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. 2497 |
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5 | 5 | | To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health |
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6 | 6 | | and Human Services to conduct a public health education, awareness, |
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7 | 7 | | and outreach campaign to enhance access to abortion and related health |
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8 | 8 | | services. |
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9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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10 | 10 | | MARCH31, 2025 |
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11 | 11 | | Ms. C |
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12 | 12 | | ROCKETT(for herself, Mr. GOLDMANof New York, Ms. MCCLELLAN, |
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13 | 13 | | Mr. D |
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14 | 14 | | AVISof Illinois, Mr. LARSONof Connecticut, Mr. JOHNSONof |
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15 | 15 | | Georgia, Ms. V |
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16 | 16 | | ELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. |
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17 | 17 | | B |
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18 | 18 | | ROWNLEY, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. ROSS, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. |
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19 | 19 | | S |
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20 | 20 | | WALWELL, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. TORRESof New York, Mr. LATIMER, |
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21 | 21 | | Mr. C |
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22 | 22 | | OHEN, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the fol- |
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23 | 23 | | lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- |
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24 | 24 | | merce |
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25 | 25 | | A BILL |
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26 | 26 | | To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Sec- |
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27 | 27 | | retary of Health and Human Services to conduct a public |
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28 | 28 | | health education, awareness, and outreach campaign to |
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29 | 29 | | enhance access to abortion and related health services. |
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30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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31 | 31 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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32 | 32 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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33 | 33 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abortion Care Aware-4 |
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34 | 34 | | ness Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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36 | 36 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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37 | 37 | | •HR 2497 IH |
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38 | 38 | | SEC. 2. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 1 |
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39 | 39 | | ON ACCESS TO ABORTION AND RELATED 2 |
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40 | 40 | | HEALTH SERVICES. 3 |
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41 | 41 | | Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 4 |
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42 | 42 | | (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 |
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43 | 43 | | the following: 6 |
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44 | 44 | | ‘‘SEC. 399V–8. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND AWARENESS CAM-7 |
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45 | 45 | | PAIGN ON ACCESS TO ABORTION AND RE-8 |
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46 | 46 | | LATED HEALTH SERVICES. 9 |
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47 | 47 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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48 | 48 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 10 |
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49 | 49 | | coordinated, focused, national public health education, 11 |
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50 | 50 | | awareness, and outreach campaign to enhance access to 12 |
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51 | 51 | | abortion and related health services. 13 |
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52 | 52 | | ‘‘(b) C |
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53 | 53 | | AMPAIGNREQUIREMENTS.—The campaign 14 |
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54 | 54 | | under subsection (a) shall— 15 |
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55 | 55 | | ‘‘(1) include education, awareness, and outreach 16 |
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56 | 56 | | regarding— 17 |
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57 | 57 | | ‘‘(A) where and how to access abortion, in-18 |
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58 | 58 | | cluding medication abortion such as 19 |
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59 | 59 | | mifepristone and misoprostol, and related 20 |
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60 | 60 | | health services, consistent with applicable State 21 |
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61 | 61 | | and Federal laws, including through— 22 |
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62 | 62 | | ‘‘(i) in-person services; and 23 |
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63 | 63 | | ‘‘(ii) telehealth; 24 |
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64 | 64 | | ‘‘(B) the legality and availability of pre-25 |
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65 | 65 | | scribing, dispensing, and receiving abortion, 26 |
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67 | 67 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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68 | 68 | | •HR 2497 IH |
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69 | 69 | | medication abortion such as mifepristone and 1 |
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70 | 70 | | misoprostol, and other related health services, 2 |
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71 | 71 | | consistent with applicable State and Federal 3 |
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72 | 72 | | laws; 4 |
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73 | 73 | | ‘‘(C) medically accurate and complete in-5 |
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74 | 74 | | formation about abortion, including medication 6 |
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75 | 75 | | abortion such as mifepristone and misoprostol; 7 |
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76 | 76 | | ‘‘(D) the rights of patients to legally travel 8 |
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77 | 77 | | across State lines to obtain abortion and related 9 |
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78 | 78 | | health services and information on organiza-10 |
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79 | 79 | | tions available to help support patients needing 11 |
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80 | 80 | | to travel for care; 12 |
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81 | 81 | | ‘‘(E) how to differentiate facilities com-13 |
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82 | 82 | | monly known as anti-abortion centers or crisis 14 |
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83 | 83 | | pregnancy centers from facilities that actually 15 |
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84 | 84 | | provide abortion and related health services, in-16 |
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85 | 85 | | cluding how to identify— 17 |
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86 | 86 | | ‘‘(i) inaccurate or misleading claims 18 |
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87 | 87 | | by such centers about reproductive health 19 |
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88 | 88 | | care; and 20 |
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89 | 89 | | ‘‘(ii) inaccurate, misleading, or stig-21 |
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90 | 90 | | matizing information disseminated by such 22 |
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91 | 91 | | centers about abortion and contraception; 23 |
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92 | 92 | | ‘‘(F) how to identify disinformation cam-24 |
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93 | 93 | | paigns and misinformation regarding abortion 25 |
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95 | 95 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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96 | 96 | | •HR 2497 IH |
