Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2226 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 2226
55 To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit discrimination against
66 entities that do not participate in abortion and to strengthen implementa-
77 tion and enforcement of Federal conscience laws.
88 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
99 MARCH18, 2025
1010 Mr. S
1111 MITHof New Jersey (for himself, Ms. TENNEY, and Mr. ADERHOLT)
1212 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
1313 ergy and Commerce
1414 A BILL
1515 To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit discrimi-
1616 nation against entities that do not participate in abortion
1717 and to strengthen implementation and enforcement of
1818 Federal conscience laws.
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 ‘‘Let Pregnancy Centers 4
2323 Serve Act of 2025’’. 5
2424 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
2525 Congress makes the following findings: 7
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2929 (1) Pregnancy centers are community-based, 1
3030 nonprofit organizations that provide free compas-2
3131 sionate care, support, and resources to help meet the 3
3232 physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual 4
3333 needs of women, girls, couples, and families navi-5
3434 gating pregnancy and offer life-affirming alter-6
3535 natives to abortion. These services can include preg-7
3636 nancy tests, ultrasounds, STD/STI tests, prenatal 8
3737 education programs, parenting education programs, 9
3838 after-abortion support, lactation consultations, cer-10
3939 tified dietician and nutritionist consultations, and 11
4040 well-women exams. 12
4141 (2) Pregnancy care centers are committed to 13
4242 providing clients with complete and accurate infor-14
4343 mation regarding their pregnancy options and the 15
4444 development of an unborn baby. Most pregnancy 16
4545 centers are affiliated with at least one of three na-17
4646 tional networks. These networks require their affili-18
4747 ates to adopt a Commitment of Care and Com-19
4848 petence, setting ethical, legal, and regulatory stand-20
4949 ards. 21
5050 (3) In 2022 alone, 2,750 pregnancy centers 22
5151 across the United States provided an estimated 23
5252 3,255,856 total client sessions, including in-person 24
5353 and virtual sessions. 97.4 percent of clients seen by 25
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5757 pregnancy centers reported having a positive experi-1
5858 ence with pregnancy centers. 2
5959 (4) The total values of the material goods and 3
6060 services provided by pregnancy centers in 2022 was 4
6161 at least $367 million. 808,737 clients received mate-5
6262 rial resources, which included packs of diapers and 6
6363 wipes, baby formula, baby clothes, new cribs, new 7
6464 car seats, and strollers. 8
6565 (5) Out of the 62,576 individuals who worked 9
6666 at pregnancy centers in 2022, 44,930 (7 in 10 work-10
6767 ers) were volunteers. 11
6868 (6) Many pregnancy centers offer medical serv-12
6969 ices. In 2022, 10,175 medical staff and volunteers 13
7070 provided care to clients across the Nation. Preg-14
7171 nancy centers performed 546,683 free ultrasounds, 15
7272 at an estimated total value of $136 million. 16
7373 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ENTITIES 17
7474 THAT DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ABORTION. 18
7575 Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 19
7676 202 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 245 the 20
7777 following: 21
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8181 ‘‘SEC. 245A. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ENTI-1
8282 TIES THAT DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ABOR-2
8383 TION. 3
8484 ‘‘(a) I
8585 NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other law, 4
8686 the Federal Government, and any individual or entity that 5
8787 receives Federal financial assistance, including any State 6
8888 or local government, may not discriminate against, penal-7
8989 ize, or retaliate against an entity because the entity offers 8
9090 life-affirming support and resources to women facing un-9
9191 expected pregnancy, offers life-affirming alternatives to 10
9292 abortion, or refrains from actions that counsel in favor 11
9393 of, suggest, recommend, assist, provide, promote, or in any 12
9494 way participate in the performance of abortions. 13
9595 ‘‘(b) P
