I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2226
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit discrimination against
entities that do not participate in abortion and to strengthen implementa-
tion and enforcement of Federal conscience laws.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH18, 2025
Mr. S
MITHof New Jersey (for himself, Ms. TENNEY, and Mr. ADERHOLT)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit discrimi-
nation against entities that do not participate in abortion
and to strengthen implementation and enforcement of
Federal conscience laws.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let Pregnancy Centers 4
Serve Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress makes the following findings: 7
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(1) Pregnancy centers are community-based, 1
nonprofit organizations that provide free compas-2
sionate care, support, and resources to help meet the 3
physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual 4
needs of women, girls, couples, and families navi-5
gating pregnancy and offer life-affirming alter-6
natives to abortion. These services can include preg-7
nancy tests, ultrasounds, STD/STI tests, prenatal 8
education programs, parenting education programs, 9
after-abortion support, lactation consultations, cer-10
tified dietician and nutritionist consultations, and 11
well-women exams. 12
(2) Pregnancy care centers are committed to 13
providing clients with complete and accurate infor-14
mation regarding their pregnancy options and the 15
development of an unborn baby. Most pregnancy 16
centers are affiliated with at least one of three na-17
tional networks. These networks require their affili-18
ates to adopt a Commitment of Care and Com-19
petence, setting ethical, legal, and regulatory stand-20
ards. 21
(3) In 2022 alone, 2,750 pregnancy centers 22
across the United States provided an estimated 23
3,255,856 total client sessions, including in-person 24
and virtual sessions. 97.4 percent of clients seen by 25
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pregnancy centers reported having a positive experi-1
ence with pregnancy centers. 2
(4) The total values of the material goods and 3
services provided by pregnancy centers in 2022 was 4
at least $367 million. 808,737 clients received mate-5
rial resources, which included packs of diapers and 6
wipes, baby formula, baby clothes, new cribs, new 7
car seats, and strollers. 8
(5) Out of the 62,576 individuals who worked 9
at pregnancy centers in 2022, 44,930 (7 in 10 work-10
ers) were volunteers. 11
(6) Many pregnancy centers offer medical serv-12
ices. In 2022, 10,175 medical staff and volunteers 13
provided care to clients across the Nation. Preg-14
nancy centers performed 546,683 free ultrasounds, 15
at an estimated total value of $136 million. 16
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ENTITIES 17
THAT DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ABORTION. 18
Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 19
202 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 245 the 20
following: 21
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‘‘SEC. 245A. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ENTI-1
TIES THAT DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ABOR-2
TION. 3
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other law, 4
the Federal Government, and any individual or entity that 5
receives Federal financial assistance, including any State 6
or local government, may not discriminate against, penal-7
ize, or retaliate against an entity because the entity offers 8
life-affirming support and resources to women facing un-9
expected pregnancy, offers life-affirming alternatives to 10
abortion, or refrains from actions that counsel in favor 11
of, suggest, recommend, assist, provide, promote, or in any 12
way participate in the performance of abortions. 13
‘‘(b) P
ROHIBITEDACTIONS.—The actions that are 14
prohibited under subsection (a) include, at a minimum— 15
‘‘(1) requiring an entity to offer or perform an 16
abortion; 17
‘‘(2) requiring an entity to offer, provide, or 18
distribute an abortion-inducing drug; 19
‘‘(3) requiring an entity to refer a person for an 20
abortion or an abortion-inducing drug; 21
‘‘(4) requiring an entity to counsel in favor of 22
an abortion or an abortion-inducing drug; 23
‘‘(5) requiring an entity to post any advertise-24
ment, sign, flyer, or similar material that promotes 25
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or provides information about obtaining an abortion 1
or an abortion-inducing drug; and 2
‘‘(6) prohibiting an entity from providing infor-3
mation, care, counseling, classes, or other services 4
related to pregnancy, childbirth, or parenting be-5
cause the entity does not perform, refer, or counsel 6
in favor of an abortion or an abortion-inducing drug. 7
‘‘(c) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-8
tion shall be construed— 9
‘‘(1) to prevent any entity from voluntarily 10
electing to participate in abortions or abortion refer-11
rals where not prohibited by any other law; or 12
‘‘(2) to affect, or be affected by, any Federal 13
law that requires stabilizing treatment for a preg-14
nant woman or her unborn child when either needs 15
emergency care. 16
‘‘(d) D
EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 17
‘‘(1) A
BORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 18
the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, 19
drug, or any other substance or device— 20
‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 21
of a woman known to be pregnant; or 22
‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg-23
nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 24
an intention other than— 25
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‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live 1