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97 | 97 | | and related health services, including medica-1 |
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98 | 98 | | tion abortion, intended to deceive or discourage 2 |
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99 | 99 | | individuals from accessing such services; and 3 |
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100 | 100 | | ‘‘(G) how to protect sensitive personal and 4 |
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101 | 101 | | health information from misuse and surveil-5 |
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102 | 102 | | lance; 6 |
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103 | 103 | | ‘‘(2) make the information required by para-7 |
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104 | 104 | | graph (1) available on the Department of Health 8 |
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105 | 105 | | and Human Services website; and 9 |
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106 | 106 | | ‘‘(3) be designed to ensure cultural competency, 10 |
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107 | 107 | | efficacy, and accessibility for and within underserved 11 |
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108 | 108 | | communities, including— 12 |
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109 | 109 | | ‘‘(A) communities of color; 13 |
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110 | 110 | | ‘‘(B) immigrants; 14 |
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111 | 111 | | ‘‘(C) people with disabilities; 15 |
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112 | 112 | | ‘‘(D) people with limited English pro-16 |
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113 | 113 | | ficiency; 17 |
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114 | 114 | | ‘‘(E) people with low incomes; 18 |
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115 | 115 | | ‘‘(F) young people; 19 |
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116 | 116 | | ‘‘(G) LGBTQI+ people; 20 |
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117 | 117 | | ‘‘(H) people living in rural or other medi-21 |
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118 | 118 | | cally underserved areas; and 22 |
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119 | 119 | | ‘‘(I) people living on Tribal land or receiv-23 |
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120 | 120 | | ing care through the Indian Health Service. 24 |
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122 | 122 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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123 | 123 | | •HR 2497 IH |
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124 | 124 | | ‘‘(c) CAMPAIGNLIMITATIONS.—In carrying out the 1 |
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125 | 125 | | campaign under subsection (a), the Secretary shall not— 2 |
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126 | 126 | | ‘‘(1) promote misinformation regarding the 3 |
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127 | 127 | | safety of abortion and related health services, includ-4 |
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128 | 128 | | ing medication abortion; 5 |
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129 | 129 | | ‘‘(2) promote misinformation regarding ‘abor-6 |
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130 | 130 | | tion reversal’; 7 |
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131 | 131 | | ‘‘(3) promote abstinence-only-until-marriage 8 |
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132 | 132 | | programs, also referred to as sexual risk avoidance 9 |
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133 | 133 | | education programs, or other programs that are not 10 |
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134 | 134 | | comprehensive or medically accurate; or 11 |
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135 | 135 | | ‘‘(4) collect, retain, use, or disclose personal in-12 |
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136 | 136 | | formation about visitors to any website, app, or 13 |
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137 | 137 | | other educational or campaign resource. 14 |
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138 | 138 | | ‘‘(d) C |
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139 | 139 | | ONSULTATION.—In carrying out the campaign 15 |
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140 | 140 | | under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with— 16 |
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141 | 141 | | ‘‘(1) licensed health care professionals who are 17 |
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142 | 142 | | experts in— 18 |
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143 | 143 | | ‘‘(A) sexual and reproductive health; and 19 |
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144 | 144 | | ‘‘(B) abortion and related health services, 20 |
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145 | 145 | | including medication abortion; 21 |
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146 | 146 | | ‘‘(2) nonprofit organizations whose missions are 22 |
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147 | 147 | | focused on expanding reproductive rights, reproduc-23 |
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148 | 148 | | tive health, and reproductive justice, including funds 24 |
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149 | 149 | | to access abortion; 25 |
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151 | 151 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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152 | 152 | | •HR 2497 IH |
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153 | 153 | | ‘‘(3) State and local public health departments; 1 |
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154 | 154 | | and 2 |
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155 | 155 | | ‘‘(4) nonprofit institutions of higher education. 3 |
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156 | 156 | | ‘‘(e) D |
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157 | 157 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 |
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158 | 158 | | ‘‘(1) The term ‘abortion and related health 5 |
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159 | 159 | | services’ means abortion and any services related to, 6 |
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160 | 160 | | and provided in conjunction with, an abortion, 7 |
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161 | 161 | | whether or not provided at the same time or on the 8 |
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162 | 162 | | same day as the abortion. 9 |
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163 | 163 | | ‘‘(2) The term ‘medically accurate and complete 10 |
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164 | 164 | | information’ means information that is— 11 |
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165 | 165 | | ‘‘(A) relevant to informed decision making 12 |
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166 | 166 | | based on current scientific evidence; 13 |
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167 | 167 | | ‘‘(B) derived from research using accepted 14 |
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168 | 168 | | scientific methods; 15 |
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169 | 169 | | ‘‘(C) consistent with generally recognized 16 |
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170 | 170 | | scientific theory, as demonstrated by publica-17 |
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171 | 171 | | tion in peer-reviewed journals (if available) or 18 |
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172 | 172 | | otherwise; and 19 |
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173 | 173 | | ‘‘(D) recognized as accurate, objective, and 20 |
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174 | 174 | | complete by mainstream professional medical 21 |
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175 | 175 | | organizations such as the American Medical As-22 |
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176 | 176 | | sociation, the American College of Obstetricians 23 |
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177 | 177 | | and Gynecologists, the American Public Health 24 |
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178 | 178 | | Association, the American Academy of Pediat-25 |
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180 | 180 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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181 | 181 | | •HR 2497 IH |
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182 | 182 | | rics, and the American Psychological Associa-1 |
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183 | 183 | | tion, and scientific advisory groups such as the 2 |
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184 | 184 | | Institute of Medicine.’’. 3 |
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185 | 185 | | Æ |
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187 | 187 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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