9696 ROHIBITEDACTIONS.—The actions that are 14
9797 prohibited under subsection (a) include, at a minimum— 15
9898 ‘‘(1) requiring an entity to offer or perform an 16
9999 abortion; 17
100100 ‘‘(2) requiring an entity to offer, provide, or 18
101101 distribute an abortion-inducing drug; 19
102102 ‘‘(3) requiring an entity to refer a person for an 20
103103 abortion or an abortion-inducing drug; 21
104104 ‘‘(4) requiring an entity to counsel in favor of 22
105105 an abortion or an abortion-inducing drug; 23
106106 ‘‘(5) requiring an entity to post any advertise-24
107107 ment, sign, flyer, or similar material that promotes 25
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111111 or provides information about obtaining an abortion 1
112112 or an abortion-inducing drug; and 2
113113 ‘‘(6) prohibiting an entity from providing infor-3
114114 mation, care, counseling, classes, or other services 4
115115 related to pregnancy, childbirth, or parenting be-5
116116 cause the entity does not perform, refer, or counsel 6
117117 in favor of an abortion or an abortion-inducing drug. 7
118118 ‘‘(c) R
119119 ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-8
120120 tion shall be construed— 9
121121 ‘‘(1) to prevent any entity from voluntarily 10
122122 electing to participate in abortions or abortion refer-11
123123 rals where not prohibited by any other law; or 12
124124 ‘‘(2) to affect, or be affected by, any Federal 13
125125 law that requires stabilizing treatment for a preg-14
126126 nant woman or her unborn child when either needs 15
127127 emergency care. 16
128128 ‘‘(d) D
129129 EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 17
130130 ‘‘(1) A
131131 BORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 18
132132 the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, 19
133133 drug, or any other substance or device— 20
134134 ‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 21
135135 of a woman known to be pregnant; or 22
136136 ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg-23
137137 nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 24
138138 an intention other than— 25
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142142 ‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live 1
143143 birth and preserve the life and health of 2
144144 the child born alive; 3
145145 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child; 4
146146 or 5
147147 ‘‘(iii) to remove an ectopic pregnancy 6
148148 or other pregnancy implanted outside the 7
149149 uterus. 8
150150 ‘‘(2) F
151151 EDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE .—The 9
152152 term ‘Federal financial assistance’ means Federal 10
153153 payments to cover the cost of health care services or 11
154154 benefits, or other Federal payments, grants, or loans 12
155155 to promote or otherwise facilitate health-related ac-13
156156 tivities. Such term does not include expenditures 14
157157 made under direct spending programs. 15
158158 ‘‘(3) L
159159 IFE-AFFIRMING ALTERNATIVES TO ABOR -16
160160 TION.—The term ‘life-affirming alternatives to abor-17
161161 tion’ means one or more programs that promote 18
162162 childbirth as an alternative to abortion, through life- 19
163163 affirming social services providers, which may in-20
164164 clude pregnancy centers, adoption assistance pro-21
165165 viders, and maternity homes. For purposes of the 22
166166 preceding sentence, the term ‘life-affirming social 23
167167 services providers’ does not include entities that pro-24
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171171 vide, facilitate, counsel in favor of, or refer for abor-1
172172 tions. 2
173173 ‘‘(4) L
174174 IFE-AFFIRMING SUPPORT AND RE -3
175175 SOURCES TO WOMEN FACING UNEXPECTED PREG -4
176176 NANCY.— 5
177177 ‘‘(A) I
178178 N GENERAL.—The term ‘life-affirm-6
179179 ing support and resources to women facing un-7
180180 expected pregnancy’ means one or more of the 8
181181 following: 9
182182 ‘‘(i) Providing information, care, 10
183183 counseling, classes, or other services re-11
184184 lated to pregnancy, childbirth, or parenting 12
185185 without providing, referring, or counseling 13
186186 in favor of abortion or abortion-inducing 14
187187 drugs. 15
188188 ‘‘(ii) Providing prenatal and postnatal 16
189189 resources, such as diapers, baby clothes, 17
190190 baby furniture, formula, and similar items. 18
191191 ‘‘(iii) Providing medical testing, coun-19
192192 seling, and care related to pregnancy or 20
193193 childbirth. 21
