Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696592172903.pdf (United States)
I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 175 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. CARL, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. TIFFANY, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. MAST, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. CLINE, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ESTES, Mr. BABIN, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. ROSE, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. POSEY, Mr. KUSTOFF, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. JACKSON of Texas, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. FITZGERALD, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. FALLON, Mr. DUNN of Flor- ida, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. BAIRD, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mrs. LESKO, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. GUTHRIE, and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
1 2 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i SECTION 1.

SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heartbeat Protection Act of 2023’’.

SEC.

2.

ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A CHECK FOR FETAL HEARTBEAT, OR IF A FETAL HEART- BEAT IS DETECTABLE.
(a) ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A CHECK FOR FETAL HEARTBEAT, OR IF A FETAL HEARTBEAT IS DETECTABLE.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in the chapter heading, by striking ‘‘PAR- TIAL-BIRTH’’; (2) by inserting after section 1531 the fol- lowing: ‘‘§ 1532.
Abortions prohibited without a check for fetal heartbeat, or if a fetal heartbeat is detectable ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any physician who knowingly per- forms an abortion and thereby kills a human unborn 20 child— ‘‘(1) without determining, according to stand- ard medical practice, whether the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat; ‘‘(2) without informing the mother of the re- sults of that determination; or •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ ‘‘(3) after determining, according to standard medical practice, that the unborn child has a detect- able heartbeat, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
This subsection does not apply to an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy 10 itself, but not including psychological or emotional condi- 11 tions.
12 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 13 if— ‘‘(1) in reasonable medical judgment, the abor- tion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical dis- order, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including psychological or emotional conditions; ‘‘(2) the pregnancy is the result of rape against an adult woman, and at least 48 hours prior to the abortion— ‘‘(A) she has obtained counseling for the rape; or •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i 4 ‘‘(B) she has obtained medical treatment for the rape or an injury related to the rape; or ‘‘(3) the pregnancy is a result of rape against a minor or incest against a minor, and the rape or incest has been reported at any time prior to the abortion to either— ‘‘(A) a government agency legally author- ized to act on reports of child abuse; or ‘‘(B) a law enforcement agency.
‘‘(c) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.— ‘‘(1) DOCUMENTATION PERTAINING TO ADULTS.—A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception provided by subsection (b)(2) shall, prior to performing the abor- tion, place in the patient medical file documentation from a hospital licensed by the State or operated under authority of a Federal agency, a medical clinic licensed by the State or operated under authority of a Federal agency, from a personal physician licensed by the State, a counselor licensed by the State, or a victim’s rights advocate provided by a law enforce- ment agency that the adult woman seeking the abor- tion obtained medical treatment or counseling for the rape or an injury related to the rape.
•HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i 5 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION PERTAINING TO MI- NORS.—A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception provided by subsection (b)(3) shall, prior to performing the abor- tion, place in the patient medical file documentation from a government agency legally authorized to act on reports of child abuse that the rape or incest was reported prior to the abortion; or, as an alternative, documentation from a law enforcement agency that the rape or incest was reported prior to the abortion.
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETENTION.—Para- graph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, shall apply to documentation required to be placed in a patient’s medical file pursuant to paragraph (6) of such section and a consent form required to be re- tained in a patient’s medical file pursuant to paragraph (7) of such section in the same manner and to the same extent as such paragraph applies to documentation re- quired by paragraph (j)(1) of such section.
‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTIONS AND REQUIRE- MENTS.— 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES.— Notwithstanding the definitions set forth in sub- section (j), the counseling described in subsection (b)(2)(A) and subsection (c)(1) or medical treatment •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i 6 may not be provided by a facility that performs abortions (unless that facility is a hospital).
‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION IN CASES OF RE- PORTS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.—The requirements of subsection (b)(2) do not apply if the rape has been reported at any time prior to the abortion to a law enforcement agency or Department of Defense victim assistance personnel.
‘‘(f) DEFENDANT MAY SEEK HEARING.—A defend- ant indicted for an offense under this section may seek a hearing before the State Medical Board on whether the physician’s conduct was necessary to save the life of the mother whose life was endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endan- gering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including psychological or emo- tional conditions.
The findings on that issue are admissible on that issue at the trial of the defendant.

Upon a motion of the defendant, the court shall delay the beginning of the trial for not more than 30 days to permit such a hear- ing to take place.
22 23 24 25 ‘‘(g) NO LIABILITY FOR THE MOTHER ON WHOM ABORTION IS PERFORMED.—A mother upon whom an abortion is performed may not be prosecuted under this section, for a conspiracy to violate this section, or for an •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ 10 11 offense under section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this section.
‘‘(h) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETENTION.—The physician shall include in the medical file of the mother documentation of the determination, according to stand- ard medical practice, of whether the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat, the results of that determination, no- tification of the mother of those results, and any informa- tion entered into evidence in any proceedings under sub- section (b).
Paragraph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, shall apply to such docu- 12 mentation.

13 14 15 16 17 ‘‘(i) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section or the application of such provision to any person or cir- cumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec- tion and the application of the provisions of the remainder to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there- 18 by.
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(1) The term ‘counseling’ means counseling provided by a counselor licensed by the State, or a victims rights advocate provided by a law enforce- ment agency.
‘‘(2) The term ‘medical treatment’ means treat- ment provided at a hospital licensed by the State or •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i 8 operated under authority of a Federal agency, at a medical clinic licensed by the State or operated under authority of a Federal agency, or from a per- sonal physician licensed by the State.
‘‘(3) The term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre- scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device— ‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant; or ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg- nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with an intention other than— ‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live birth and preserve the life and health of the child born alive; or ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child.
‘‘(4) The term ‘attempt’, with respect to an abortion, means conduct that, under the cir- cumstances as the actor believes them to be, con- stitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in performing an abortion.
‘‘(5) The term ‘facility’ means any medical or counseling group, center or clinic and includes the entire legal entity, including any entity that controls, •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i 9 is controlled by, or is under common control with such facility.
‘‘(6) The term ‘perform’, with respect to an abortion, includes inducing an abortion through a medical or chemical intervention including writing a prescription for a drug or device intended to result in an abortion.

‘‘(7) The term ‘physician’ means a person li- censed to practice medicine and surgery or osteo- pathic medicine and surgery, or otherwise legally au- thorized to perform an abortion.
‘‘(8) The term ‘reasonable medical judgment’ means a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved.

‘‘(9) The term ‘unborn child’ means an indi- vidual organism of the species homo sapiens, begin- ning at fertilization, until the point of being born alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 1.
‘‘(10) The term ‘woman’ means a female human being whether or not she has reached the age of majority.
‘‘(k) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— •HR 175 IH B O J _ $ $ ‘‘(1) GREATER PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in this section may be construed to pre-empt or limit any Federal, State, or local law that provides greater protections for an unborn child than those provided in this section.
‘‘(2) CREATION OF RECOGNITION OF RIGHT.— Nothing in this section may be construed to create or recognize a right to abortion or to make lawful an abortion that is unlawful on the effective date of this section.’’; and (3) in the table of sections, by inserting after the item pertaining to section 1841 the following: ‘‘1532.

Abortions prohibited without a check for fetal heartbeat, or if a fetal heartbeat is detectable.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended, in the item relating to chapter 74, to read as follows: ‘‘74.

Abortions .......................................................................................... 1531’’.

Æ B O J _ $ $ h t i w D O R P 2 X 7 W V L J K S D n o s n n b p i •HR 175 IH