part 7
241241 of the costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action 8
242242 under this subsection. 9
243243 ‘‘(e) B
244244 AR TOPROSECUTION.—A woman upon whom 10
245245 an abortion is performed may not be prosecuted or held 11
246246 civilly liable for any violation of this section or for a con-12
247247 spiracy to violate this section. 13
248248 ‘‘(f) L
249249 OSS OFFEDERALFUNDING.—A violation of 14
250250 subsection (b) shall be deemed discrimination for the pur-15
251251 poses of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 16
252252 U.S.C. 794). 17
253253 ‘‘(g) R
254254 EPORTINGREQUIREMENT.— 18
255255 ‘‘(1) I
256256 N GENERAL.—A physician, physician’s as-19
257257 sistant, nurse, counselor, or other medical or mental 20
258258 health professional shall report known or suspected 21
259259 violations of any of this section to appropriate law 22
260260 enforcement authorities. 23
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264264 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person who vio-1
265265 lates paragraph (1) shall be fined under this title, 2
266266 imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 3
267267 ‘‘(h) E
268268 XPEDITEDCONSIDERATION.—It shall be the 4
269269 duty of the district courts of the United States, the courts 5
270270 of appeals of the United States, and the Supreme Court 6
271271 of the United States to advance on the docket and to expe-7
272272 dite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 8
273273 matter brought under this section. 9
274274 ‘‘(i) P
275275 ROTECTION OF PRIVACY INCOURTPRO-10
276276 CEEDINGS.— 11
277277 ‘‘(1) I
278278 N GENERAL.—Except to the extent the 12
279279 Constitution of the United States or other similarly 13
280280 compelling reason requires, in every civil or criminal 14
281281 action under this section, the court shall make such 15
282282 orders as are necessary to protect the anonymity of 16
283283 any woman upon whom an abortion has been per-17
284284 formed or attempted if she does not give her written 18
285285 consent to such disclosure. Such orders may be 19
286286 made upon motion, but shall be made sua sponte if 20
287287 not otherwise sought by a party. 21
288288 ‘‘(2) O
289289 RDERS TO PARTIES , WITNESSES, AND 22
290290 COUNSEL.—The court shall issue appropriate orders 23
291291 to the parties, witnesses, and counsel and shall di-24
292292 rect the sealing of the record and exclusion of indi-25
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296296 viduals from courtrooms or hearing rooms to the ex-1
297297 tent necessary to safeguard the identity of a woman 2
298298 described in paragraph (1) from public disclosure. 3
299299 ‘‘(3) P
300300 SEUDONYM REQUIRED .—In the absence 4
301301 of written consent of the woman upon whom an 5
302302 abortion has been performed or attempted, any 6
303303 party, other than a public official, who brings an ac-7
304304 tion under this section shall do so under a pseu-8
305305 donym. 9
306306 ‘‘(4) L
307307 IMITATION.—This subsection may not be 10
308308 construed to conceal the identity of the plaintiff or 11
309309 of witnesses from the defendant or from attorneys 12
310310 for the defendant. 13
311311 ‘‘(j) R
312312 ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.— 14
313313 ‘‘(1) G
314314 REATER PROTECTION .—Nothing in this 15
315315 section may be construed to pre-empt or limit any 16
316316 Federal, State, or local law that provides greater 17
317317 protections for an unborn child than those provided 18
318318 in this section. 19
319319 ‘‘(2) C
320320 REATING OR RECOGNIZING RIGHT .— 20
321321 Nothing in this section shall be construed as cre-21
322322 ating or recognizing a right to abortion nor shall it 22
323323 make lawful an abortion that is otherwise unlawful 23
324324 under Federal, State, or local law.’’. 24
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328328 (b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1
329329 of chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 2
330330 by adding at the end the following: 3
331331 ‘‘250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn child on the basis of Down
332332 syndrome prohibited.’’.
333333 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.
334334 4
335335 If any portion of this Act, or the amendments made 5
336336 by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or 6
337337 circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not af-7
338338 fect the portions or applications of this Act which can be 8
339339 given effect without the invalid portion or application. 9
340340 Æ
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