Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1639 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1639
5	5	To prohibit abortions in the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United
6	6	States, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	FEBRUARY26, 2025
9	9	Mr. W
10	10	EBERof Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
11	11	Committee on the Judiciary
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To prohibit abortions in the admiralty and maritime
14	14	jurisdiction of the United States, and for other purposes.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
18	18	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ban Offshore Abortion 4
19	19	Tourism Act’’ or the ‘‘BOAT Act’’. 5
20	20	SEC. 2. PROHIBITING ABORTION IN THE CERTAIN JURIS-6
21	21	DICTIONS. 7
22	22	(a) I
23	23	NGENERAL.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United 8
24	24	States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1531 9
25	25	the following: 10
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29	29	‘‘§ 1532. Abortions in the admiralty and maritime ju-1
30	30	risdiction of the United States 2
31	31	‘‘(a) O
32	32	FFENSE.—Subject to subsection (b), any per-3
33	33	son who, in the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the 4
34	34	United States, knowingly performs an abortion and there-5
35	35	by kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title, im-6
36	36	prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 7
37	37	‘‘(b) E
38	38	XCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply if— 8
39	39	‘‘(1) in reasonable medical judgment, the abor-9
40	40	tion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant 10
41	41	woman whose life is endangered by a physical dis-11
42	42	order, physical illness, or physical injury, including 12
43	43	a life-endangering physical condition caused by or 13
44	44	arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including 14
45	45	psychological or emotional conditions; 15
46	46	‘‘(2) the pregnancy is the result of rape against 16
47	47	an adult woman, and at least 48 hours prior to the 17
48	48	abortion— 18
49	49	‘‘(A) she has obtained counseling for the 19
50	50	rape; or 20
51	51	‘‘(B) she has obtained medical treatment 21
52	52	for the rape or an injury related to the rape; or 22
53	53	‘‘(3) the pregnancy is a result of rape against 23
54	54	a minor or incest against a minor, and the rape or 24
55	55	incest has been reported at any time prior to the 25
56	56	abortion to either— 26
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60	60	‘‘(A) a government agency legally author-1
61	61	ized to act on reports of child abuse; or 2
62	62	‘‘(B) a law enforcement agency. 3
63	63	‘‘(c) B
64	64	AR TOPROSECUTION.—A woman upon whom 4
65	65	an abortion in violation of subsection (a) is performed or 5
66	66	attempted may not be prosecuted under, or for a con-6
67	67	spiracy to violate, subsection (a), or for an offense under 7
68	68	section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on such a violation. 8
69	69	‘‘(d) C
70	70	IVILREMEDIES.— 9
71	71	‘‘(1) C
72	72	IVIL ACTION BY A WOMAN ON WHOM AN 10
73	73	ABORTION IS PERFORMED .—A woman upon whom 11
74	74	an abortion has been performed or attempted in vio-12
75	75	lation of any provision of this section may, in a civil 13
76	76	action before the appropriate district court of the 14
77	77	United States against any person who committed the 15
78	78	violation, obtain appropriate relief. 16
79	79	‘‘(2) C
80	80	IVIL ACTION BY A PARENT OF A MINOR 17
81	81	ON WHOM ABORTION IS PERFORMED .—A parent of 18
82	82	a minor upon whom an abortion has been performed 19
83	83	or attempted under an exception provided for in sub-20
84	84	section (b)(2)(B), and that was performed in viola-21
85	85	tion of any provision of this section may, in a civil 22
86	86	action before the appropriate district court of the 23
87	87	United States against any person who committed the 24
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91	91	violation obtain appropriate relief, unless the preg-1
92	92	nancy resulted from the plaintiff’s criminal conduct. 2
93	93	‘‘(3) A
94	94	PPROPRIATE RELIEF.—Appropriate relief 3
95	95	in a civil action under this subsection includes— 4
96	96	‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 5
97	97	for all injuries, psychological and physical, occa-6
98	98	sioned by the violation; 7
99	99	‘‘(B) statutory damages equal to three 8
100	100	times the cost of the abortion; and 9
101	101	‘‘(C) punitive damages. 10
102	102	‘‘(4) A
103	103	TTORNEYS’ FEES FOR PLAINTIFF.—If a 11
104	104	plaintiff in a civil action under this subsection pre-12
105	105	vails, the court shall award a reasonable attorney’s 13
106	106	fee in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant. 14
107	107	‘‘(5) A
108	108	TTORNEYS’ FEES FOR DEFENDANT .—If a 15
109	109	defendant in a civil action under this subsection pre-16
110	110	vails and the court finds that the plaintiff’s suit was 17
111	111	frivolous, the court shall award a reasonable attor-18
112	112	ney’s fee in favor of the defendant against the plain-19
113	113	tiff. 20
114	114	‘‘(6) A
115	115	WARD AGAINST WOMAN UPON WHOM 21
116	116	ABORTION IS PERFORMED .—Except under para-22
117	117	graph (5), in a civil action under this subsection, no 23
118	118	damages, attorneys’ fees, or other monetary relief 24
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122	122	may be assessed against the woman upon whom the 1
123	123	abortion was performed or attempted.’’. 2
124	124	(b) T
125	125	ABLE OFSECTIONS.—The table of sections for 3
126	126	chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 4
127	127	by inserting after section 1531 the following: 5
128	128	‘‘1532. Abortions in the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United
129	129	States’’.
130	130	Æ
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