| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2251 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination by abortion |
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| 6 | 6 | | against an unborn child on the basis of Down syndrome. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH21, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. E |
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| 10 | 10 | | STESintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 11 | 11 | | on the Judiciary |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimi- |
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| 14 | 14 | | nation by abortion against an unborn child on the basis |
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| 15 | 15 | | of Down syndrome. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Individuals 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | with Down Syndrome Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | (1) On June 24, 2022, the United States Su-8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | preme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson 9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Women’s Health Organization (No. 19–1392, 2022 10 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 29 | 29 | | WL 2276808 (2022)), which overturned its prior, 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | egregiously wrong holding in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | 113 (1973)). 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (2) Dobbs correctly affirmed that there is no 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | constitutional right to abort an unborn child and 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | that the Court’s prior decision in Roe was not based 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | in the Constitution’s text nor was it deeply rooted in 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | the history and tradition of the United States. 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (3) Federal law protects individuals with dis-9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | abilities against discrimination, including in the pro-10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | vision of medical care. 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (4) As Congress has previously affirmed, 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘[d]isability is a natural part of the human experi-13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ence and in no way diminishes the right of individ-14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | uals to live independently, enjoy self-determination, 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | make choices, contribute to society, pursue meaning-16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | ful careers, and enjoy full inclusion and integration 17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | in the economic, political, social, and educational 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | mainstream of American society.’’. 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (5) It is the policy of the United States to re-20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | spect the lives and the dignity of individuals with 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | disabilities, including individuals with Down syn-22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | drome. 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (6) Federal, State, and local government all 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | have a role to play in preventing discrimination 25 |
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| 56 | 56 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 57 | 57 | | based on disability, including discrimination against 1 |
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| 58 | 58 | | individuals with Down syndrome. 2 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (7) Consistent with the overarching Federal 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | policy of nondiscrimination, and in light of the 4 |
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| 61 | 61 | | shameful history of targeting unborn children for 5 |
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| 62 | 62 | | abortion based on race, gender, or disabilities, Con-6 |
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| 63 | 63 | | gress must combat invidious discrimination by pro-7 |
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| 64 | 64 | | hibiting doctors from aborting unborn children be-8 |
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| 65 | 65 | | cause the unborn child has been diagnosed with 9 |
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| 66 | 66 | | Down syndrome. 10 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (8) Tragically, in some countries that have 11 |
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| 68 | 68 | | failed to protect unborn children diagnosed with 12 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Down syndrome, virtually every unborn child diag-13 |
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| 70 | 70 | | nosed with Down syndrome is aborted. 14 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (9) Individuals with Down syndrome are inher-15 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ently valuable and worthy of dignity and respect. 16 |
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| 73 | 73 | | They enrich and strengthen our society in countless 17 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ways, including but not limited to by building mean-18 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ingful relationships, participating in and creating 19 |
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| 76 | 76 | | families, learning, and working alongside other 20 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Americans. 21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 81 | 81 | | SEC. 3. DISCRIMINATION BY ABORTION AGAINST AN UN-1 |
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| 82 | 82 | | BORN CHILD ON THE BASIS OF DOWN SYN-2 |
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| 83 | 83 | | DROME PROHIBITED. 3 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (a) I |
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| 85 | 85 | | NGENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-5 |
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| 87 | 87 | | lowing: 6 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘§ 250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn 7 |
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| 89 | 89 | | child on the basis of down syndrome pro-8 |
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| 90 | 90 | | hibited 9 |
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| 91 | 91 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 92 | 92 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 |
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| 93 | 93 | | ‘‘(1) A |
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| 94 | 94 | | BORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 11 |
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| 95 | 95 | | the act of using or prescribing any instrument, med-12 |
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| 96 | 96 | | icine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means 13 |
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| 97 | 97 | | with the intent to— 14 |
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| 98 | 98 | | ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 15 |
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| 99 | 99 | | known to be pregnant; or 16 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(B) terminate the pregnancy of a woman 17 |
