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Us Congress Senate Bill SB78

Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB78 Compare Versions

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11 II
22 118THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION S. 78
55 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking minors across
66 State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents
77 in abortion decisions.
88 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
99 JANUARY25, 2023
1010 Mr. R
1111 UBIO(for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. RISCH, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr.
1212 T
1313 HUNE, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. SCOTTof South Carolina, Mr. CRAMER, Mr.
1414 B
1515 RAUN, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. CASSIDY, and
1616 Mr. M
1717 ARSHALL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
1818 referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
1919 A BILL
2020 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking
2121 minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requir-
2222 ing the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.
2323 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2424 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2525 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2626 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Interstate Abor-4
2727 tion Notification Act of 2023’’. 5
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3131 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF MINORS IN CIRCUMVENTION 1
3232 OF CERTAIN LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION. 2
3333 Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended 3
3434 by inserting after chapter 117 the following: 4
3535 ‘‘CHAPTER 117A—TRANSPORTATION OF 5
3636 MINORS IN CIRCUMVENTION OF CER-6
3737 TAIN LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION 7
3838 ‘‘Sec.
3939 ‘‘2431. Transportation of minors in circumvention of certain laws relating to
4040 abortion.
4141 ‘‘2432. Transportation of minors in circumvention of certain laws relating to
4242 abortion and incest.
4343 ‘‘§ 2431. Transportation of minors in circumvention of 8
4444 certain laws relating to abortion 9
4545 ‘‘(a) O
4646 FFENSE.— 10
4747 ‘‘(1) G
4848 ENERALLY.—Except as provided in sub-11
4949 section (b), whoever knowingly transports a minor 12
5050 across a State line, with the intent that the minor 13
5151 obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact abridges the 14
5252 right of a parent of the minor under a law requiring 15
5353 parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision, 16
5454 in force in the State in which the minor resides, 17
5555 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not 18
5656 more than 1 year, or both. 19
5757 ‘‘(2) D
5858 EFINITION.—For the purposes of this 20
5959 subsection, an abridgement of the right of a parent 21
6060 of a minor occurs if an abortion is performed or in-22
6161 duced on the minor, in a State other than the State 23
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6464 •S 78 IS
6565 in which the minor resides or in a foreign country, 1
6666 without the parental consent or notification, or the 2
6767 judicial authorization, that would have been required 3
6868 under a law requiring parental involvement in a mi-4
6969 nor’s abortion decision had the abortion been per-5
7070 formed in the State in which the minor resides. 6
7171 ‘‘(b) E
7272 XCEPTIONS.— 7
7373 ‘‘(1) L
7474 IFE-ENDANGERING CONDITIONS .—The 8
7575 prohibition under subsection (a) shall not apply if 9
7676 the abortion is necessary to save the life of the 10
7777 minor because her life is endangered by a physical 11
7878 disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, includ-12
7979 ing a life endangering physical condition caused by 13
8080 or arising from the pregnancy itself. 14
8181 ‘‘(2) M
8282 INORS AND PARENTS .—A minor trans-15
8383 ported in violation of this section, and any parent of 16
8484 that minor, may not be prosecuted or sued for a vio-17
8585 lation of this section, a conspiracy to violate this sec-18
8686 tion, or an offense under section 2 or 3 of this title 19
8787 based on a violation of this section. 20
8888 ‘‘(c) A
8989 FFIRMATIVEDEFENSE.—It is an affirmative 21
9090 defense to a prosecution for an offense, or to a civil action, 22
9191 based on a violation of this section that the defendant— 23
9292 ‘‘(1) reasonably believed, based on information 24
9393 the defendant obtained directly from a parent of the 25
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9696 •S 78 IS
9797 minor, that before the minor obtained the abortion, 1
9898 the parental consent or notification took place that 2
9999 would have been required under the law requiring 3
100100 parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision, 4
101101 had the abortion been performed in the State in 5
102102 which the minor resides; or 6
103103 ‘‘(2) was presented with documentation showing 7
104104 with a reasonable degree of certainty that a court in 8
105105 the minor’s State of residence waived any parental 9
106106 notification required by the laws of that State, or 10
107107 otherwise authorized that the minor be allowed to 11
108108 procure an abortion. 12
109109 ‘‘(d) C
110110 IVILACTION.—Any parent who suffers harm 13
111111 from a violation of subsection (a) may obtain appropriate 14
112112 relief in a civil action unless the parent has committed 15
113113 an act of incest with the minor described in subsection 16
114114 (a). 17
115115 ‘‘(e) D
116116 EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec-18
117117 tion— 19
118118 ‘‘(1) the term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre-20
