II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 242
To protect the dignity of fetal remains, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY24, 2025
Mr. R
ICKETTS(for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. SHEEHY, Mr. BANKS, Mr.
D
AINES, Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SCHMITT, Mr. JUS-
TICE, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To protect the dignity of fetal remains, and for other
purposes.
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 ‘‘Dignity for Aborted 4
Children Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 6
Congress enacts the following pursuant to Congress’ 7
power under— 8
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(1) the Interstate Commerce Clause of section 1
8 of article I of the Constitution; 2
(2) section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the 3
Constitution of the United States, including the 4
power to enforce the prohibition on government ac-5
tion denying equal protection of the laws; and 6
(3) section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 7
the United States to make all laws necessary and 8
proper for the carrying into execution of powers 9
vested by the Constitution in the Government of the 10
United States. 11
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF FETAL REMAINS. 12
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Part H of title IV of the Public 13
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289 et seq.) is amended 14
by adding at the end the following: 15
‘‘SEC. 498F. PROTECTION OF FETAL REMAINS. 16
‘‘(a) C
ONSENTREQUIREMENT.— 17
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Any abortion provider, 18
after performing an abortion, shall provide the pa-19
tient with an informed consent form, offering the 20
patient the following options for disposal of the 21
human fetal tissue from the abortion: 22
‘‘(A) The patient may take possession of 23
the human fetal tissue and may choose to 24
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transfer the tissue to an entity providing inter-1
ment or cremation services. 2
‘‘(B) The patient may elect to release the 3
human fetal tissue to the abortion provider, 4
who shall be subject to the requirements of sub-5
section (b). 6
‘‘(2) C
ONSENT REQUIREMENTS .—An abortion 7
provider described in paragraph (1) shall— 8
‘‘(A) obtain a patient signature on each 9
consent form required under paragraph (1); 10
and 11
‘‘(B) retain each such form in the patient’s 12
file. 13
‘‘(b) P
ROVIDERDISPOSALREQUIREMENT.—It shall 14
be unlawful for any abortion provider who, after per-15
forming an abortion in which the woman on whom the 16
abortion was performed elects, pursuant to subsection 17
(a)(1)(B), to release the human fetal tissue to the abortion 18
provider, to fail to provide for the final disposition of the 19
human fetal tissue through interment or cremation, con-20
sistent with State law regarding the disposal of human 21
remains, not later than 7 days after the date on which 22
the abortion procedure was performed. Such final disposi-23
tion of human fetal tissue may be carried out through in-24
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terment or cremation of tissue from more than one abor-1
tion procedure collectively. 2
‘‘(c) P
ENALTIES.— 3
‘‘(1) I
NFORMED CONSENT VIOLATIONS .—An 4
abortion provider who fails to maintain the docu-5
mentation required under subsection (a)(2)(B) shall 6
be subject to civil monetary penalties in an amount 7
not to exceed $50,000. 8
‘‘(2) D
ISPOSAL VIOLATIONS .—Any abortion 9
provider who violates subsection (b) shall be fined in 10
accordance with title 18, United States Code, im-11
prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 12
‘‘(3) B
AR TO PROSECUTION .—A patient upon 13
whom an abortion in violation of subsection (b) is 14
performed or attempted may not be prosecuted 15
under, or for a conspiracy to violate, paragraph (1), 16
or for an offense under section 2, 3, or 4 of title 18, 17
United States Code, based on such a violation. 18
‘‘(d) R
EPORTING.—Each abortion provider described 19
in subsection (a)(1) shall submit annual reports to the 20
Secretary indicating, with respect to the reporting pe-21
riod— 22
‘‘(1) the aggregate number of abortion proce-23
dures performed by such abortion provider; 24
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‘‘(2) the gestational age at the time of each 1
such procedure; and 2
‘‘(3) for abortions carried out using an abortion 3
method other than chemical abortion, the aggregate 4
number of fetal remains transferred for interment or 5
cremation and the number released to patients. 6
‘‘(e) A
NNUALREPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.—The 7
Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report on 8
the number of abortions by State, procedure type, and 9
method of disposal of human fetal tissue. 10
‘‘(f) N
ON-PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section 11
shall preempt any State requirement that, at a minimum, 12
requires interment or cremation in the same manner that 13
other human remains are required to be treated in such 14
State. 15
‘‘(g) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section— 16
‘‘(1) the term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre-17
scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any 18
other substance or device— 19
‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 20
of a woman known to be pregnant; or 21
‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg-22
nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 23
an intention other than— 24
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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; or 3
‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child; 4
‘‘(2) the term ‘abortion provider’ means an in-5
dividual or entity that performs abortions; and 6
‘‘(3) the term ‘human fetal tissue’ has the 7
meaning given the term in section 498A(g).’’. 8
Æ
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