| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | DSESSION S. 3609 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To ensure that women seeking an abortion are informed of the medical |
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| 6 | 6 | | risks associated with the abortion procedure and the major developmental |
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| 7 | 7 | | characteristics of the unborn child, before giving their informed consent |
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| 8 | 8 | | to receive an abortion. |
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| 9 | 9 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 10 | 10 | | JANUARY18, 2024 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mrs. B |
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| 12 | 12 | | LACKBURN(for herself, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. DAINES, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. |
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| 13 | 13 | | L |
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| 14 | 14 | | ANKFORD, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read |
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| 15 | 15 | | twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and |
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| 16 | 16 | | Pensions |
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| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
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| 18 | 18 | | To ensure that women seeking an abortion are informed |
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| 19 | 19 | | of the medical risks associated with the abortion proce- |
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| 20 | 20 | | dure and the major developmental characteristics of the |
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| 21 | 21 | | unborn child, before giving their informed consent to |
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| 22 | 22 | | receive an abortion. |
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| 23 | 23 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Woman’s Right To 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | Know Act’’. 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 31 | 31 | | SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF INFORMED CONSENT. 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (a) I |
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| 33 | 33 | | NGENERAL.— 2 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) R |
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| 35 | 35 | | EQUIREMENT OF COMPLIANCE BY PRO -3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | VIDERS.—Any abortion provider, acting in or affect-4 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ing interstate or foreign commerce, who knowingly 5 |
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| 38 | 38 | | performs, or attempts to perform, any abortion shall 6 |
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| 39 | 39 | | comply with the requirements of this section. 7 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (2) R |
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| 41 | 41 | | EVIEW OF MEDICAL RISKS AND UNBORN 8 |
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| 42 | 42 | | HEALTH STATUS.—An abortion provider who intends 9 |
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| 43 | 43 | | to perform, or attempt to perform, an abortion may 10 |
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| 44 | 44 | | not perform any part of the abortion procedure with-11 |
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| 45 | 45 | | out first obtaining a signed Informed Consent Au-12 |
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| 46 | 46 | | thorization form in accordance with this subsection. 13 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (3) I |
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| 48 | 48 | | NFORMED CONSENT AUTHORIZATION 14 |
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| 49 | 49 | | FORM.— 15 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (A) I |
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| 51 | 51 | | N GENERAL.—The Informed Consent 16 |
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| 52 | 52 | | Authorization form required under this sub-17 |
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| 53 | 53 | | section shall— 18 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (i) be presented in person by the abor-19 |
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| 55 | 55 | | tion provider 24 hours prior to performing, 20 |
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| 56 | 56 | | or attempting to perform, the abortion to 21 |
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| 57 | 57 | | the woman seeking the abortion; and 22 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (ii) consist of— 23 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (I) a statement by the abortion 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | provider indicating— 25 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 64 | 64 | | (aa) the probable gestational 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | age, in completed days, of the 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | child; 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (bb) all medical risks associ-4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ated with the specific abortion 5 |
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| 69 | 69 | | procedure; and 6 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (cc) the major developmental 7 |
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| 71 | 71 | | characteristics of unborn children 8 |
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| 72 | 72 | | at such gestational age, including 9 |
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| 73 | 73 | | the presence of a heartbeat, the 10 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ability to react to painful stimuli, 11 |
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| 75 | 75 | | and the development of organs, 12 |
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| 76 | 76 | | appendages, and facial features; 13 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (II) a statement that the require-14 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ments of this subsection are binding 15 |
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| 79 | 79 | | upon the abortion provider and all 16 |
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| 80 | 80 | | other medical personnel, that such 17 |
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| 81 | 81 | | abortion providers and medical per-18 |