194194 ‘‘(iv) Counseling a woman on preg-22
195195 nancy-related care or treatment, including 23
196196 care or treatment that may reverse the ef-24
197197 fects of abortion-inducing drugs. 25
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201201 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The term ‘life-affirm-1
202202 ing support and resources to women facing un-2
203203 expected pregnancy’ does not include per-3
204204 forming, referring, or counseling in favor of 4
205205 abortion or abortion-inducing drugs. 5
206206 ‘‘(5) S
207207 TATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT .—The 6
208208 term ‘State or local government’ includes every 7
209209 agency and other governmental unit and subdivision 8
210210 of a State or local government, if such State or local 9
211211 government, or any agency or governmental unit or 10
212212 subdivision thereof, receives Federal financial assist-11
213213 ance.’’. 12
214214 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL 13
215215 CONSCIENCE LAWS. 14
216216 Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 15
217217 202 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended 16
218218 by inserting after section 245A the following: 17
219219 ‘‘SEC. 245B. CIVIL ACTION FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST 18
220220 ENTITIES OFFERING ABORTION ALTER-19
221221 NATIVES. 20
222222 ‘‘(a) I
223223 NGENERAL.—A qualified party may, in a civil 21
224224 action, obtain relief described in subsection (e) with re-22
225225 spect to a designated violation. 23
226226 ‘‘(b) D
227227 EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 24
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231231 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATED VIOLATION.—The term ‘des-1
232232 ignated violation’ means an actual or threatened vio-2
233233 lation of any provision of law described in section 3
234234 245A. 4
235235 ‘‘(2) Q
236236 UALIFIED PARTY.—The term ‘qualified 5
237237 party’ means— 6
238238 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General; or 7
239239 ‘‘(B) any individual or entity adversely af-8
240240 fected by the designated violation. 9
241241 ‘‘(c) A
242242 DMINISTRATIVEREMEDIESNOTREQUIRED.— 10
243243 An action under this section may be commenced, and relief 11
244244 may be granted, without regard to whether the party com-12
245245 mencing the action has sought or exhausted any available 13
246246 administrative remedies. 14
247247 ‘‘(d) D
248248 EFENDANTS IN ACTIONSUNDERTHISSEC-15
249249 TIONMAYINCLUDEGOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES ASWELL 16
250250 ASOTHERS.— 17
251251 ‘‘(1) I
252252 N GENERAL.—An action under this sec-18
253253 tion may be maintained against any individual or en-19
254254 tity receiving Federal financial assistance (as defined 20
255255 in section 245A(c)), including a State governmental 21
256256 entity. Relief in an action under this section may in-22
257257 clude money damages even if the defendant is a gov-23
258258 ernmental entity. 24
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262262 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this 1
263263 subsection, the term ‘State governmental entity’ 2
264264 means a State, a local government within a State, 3
265265 and any agency or other governmental unit or sub-4
266266 division of a State, or of such a local government. 5
267267 ‘‘(e) N
268268 ATURE OFRELIEF.—In an action under this 6
269269 section, the court shall grant— 7
270270 ‘‘(1) all appropriate relief, including injunctive 8
271271 relief, declaratory relief, and compensatory damages 9
272272 to prevent the occurrence, continuance, or repetition 10
273273 of the designated violation and to compensate for 11
274274 losses resulting from the designated violation; and 12
275275 ‘‘(2) to a prevailing plaintiff, reasonable attor-13
276276 neys’ fees and litigation costs.’’. 14
277277 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 15
278278 If any provision of this Act or an amendment made 16
279279 by this Act, or the application of such a provision or 17
280280 amendment to any individual, entity, government, or cir-18
281281 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 19
282282 of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and 20
283283 the application of such provision or amendment to any 21
284284 other individual, entity, government, or circumstance, 22
285285 shall not be affected. 23
286286 Æ
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