I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4935 

To prohibit chemical abortions performed without the presence of a healthcare 

provider, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2019 

Mr. WRIGHT (for himself, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. 

ADERHOLT, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. 

BANKS, Mr. HARRIS, and Mr. GIBBS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit chemical abortions performed without the 

presence of a healthcare provider, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teleabortion Preven5 tion Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHEMICAL ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A 

2 HEALTHCARE PROVIDER PRESENT. 

3 (a) CHEMICAL ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A

4 PHYSICIAN PRESENT.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in the chapter heading by striking ‘‘PAR7 TIAL-BIRTH’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 1531 the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘§ 1532. Chemical abortions prohibited without a 

11 healthcare provider physically present 

12 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any healthcare provider who, in or 

13 affecting interstate or foreign commerce, who knowingly 

14 provides or attempts to provide a chemical abortion— 

15 ‘‘(1) without physically examining the patient; 

16 ‘‘(2) without being physically present at the lo17 cation of the chemical abortion; or 

18 ‘‘(3) without scheduling a follow-up visit for the 

19 patient to occur not more than 14 days after the ad20 ministration or use of the drug to assess the pa21 tient’s physical condition, 

22 shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not 

23 more than 2 years, or both. This subsection does not apply 

24 to a chemical abortion that is necessary to save the life 

25 of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical dis26 order, physical illness, or physical injury, including a lifeVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4935.IH H4935

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1 endangering physical condition caused by or arising from 

2 the pregnancy itself. 

3 ‘‘(b) NO LIABILITY OF THE PATIENT.—A patient 

4 upon whom an abortion is performed may not be pros5 ecuted under this section or for a conspiracy to violate 

6 this section. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ABORTION DRUG.—The term ‘abortion 

9 drug’ means any medicine, drug or any other sub10 stance, or any combination of drugs, medicines or 

11 substances, when it is used— 

12 ‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 

13 of a woman known to be pregnant; or 

14 ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg15 nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 

16 an intention other than— 

17 ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 

19 ‘‘(2) ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE.—In this section, 

20 the term ‘attempts to provide’, means conduct that, 

21 under the circumstances as the actor believes them 

22 to be, constitutes a substantial step in a course of 

23 conduct planned to culminate in a chemical abortion. 

24 ‘‘(3) HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.—The term 

25 ‘healthcare provider’ means any person licensed to 


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1 prescribe prescription drugs under applicable Fed2 eral and State laws. 

3 ‘‘(4) PROVIDE.—In this section, the term ‘pro4 vide’, means to dispense or prescribe an abortion 

5 drug, or to otherwise make an abortion drug avail6 able to a patient. 

7 ‘‘(5) CHEMICAL ABORTION.—The term ‘chem8 ical abortion’ refers to the use of an abortion drug 

9 to— 

10 ‘‘(A) intentionally kill the unborn child of 

11 a woman known to be pregnant; or 

12 ‘‘(B) intentionally terminate the pregnancy 

13 of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in14 tention other than— 

15 ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 

17 ‘‘(6) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 

18 means an individual organism of the species homo 

19 sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of 

20 being born alive as defined in section 8(b). 

21 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING ECTOPIC

22 PREGNANCY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

23 to have any impact on the treatment of a verified ectopic 

24 pregnancy. 


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1 ‘‘(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 

2 or the application of such provision to any person or cir3 cumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec4 tion and the application of the provisions of the remainder 

5 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there6 by.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) CHAPTER 74.—The table of sections for 

9 such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 

10 relating to section 1531 the following: 

‘‘1532. Chemical abortions prohibited without a healthcare provider physically 

present.’’. 

11 (2) PART I.—The table of chapters for part I 

12 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik13 ing the item relating to chapter 74, and inserting 

14 the following: 

‘‘74. Abortions .......................................................................................... 1531’’. 

Æ 


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