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| 101 | 101 | | known to be pregnant, with an intention other 18 |
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| 102 | 102 | | than— 19 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth and pre-20 |
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| 104 | 104 | | serve the life and health of the child born 21 |
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| 105 | 105 | | alive; 22 |
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| 106 | 106 | | ‘‘(ii) to save the life of the pregnant 23 |
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| 107 | 107 | | woman; or 24 |
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| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(iii) to remove a dead unborn child. 25 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ‘‘(2) DOWN SYNDROME.—The term ‘Down syn-1 |
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| 113 | 113 | | drome’ means a chromosomal disorder associated 2 |
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| 114 | 114 | | with— 3 |
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| 115 | 115 | | ‘‘(A) an extra copy of the chromosome 21, 4 |
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| 116 | 116 | | in whole or in part; or 5 |
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| 117 | 117 | | ‘‘(B) an effective trisomy for chromosome 6 |
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| 118 | 118 | | 21. 7 |
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| 119 | 119 | | ‘‘(3) Q |
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| 120 | 120 | | UALIFIED PLAINTIFF.—The term ‘quali-8 |
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| 121 | 121 | | fied plaintiff’ means— 9 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(A) a woman upon whom an abortion is 10 |
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| 123 | 123 | | performed or attempted in violation of this sec-11 |
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| 124 | 124 | | tion; 12 |
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| 125 | 125 | | ‘‘(B) a maternal grandparent of the un-13 |
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| 126 | 126 | | born child if the woman upon whom an abortion 14 |
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| 127 | 127 | | is performed or attempted in violation of this 15 |
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| 128 | 128 | | section is an unemancipated minor; 16 |
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| 129 | 129 | | ‘‘(C) the father of an unborn child who is 17 |
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| 130 | 130 | | the subject of an abortion performed or at-18 |
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| 131 | 131 | | tempted in violation of this section unless the 19 |
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| 132 | 132 | | pregnancy or abortion resulted from the crimi-20 |
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| 133 | 133 | | nal conduct of the father; or 21 |
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| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(D) the Attorney General. 22 |
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| 135 | 135 | | ‘‘(4) U |
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| 136 | 136 | | NBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 23 |
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| 137 | 137 | | means an individual of the species homo sapiens 24 |
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| 138 | 138 | | from the beginning of the biological development of 25 |
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| 141 | 141 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 142 | 142 | | that individual, including fertilization, until the point 1 |
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| 143 | 143 | | of being born alive, as defined in section 8(b) of title 2 |
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| 144 | 144 | | 1. 3 |
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| 145 | 145 | | ‘‘(b) O |
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| 146 | 146 | | FFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to— 4 |
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| 147 | 147 | | ‘‘(1) perform an abortion— 5 |
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| 148 | 148 | | ‘‘(A) with the knowledge that a pregnant 6 |
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| 149 | 149 | | woman is seeking an abortion, in whole or in 7 |
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| 150 | 150 | | part, on the basis of— 8 |
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| 151 | 151 | | ‘‘(i) a test result indicating that the 9 |
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| 152 | 152 | | unborn child has Down syndrome; 10 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(ii) a prenatal diagnosis that the un-11 |
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| 154 | 154 | | born child has Down syndrome; or 12 |
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| 155 | 155 | | ‘‘(iii) any other reason to believe that 13 |
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| 156 | 156 | | the unborn child has or may have Down 14 |
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| 157 | 157 | | syndrome; or 15 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ‘‘(B) without first— 16 |
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| 159 | 159 | | ‘‘(i) asking the pregnant woman if she 17 |
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| 160 | 160 | | is aware of any test results, prenatal diag-18 |
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| 161 | 161 | | nosis, or any other evidence that the un-19 |
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| 162 | 162 | | born child has or may have Down syn-20 |
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| 163 | 163 | | drome; and 21 |
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| 164 | 164 | | ‘‘(ii) if the woman is aware that the 22 |
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| 165 | 165 | | unborn child has or may have Down syn-23 |
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| 166 | 166 | | drome, informing the pregnant woman of 24 |
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| 169 | 169 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 170 | 170 | | the prohibitions on abortion under this sec-1 |
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| 171 | 171 | | tion; 2 |
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| 172 | 172 | | ‘‘(2) use force or the threat of force to inten-3 |
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| 173 | 173 | | tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur-4 |
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| 174 | 174 | | pose of coercing an abortion described in paragraph 5 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (1)(A); 6 |
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| 176 | 176 | | ‘‘(3) solicit or accept funds for the performance 7 |
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| 177 | 177 | | of an abortion described in paragraph (1)(A); or 8 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ‘‘(4) knowingly transport a woman into the 9 |
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| 179 | 179 | | United States or across a State line for the purpose 10 |
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| 180 | 180 | | of obtaining an abortion described in paragraph 11 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (1)(A). 12 |
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| 182 | 182 | | ‘‘(c) C |
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| 183 | 183 | | RIMINALPENALTY.—Any person that violates, 13 |