119119 scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or other 21
120120 substance or device to intentionally— 22
121121 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 23
122122 known to be pregnant; or 24
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126126 ‘‘(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 1
127127 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in-2
128128 tention other than to— 3
129129 ‘‘(i) increase the probability of a live 4
130130 birth or of preserving the life or health of 5
131131 the child after live birth; or 6
132132 ‘‘(ii) remove a dead unborn child; 7
133133 ‘‘(2) the term ‘law requiring parental involve-8
134134 ment in a minor’s abortion decision’ means a law— 9
135135 ‘‘(A) requiring, before an abortion is per-10
136136 formed on a minor, either— 11
137137 ‘‘(i) the notification to, or consent of, 12
138138 a parent of that minor; or 13
139139 ‘‘(ii) proceedings in a State court; and 14
140140 ‘‘(B) that does not provide as an alter-15
141141 native to the requirements described in sub-16
142142 paragraph (A) notification to or consent of any 17
143143 person or entity not described in that subpara-18
144144 graph; 19
145145 ‘‘(3) the term ‘minor’ means an individual who 20
146146 is not older than the maximum age requiring paren-21
147147 tal notification or consent, or proceedings in a State 22
148148 court, under a law requiring parental involvement in 23
149149 a minor’s abortion decision; 24
150150 ‘‘(4) the term ‘parent’ means— 25
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154154 ‘‘(A) a parent or guardian; 1
155155 ‘‘(B) a legal custodian; or 2
156156 ‘‘(C) an individual standing in loco 3
157157 parentis— 4
158158 ‘‘(i) who has care and control of the 5
159159 minor; 6
160160 ‘‘(ii) with whom the minor regularly 7
161161 resides; and 8
162162 ‘‘(iii) who is designated by the law re-9
163163 quiring parental involvement in the minor’s 10
164164 abortion decision as an individual to whom 11
165165 notification, or from whom consent, is re-12
166166 quired; and 13
167167 ‘‘(5) the term ‘State’ includes— 14
168168 ‘‘(A) the District of Columbia; 15
169169 ‘‘(B) any commonwealth, possession, or 16
170170 other territory of the United States; and 17
171171 ‘‘(C) any Indian Tribe or reservation. 18
172172 ‘‘§ 2432. Transportation of minors in circumvention of 19
173173 certain laws relating to abortion and in-20
174174 cest 21
175175 ‘‘(a) O
176176 FFENSE.—Notwithstanding section 22
177177 2431(b)(2), whoever has committed an act of incest with 23
178178 a minor and knowingly transports the minor across a 24
179179 State line with the intent that the minor obtain an abor-25
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182182 •S 78 IS
183183 tion, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 1
184184 than 1 year, or both. 2
185185 ‘‘(b) D
186186 EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 3
187187 the terms ‘abortion’, ‘minor’, and ‘State’ have the mean-4
188188 ings given those terms in section 2435.’’. 5
189189 SEC. 3. CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION. 6
190190 Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended 7
191191 by inserting after chapter 117A (as added by section 2) 8
192192 the following: 9
193193 ‘‘CHAPTER 117B—CHILD INTERSTATE 10
194194 ABORTION NOTIFICATION 11
195195 ‘‘Sec.
196196 ‘‘2435. Child interstate abortion notification.
197197 ‘‘§ 2435. Child interstate abortion notification 12
198198 ‘‘(a) O
199199 FFENSE.— 13
200200 ‘‘(1) G
201201 ENERALLY.—A physician who knowingly 14
202202 performs or induces an abortion on a minor in viola-15
203203 tion of the requirements of this section shall be fined 16
204204 under this title or imprisoned not more than 1 year, 17
205205 or both. 18
206206 ‘‘(2) P
207207 ARENTAL NOTIFICATION .— 19
208208 ‘‘(A) A
209209 CTUAL NOTICE.—A physician who 20
210210 performs or induces an abortion on a minor 21
211211 who is a resident of a State other than the 22
212212 State in which the abortion is performed or in-23
213213 duced shall provide, or cause his or her agent 24
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217217 to provide, not less than 24 hours actual notice 1
218218 to a parent of the minor before performing or 2
219219 inducing the abortion. 3
220220 ‘‘(B) C
221221 ONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE .—If actual 4
222222 notice to a parent under subparagraph (A) is 5
223223 not accomplished after a reasonable effort has 6
224224 been made, not less than 24 hours constructive 7
225225 notice shall be given to a parent of the minor 8
226226 before the abortion is performed or induced. 9
227227 ‘‘(b) E
228228 XCEPTIONS.—The notification requirement 10
229229 under subsection (a)(2) shall not apply if— 11
230230 ‘‘(1) the abortion is performed or induced in a 12
231231 State that has in force a law requiring parental in-13
232232 volvement in a minor’s abortion decision and the 14
233233 physician complies with the requirements of that 15
234234 law; 16
235235 ‘‘(2) the physician is presented with documenta-17
236236 tion showing with a reasonable degree of certainty 18
237237 that a court in the minor’s State of residence has 19
238238 waived any parental notification required by the laws 20
239239 of that State, or has otherwise authorized that the 21
240240 minor be allowed to procure an abortion; 22
241241 ‘‘(3) the minor declares in a signed written 23
242242 statement that she is the victim of sexual abuse, ne-24
243243 glect, or physical abuse by a parent, and, before an 25
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246246 •S 78 IS
247247 abortion is performed on the minor, the physician 1
248248 notifies the authorities specified to receive reports of 2