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| 82 | 82 | | sonnel are subject to criminal and 19 |
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| 83 | 83 | | civil penalties for violations of these 20 |
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| 84 | 84 | | requirements, and that a woman on 21 |
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| 85 | 85 | | whom an abortion has been performed 22 |
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| 86 | 86 | | may take civil action if these require-23 |
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| 87 | 87 | | ments are not followed; and 24 |
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| 90 | 90 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 91 | 91 | | (III) an affirmation that each in-1 |
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| 92 | 92 | | dividual signing the Informed Consent 2 |
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| 93 | 93 | | Authorization form has filled out the 3 |
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| 94 | 94 | | form to the best of his or her knowl-4 |
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| 95 | 95 | | edge and understands the information 5 |
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| 96 | 96 | | contained in the form. 6 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (B) S |
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| 98 | 98 | | IGNATORIES REQUIRED .—The In-7 |
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| 99 | 99 | | formed Consent Authorization form required 8 |
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| 100 | 100 | | under this subsection shall be signed in person 9 |
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| 101 | 101 | | by the woman seeking the abortion, the abor-10 |
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| 102 | 102 | | tion provider performing or attempting to per-11 |
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| 103 | 103 | | form the abortion, and a witness. 12 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (C) R |
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| 105 | 105 | | ETENTION OF CONSENT FORM .—The 13 |
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| 106 | 106 | | abortion provider performing or attempting to 14 |
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| 107 | 107 | | perform an abortion shall retain the signed In-15 |
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| 108 | 108 | | formed Consent Authorization form required 16 |
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| 109 | 109 | | under this subsection in the patient’s medical 17 |
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| 110 | 110 | | file. 18 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (D) R |
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| 112 | 112 | | EQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETEN -19 |
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| 113 | 113 | | TION.—Paragraph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of 20 |
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| 114 | 114 | | title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, shall 21 |
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| 115 | 115 | | apply to the Informed Consent Authorization 22 |
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| 116 | 116 | | form required to be placed in a patient’s med-23 |
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| 117 | 117 | | ical file pursuant to subparagraph (C) in the 24 |
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| 118 | 118 | | same manner and to the same extent as such 25 |
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| 121 | 121 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 122 | 122 | | paragraph applies to documentation required by 1 |
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| 123 | 123 | | paragraph (j)(1) of such section. 2 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (4) E |
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| 125 | 125 | | XCEPTIONS.—The requirements of this 3 |
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| 126 | 126 | | subsection shall not apply if, in reasonable medical 4 |
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| 127 | 127 | | judgment, compliance with paragraph (2) would pose 5 |
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| 128 | 128 | | a greater risk of— 6 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (A) the death of the pregnant woman; or 7 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (B) the substantial and irreversible phys-8 |
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| 131 | 131 | | ical impairment of a major bodily function, not 9 |
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| 132 | 132 | | including psychological or emotional conditions, 10 |
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| 133 | 133 | | of the pregnant woman. 11 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (b) P |
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| 135 | 135 | | ENALTY FORFAILURETOCOMPLY.— 12 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (1) C |
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| 137 | 137 | | IVIL PENALTY.— 13 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (A) E |
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| 139 | 139 | | NFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GEN -14 |
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| 140 | 140 | | ERAL.—The Attorney General shall commence 15 |
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| 141 | 141 | | a civil action in an appropriate district court of 16 |
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| 142 | 142 | | the United States under this subsection against 17 |
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| 143 | 143 | | any abortion provider who knowingly commits a 18 |
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| 144 | 144 | | violation of subsection (a). 19 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (B) P |
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| 146 | 146 | | ENALTY.—In a civil action under 20 |
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| 147 | 147 | | subparagraph (A), the court may, to vindicate 21 |
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| 148 | 148 | | the public interest, assess a civil penalty against 22 |
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| 149 | 149 | | the abortion provider in an amount— 23 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (i) not less than $100,000 and not 24 |
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| 151 | 151 | | more than $150,000, for each such viola-25 |