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| 184 | 184 | | or attempts to violate, subsection (b) shall be fined under 14 |
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| 185 | 185 | | this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 15 |
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| 186 | 186 | | ‘‘(d) C |
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| 187 | 187 | | IVILREMEDIES.— 16 |
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| 188 | 188 | | ‘‘(1) C |
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| 189 | 189 | | IVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR -17 |
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| 190 | 190 | | TION IS PERFORMED .—A woman upon whom an 18 |
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| 191 | 191 | | abortion has been performed or attempted in viola-19 |
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| 192 | 192 | | tion of subsection (b)(2) may bring a civil action in 20 |
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| 193 | 193 | | an appropriate court against any person who en-21 |
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| 194 | 194 | | gaged in a violation of subsection (b)(2) to obtain 22 |
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| 195 | 195 | | appropriate relief. 23 |
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| 196 | 196 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 197 | 197 | | IVIL ACTION BY RELATIVES.— 24 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 |
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| 202 | 202 | | subparagraph (B), the father of an unborn 2 |
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| 203 | 203 | | child who is the subject of an abortion per-3 |
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| 204 | 204 | | formed or attempted in violation of subsection 4 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (b), or a maternal grandparent of the unborn 5 |
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| 206 | 206 | | child if the pregnant woman is an 6 |
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| 207 | 207 | | unemancipated minor, may bring a civil action 7 |
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| 208 | 208 | | in an appropriate court against any person who 8 |
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| 209 | 209 | | engaged in the violation to obtain appropriate 9 |
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| 210 | 210 | | relief. 10 |
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| 211 | 211 | | ‘‘(B) E |
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| 212 | 212 | | XCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 11 |
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| 213 | 213 | | shall not apply if— 12 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(i) the pregnancy or abortion re-13 |
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| 215 | 215 | | sulted from the criminal conduct of the 14 |
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| 216 | 216 | | plaintiff described in subparagraph (A); or 15 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ‘‘(ii) the plaintiff described in sub-16 |
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| 218 | 218 | | paragraph (A) consented to the abortion. 17 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(3) A |
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| 220 | 220 | | PPROPRIATE RELIEF.—Appropriate relief 18 |
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| 221 | 221 | | in a civil action under this subsection includes— 19 |
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| 222 | 222 | | ‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 20 |
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| 223 | 223 | | for all injuries, psychological and physical, in-21 |
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| 224 | 224 | | cluding loss of companionship and support, oc-22 |
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| 225 | 225 | | casioned by the violation of this section; and 23 |
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| 226 | 226 | | ‘‘(B) punitive damages. 24 |
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| 230 | 230 | | ‘‘(4) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—A qualified plaintiff 1 |
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| 231 | 231 | | may bring a civil action in an appropriate court to 2 |
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| 232 | 232 | | obtain injunctive relief to prevent an abortion pro-3 |
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| 233 | 233 | | vider from performing or attempting further abor-4 |
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| 234 | 234 | | tions in violation of this section. 5 |
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| 235 | 235 | | ‘‘(5) A |
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| 236 | 236 | | TTORNEY’S FEES FOR PLAINTIFF .—The 6 |
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| 237 | 237 | | court shall award a reasonable attorney’s fee as part 7 |
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| 238 | 238 | | of the costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action 8 |
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| 239 | 239 | | under this subsection. 9 |
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| 240 | 240 | | ‘‘(e) B |
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| 241 | 241 | | AR TOPROSECUTION.—A woman upon whom 10 |
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| 242 | 242 | | an abortion is performed may not be prosecuted or held 11 |
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| 243 | 243 | | civilly liable for any violation of this section or for a con-12 |
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| 244 | 244 | | spiracy to violate this section. 13 |
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| 245 | 245 | | ‘‘(f) L |
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| 246 | 246 | | OSS OFFEDERALFUNDING.—A violation of 14 |
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| 247 | 247 | | subsection (b) shall be deemed discrimination for the pur-15 |
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| 248 | 248 | | poses of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 16 |
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| 249 | 249 | | U.S.C. 794). 17 |
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| 250 | 250 | | ‘‘(g) R |
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| 251 | 251 | | EPORTINGREQUIREMENT.— 18 |
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| 252 | 252 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 253 | 253 | | N GENERAL.—A physician, physician’s as-19 |
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| 254 | 254 | | sistant, nurse, counselor, or other medical or mental 20 |
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| 255 | 255 | | health professional shall report known or suspected 21 |
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| 256 | 256 | | violations of any of this section to appropriate law 22 |
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| 257 | 257 | | enforcement authorities. 23 |
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| 261 | 261 | | ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person who vio-1 |
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| 262 | 262 | | lates paragraph (1) shall be fined under this title, 2 |
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| 263 | 263 | | imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 3 |
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| 264 | 264 | | ‘‘(h) E |