birth and preserve the life and health of 2
the child born alive; 3
‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child; 4
or 5
‘‘(iii) to remove an ectopic pregnancy 6
or other pregnancy implanted outside the 7
uterus. 8
‘‘(2) F
EDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE .—The 9
term ‘Federal financial assistance’ means Federal 10
payments to cover the cost of health care services or 11
benefits, or other Federal payments, grants, or loans 12
to promote or otherwise facilitate health-related ac-13
tivities. Such term does not include expenditures 14
made under direct spending programs. 15
‘‘(3) L
IFE-AFFIRMING ALTERNATIVES TO ABOR -16
TION.—The term ‘life-affirming alternatives to abor-17
tion’ means one or more programs that promote 18
childbirth as an alternative to abortion, through life- 19
affirming social services providers, which may in-20
clude pregnancy centers, adoption assistance pro-21
viders, and maternity homes. For purposes of the 22
preceding sentence, the term ‘life-affirming social 23
services providers’ does not include entities that pro-24
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vide, facilitate, counsel in favor of, or refer for abor-1
tions. 2
‘‘(4) L
IFE-AFFIRMING SUPPORT AND RE -3
SOURCES TO WOMEN FACING UNEXPECTED PREG -4
NANCY.— 5
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘life-affirm-6
ing support and resources to women facing un-7
expected pregnancy’ means one or more of the 8
following: 9
‘‘(i) Providing information, care, 10
counseling, classes, or other services re-11
lated to pregnancy, childbirth, or parenting 12
without providing, referring, or counseling 13
in favor of abortion or abortion-inducing 14
drugs. 15
‘‘(ii) Providing prenatal and postnatal 16
resources, such as diapers, baby clothes, 17
baby furniture, formula, and similar items. 18
‘‘(iii) Providing medical testing, coun-19
seling, and care related to pregnancy or 20
childbirth. 21
‘‘(iv) Counseling a woman on preg-22
nancy-related care or treatment, including 23
care or treatment that may reverse the ef-24
fects of abortion-inducing drugs. 25
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‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The term ‘life-affirm-1
ing support and resources to women facing un-2
expected pregnancy’ does not include per-3
forming, referring, or counseling in favor of 4
abortion or abortion-inducing drugs. 5
‘‘(5) S
TATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT .—The 6
term ‘State or local government’ includes every 7
agency and other governmental unit and subdivision 8
of a State or local government, if such State or local 9
government, or any agency or governmental unit or 10
subdivision thereof, receives Federal financial assist-11
ance.’’. 12
SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL 13
CONSCIENCE LAWS. 14
Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 15
202 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended 16
by inserting after section 245A the following: 17
‘‘SEC. 245B. CIVIL ACTION FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST 18
ENTITIES OFFERING ABORTION ALTER-19
NATIVES. 20
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—A qualified party may, in a civil 21
action, obtain relief described in subsection (e) with re-22
spect to a designated violation. 23
‘‘(b) D
EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 24
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‘‘(1) DESIGNATED VIOLATION.—The term ‘des-1
ignated violation’ means an actual or threatened vio-2
lation of any provision of law described in section 3
245A. 4
‘‘(2) Q
UALIFIED PARTY.—The term ‘qualified 5
party’ means— 6
‘‘(A) the Attorney General; or 7
‘‘(B) any individual or entity adversely af-8
fected by the designated violation. 9
‘‘(c) A
DMINISTRATIVEREMEDIESNOTREQUIRED.— 10
An action under this section may be commenced, and relief 11
may be granted, without regard to whether the party com-12
mencing the action has sought or exhausted any available 13
administrative remedies. 14
‘‘(d) D
EFENDANTS IN ACTIONSUNDERTHISSEC-15
TIONMAYINCLUDEGOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES ASWELL 16
ASOTHERS.— 17
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—An action under this sec-18
tion may be maintained against any individual or en-19
tity receiving Federal financial assistance (as defined 20
in section 245A(c)), including a State governmental 21
entity. Relief in an action under this section may in-22
clude money damages even if the defendant is a gov-23
ernmental entity. 24
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‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this 1
subsection, the term ‘State governmental entity’ 2
means a State, a local government within a State, 3
and any agency or other governmental unit or sub-4
division of a State, or of such a local government. 5
‘‘(e) N
ATURE OFRELIEF.—In an action under this 6
section, the court shall grant— 7
‘‘(1) all appropriate relief, including injunctive 8
relief, declaratory relief, and compensatory damages 9
to prevent the occurrence, continuance, or repetition 10
of the designated violation and to compensate for 11
losses resulting from the designated violation; and 12
‘‘(2) to a prevailing plaintiff, reasonable attor-13
neys’ fees and litigation costs.’’. 14
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 15
If any provision of this Act or an amendment made 16
by this Act, or the application of such a provision or 17
amendment to any individual, entity, government, or cir-18
cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 19
of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and 20
the application of such provision or amendment to any 21
other individual, entity, government, or circumstance, 22
shall not be affected. 23
Æ
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