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| 154 | 154 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 155 | 155 | | tion that is adjudicated in the first pro-1 |
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| 156 | 156 | | ceeding against such abortion provider 2 |
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| 157 | 157 | | under this subsection; or 3 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (ii) not less than $150,001 and not 4 |
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| 159 | 159 | | more than $250,000, for each such viola-5 |
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| 160 | 160 | | tion that is adjudicated in a subsequent 6 |
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| 161 | 161 | | proceeding against such abortion provider 7 |
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| 162 | 162 | | under this subsection. 8 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (C) N |
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| 164 | 164 | | OTIFICATION.—Upon the assessment 9 |
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| 165 | 165 | | of a civil penalty under subparagraph (B), the 10 |
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| 166 | 166 | | Attorney General shall notify the appropriate 11 |
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| 167 | 167 | | State medical licensing authority. 12 |
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| 168 | 168 | | (D) N |
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| 169 | 169 | | O PENALTIES FOR PREGNANT 13 |
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| 170 | 170 | | WOMEN.—A pregnant woman shall not be sub-14 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ject to any penalty under this section. 15 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (2) P |
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| 173 | 173 | | RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 16 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (A) I |
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| 175 | 175 | | N GENERAL.—A woman or a parent 17 |
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| 176 | 176 | | of a minor upon whom an abortion has been 18 |
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| 177 | 177 | | performed in violation of subsection (a) may 19 |
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| 178 | 178 | | commence a civil action against the abortion 20 |
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| 179 | 179 | | provider for appropriate relief. 21 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (B) A |
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| 181 | 181 | | PPROPRIATE RELIEF .—Appropriate 22 |
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| 182 | 182 | | relief in a civil action under this paragraph in-23 |
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| 183 | 183 | | cludes— 24 |
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| 186 | 186 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 187 | 187 | | (i) objectively verifiable money dam-1 |
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| 188 | 188 | | ages for all injuries, psychological and 2 |
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| 189 | 189 | | physical, occasioned by the violation; 3 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (ii) statutory damages equal to 3 4 |
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| 191 | 191 | | times the cost of the abortion; and 5 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (iii) punitive damages. 6 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (C) A |
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| 194 | 194 | | TTORNEY’S FEES FOR PLAINTIFF .— 7 |
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| 195 | 195 | | The court shall award a reasonable attorney’s 8 |
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| 196 | 196 | | fee as part of the costs to a prevailing plaintiff 9 |
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| 197 | 197 | | in a civil action under this paragraph. 10 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (D) A |
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| 199 | 199 | | TTORNEY’S FEES FOR DEFEND -11 |
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| 200 | 200 | | ANT.—If a defendant in a civil action under 12 |
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| 201 | 201 | | this paragraph prevails and the court finds that 13 |
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| 202 | 202 | | the plaintiff’s suit was frivolous, the court shall 14 |
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| 203 | 203 | | award a reasonable attorney’s fee in favor of 15 |
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| 204 | 204 | | the defendant against the plaintiff. 16 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (E) A |
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| 206 | 206 | | WARDS AGAINST WOMAN .—In any 17 |
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| 207 | 207 | | civil action under this paragraph, no damages 18 |
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| 208 | 208 | | or other monetary relief, and no attorney’s fees 19 |
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| 209 | 209 | | except as provided under subparagraph (D), 20 |
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| 210 | 210 | | may be assessed against the woman upon whom 21 |
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| 211 | 211 | | the abortion was performed or attempted. 22 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (c) P |
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| 213 | 213 | | REEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act or the amend-23 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ments made by this Act shall be construed to preempt any 24 |
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| 215 | 215 | | provision of State law to the extent that such State law 25 |
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| 218 | 218 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 219 | 219 | | establishes, implements, or continues in effect disclosure 1 |
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| 220 | 220 | | requirements regarding abortion or penalties for failure to 2 |
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| 221 | 221 | | comply with such requirements that are more extensive 3 |
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| 222 | 222 | | than those provided under the amendment made by this 4 |
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| 223 | 223 | | Act. 5 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (d) R |
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| 225 | 225 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 6 |