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| 265 | 265 | | XPEDITEDCONSIDERATION.—It shall be the 4 |
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| 266 | 266 | | duty of the district courts of the United States, the courts 5 |
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| 267 | 267 | | of appeals of the United States, and the Supreme Court 6 |
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| 268 | 268 | | of the United States to advance on the docket and to expe-7 |
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| 269 | 269 | | dite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 8 |
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| 270 | 270 | | matter brought under this section. 9 |
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| 271 | 271 | | ‘‘(i) P |
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| 272 | 272 | | ROTECTION OF PRIVACY INCOURTPRO-10 |
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| 273 | 273 | | CEEDINGS.— 11 |
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| 274 | 274 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 275 | 275 | | N GENERAL.—Except to the extent the 12 |
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| 276 | 276 | | Constitution of the United States or other similarly 13 |
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| 277 | 277 | | compelling reason requires, in every civil or criminal 14 |
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| 278 | 278 | | action under this section, the court shall make such 15 |
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| 279 | 279 | | orders as are necessary to protect the anonymity of 16 |
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| 280 | 280 | | any woman upon whom an abortion has been per-17 |
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| 281 | 281 | | formed or attempted if she does not give her written 18 |
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| 282 | 282 | | consent to such disclosure. Such orders may be 19 |
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| 283 | 283 | | made upon motion, but shall be made sua sponte if 20 |
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| 284 | 284 | | not otherwise sought by a party. 21 |
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| 285 | 285 | | ‘‘(2) O |
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| 286 | 286 | | RDERS TO PARTIES , WITNESSES, AND 22 |
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| 287 | 287 | | COUNSEL.—The court shall issue appropriate orders 23 |
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| 288 | 288 | | to the parties, witnesses, and counsel and shall di-24 |
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| 289 | 289 | | rect the sealing of the record and exclusion of indi-25 |
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| 292 | 292 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 293 | 293 | | viduals from courtrooms or hearing rooms to the ex-1 |
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| 294 | 294 | | tent necessary to safeguard the identity of a woman 2 |
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| 295 | 295 | | described in paragraph (1) from public disclosure. 3 |
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| 296 | 296 | | ‘‘(3) P |
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| 297 | 297 | | SEUDONYM REQUIRED .—In the absence 4 |
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| 298 | 298 | | of written consent of the woman upon whom an 5 |
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| 299 | 299 | | abortion has been performed or attempted, any 6 |
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| 300 | 300 | | party, other than a public official, who brings an ac-7 |
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| 301 | 301 | | tion under this section shall do so under a pseu-8 |
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| 302 | 302 | | donym. 9 |
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| 303 | 303 | | ‘‘(4) L |
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| 304 | 304 | | IMITATION.—This subsection may not be 10 |
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| 305 | 305 | | construed to conceal the identity of the plaintiff or 11 |
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| 306 | 306 | | of witnesses from the defendant or from attorneys 12 |
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| 307 | 307 | | for the defendant. 13 |
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| 308 | 308 | | ‘‘(j) R |
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| 309 | 309 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.— 14 |
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| 310 | 310 | | ‘‘(1) G |
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| 311 | 311 | | REATER PROTECTION .—Nothing in this 15 |
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| 312 | 312 | | section may be construed to pre-empt or limit any 16 |
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| 313 | 313 | | Federal, State, or local law that provides greater 17 |
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| 314 | 314 | | protections for an unborn child than those provided 18 |
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| 315 | 315 | | in this section. 19 |
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| 316 | 316 | | ‘‘(2) C |
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| 317 | 317 | | REATING OR RECOGNIZING RIGHT .— 20 |
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| 318 | 318 | | Nothing in this section shall be construed as cre-21 |
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| 319 | 319 | | ating or recognizing a right to abortion nor shall it 22 |
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| 320 | 320 | | make lawful an abortion that is otherwise unlawful 23 |
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| 321 | 321 | | under Federal, State, or local law.’’. 24 |
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| 324 | 324 | | •HR 2251 IH |
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| 325 | 325 | | (b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 |
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| 326 | 326 | | of chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 2 |
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| 327 | 327 | | by adding at the end the following: 3 |
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| 328 | 328 | | ‘‘250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn child on the basis of Down |
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| 329 | 329 | | syndrome prohibited.’’. |
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| 330 | 330 | | SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. |
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| 331 | 331 | | 4 |
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| 332 | 332 | | If any portion of this Act, or the amendments made 5 |
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| 333 | 333 | | by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or 6 |
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| 334 | 334 | | circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not af-7 |
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| 335 | 335 | | fect the portions or applications of this Act which can be 8 |
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| 336 | 336 | | given effect without the invalid portion or application. 9 |
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| 337 | 337 | | Æ |
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| 338 | 338 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2251.IH H2251 |
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| 339 | 339 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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