249249 child abuse or neglect by the law of the State in 3
250250 which the minor resides of the known or suspected 4
251251 abuse or neglect; 5
252252 ‘‘(4) the abortion is necessary to save the life 6
253253 of the minor because her life was endangered by a 7
254254 physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, 8
255255 including a life endangering physical condition 9
256256 caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, ex-10
257257 cept that an exception under this paragraph shall 11
258258 not apply unless the attending physician or an agent 12
259259 of such physician, not later than 24 hours after com-13
260260 pletion of the abortion, notifies a parent of the 14
261261 minor in writing that an abortion was performed on 15
262262 the minor and of the circumstances that warranted 16
263263 invocation of this paragraph; or 17
264264 ‘‘(5) the minor is physically accompanied by a 18
265265 person who presents the physician or his or her 19
266266 agent with documentation showing with a reasonable 20
267267 degree of certainty that he or she is in fact the par-21
268268 ent of that minor. 22
269269 ‘‘(c) C
270270 IVILACTION.—Any parent who suffers harm 23
271271 from a violation of subsection (a) may obtain appropriate 24
272272 relief in a civil action unless the parent has committed 25
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275275 •S 78 IS
276276 an act of incest with the minor described in subsection 1
277277 (a). 2
278278 ‘‘(d) D
279279 EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec-3
280280 tion— 4
281281 ‘‘(1) the term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre-5
282282 scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or other 6
283283 substance or device to intentionally— 7
284284 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 8
285285 known to be pregnant; or 9
286286 ‘‘(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 10
287287 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in-11
288288 tention other than to— 12
289289 ‘‘(i) increase the probability of a live 13
290290 birth or of preserving the life or health of 14
291291 the child after live birth; or 15
292292 ‘‘(ii) remove a dead unborn child; 16
293293 ‘‘(2) the term ‘actual notice’ means the giving 17
294294 of written notice directly, in person, by the physician 18
295295 or any agent of the physician; 19
296296 ‘‘(3) the term ‘constructive notice’ means notice 20
297297 that is given by certified mail, return receipt re-21
298298 quested, restricted delivery to the last known ad-22
299299 dress of the person being notified, with delivery 23
300300 deemed to have occurred 48 hours following noon on 24
301301 the next day subsequent to mailing on which regular 25
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305305 mail delivery takes place, excluding days on which 1
306306 mail is not delivered; 2
307307 ‘‘(4) the term ‘law requiring parental involve-3
308308 ment in a minor’s abortion decision’ means a law— 4
309309 ‘‘(A) requiring, before an abortion is per-5
310310 formed on a minor, either— 6
311311 ‘‘(i) the notification to, or consent of, 7
312312 a parent of that minor; or 8
313313 ‘‘(ii) proceedings in a State court; and 9
314314 ‘‘(B) that does not provide as an alter-10
315315 native to the requirements described in sub-11
316316 paragraph (A) notification to or consent of any 12
317317 person or entity not described in that subpara-13
318318 graph; 14
319319 ‘‘(5) the term ‘minor’ means an individual 15
320320 who— 16
321321 ‘‘(A) has not attained the age of 18 years; 17
322322 and 18
323323 ‘‘(B) is not emancipated under the law of 19
324324 the State in which the individual resides; 20
325325 ‘‘(6) the term ‘parent’ means— 21
326326 ‘‘(A) a parent or guardian; 22
327327 ‘‘(B) a legal custodian; or 23
328328 ‘‘(C) an individual standing in loco 24
329329 parentis— 25
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333333 ‘‘(i) who has care and control of the 1
334334 minor; and 2
335335 ‘‘(ii) with whom the minor regularly 3
336336 resides, 4
337337 as determined by State law; 5
338338 ‘‘(7) the term ‘physician’ means— 6
339339 ‘‘(A) a doctor of medicine legally author-7
340340 ized to practice medicine by the State in which 8
341341 the doctor practices medicine; or 9
342342 ‘‘(B) any other person legally empowered 10
343343 under State law to perform an abortion; and 11
344344 ‘‘(8) the term ‘State’ includes— 12
345345 ‘‘(A) the District of Columbia; 13
346346 ‘‘(B) any commonwealth, possession, or 14
347347 other territory of the United States; and 15
348348 ‘‘(C) any Indian Tribe or reservation.’’. 16
349349 SEC. 4. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 17
350350 The table of chapters at the beginning of part I of 18
351351 title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 19
352352 the item relating to chapter 117 the following new items: 20
353353 ‘‘117A. Transportation of minors in circumvention of
354354 certain laws relating to abortion....................2431
355355 ‘‘117B. Child interstate abortion notification........................2435’’.
356356 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE.
357357 21
358358 (a) S
359359 EVERABILITY.—The provisions of this Act shall 22
360360 be severable. If any provision of this Act, or any applica-23
361361 tion thereof, is found unconstitutional, that finding shall 24
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365365 not affect any provision or application of the Act not so 1
366366 adjudicated. 2
367367 (b) E
368368 FFECTIVEDATE.—This Act and the amend-3
369369 ments made by this Act shall take effect 45 days after 4
370370 the date of enactment of this Act. 5
371371 Æ
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