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| 226 | 226 | | shall be construed to prohibit an abortion provider from 7 |
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| 227 | 227 | | presenting the information required under subsection (a) 8 |
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| 228 | 228 | | to a pregnant woman at the same time as acquiring in-9 |
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| 229 | 229 | | formed consent for an abortion from such woman in ac-10 |
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| 230 | 230 | | cordance with State law, provided that the presentation 11 |
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| 231 | 231 | | of such information occurs at least 24 hours before the 12 |
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| 232 | 232 | | abortion. 13 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (e) D |
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| 234 | 234 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 |
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| 235 | 235 | | (1) A |
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| 236 | 236 | | BORTION.—The term ‘‘abortion’’ means 15 |
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| 237 | 237 | | the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, 16 |
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| 238 | 238 | | drug, or any other substance or device— 17 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (A) to intentionally kill the unborn child of 18 |
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| 240 | 240 | | a woman known to be pregnant; or 19 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (B) to intentionally terminate the preg-20 |
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| 242 | 242 | | nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 21 |
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| 243 | 243 | | an intention other than— 22 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (i) after viability to produce a live 23 |
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| 245 | 245 | | birth and preserve the life and health of 24 |
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| 246 | 246 | | the child born alive; or 25 |
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| 249 | 249 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 250 | 250 | | (ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 1 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (2) A |
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| 252 | 252 | | BORTION PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘abortion 2 |
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| 253 | 253 | | provider’’ means a person— 3 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (A) licensed to practice medicine and sur-4 |
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| 255 | 255 | | gery or osteopathic medicine and surgery; or 5 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (B) otherwise legally authorized to perform 6 |
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| 257 | 257 | | an abortion. 7 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (3) A |
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| 259 | 259 | | TTEMPT.—The term ‘‘attempt’’, with re-8 |
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| 260 | 260 | | spect to an abortion, means conduct that, under the 9 |
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| 261 | 261 | | circumstances as the actor believes them to be, con-10 |
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| 262 | 262 | | stitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct 11 |
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| 263 | 263 | | planned to culminate in performing an abortion. 12 |
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| 264 | 264 | | (4) M |
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| 265 | 265 | | INOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi-13 |
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| 266 | 266 | | vidual who has not attained the age of 18 years. 14 |
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| 267 | 267 | | (5) P |
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| 268 | 268 | | ERFORM.—The term ‘‘perform’’, with re-15 |
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| 269 | 269 | | spect to an abortion, includes inducing an abortion 16 |
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| 270 | 270 | | through a medical or chemical intervention including 17 |
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| 271 | 271 | | writing a prescription for a drug or device intended 18 |
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| 272 | 272 | | to result in an abortion. 19 |
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| 273 | 273 | | (6) R |
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| 274 | 274 | | EASONABLE MEDICAL JUDGMENT .—The 20 |
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| 275 | 275 | | term ‘‘reasonable medical judgment’’ means a med-21 |
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| 276 | 276 | | ical judgment that would be made by a reasonably 22 |
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| 277 | 277 | | prudent abortion provider, knowledgeable about the 23 |
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| 278 | 278 | | case and the treatment possibilities with respect to 24 |
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| 279 | 279 | | the medical conditions involved. 25 |
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| 282 | 282 | | •S 3609 IS |
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| 283 | 283 | | (7) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘‘unborn child’’ 1 |
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| 284 | 284 | | means an individual organism of the species homo 2 |
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| 285 | 285 | | sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of 3 |
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| 286 | 286 | | being born alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 1, 4 |
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| 287 | 287 | | United States Code. 5 |
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| 288 | 288 | | (8) W |
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| 289 | 289 | | OMAN.—The term ‘‘woman’’ means a fe-6 |
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| 290 | 290 | | male human being whether or not she has reached 7 |
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| 291 | 291 | | the age of majority. 8 |
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| 292 | 292 | | Æ |
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