I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4903 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination by abortion 

against an unborn child on the basis of Down syndrome. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2019 

Mr. ESTES (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. 

BABIN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. BRADY, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 

GIANFORTE, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma, Mr. KING of 

Iowa, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 

MEADOWS, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. ROY, Mr. 

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WEBER of 

Texas, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. HICE of 

Georgia, Mr. CLINE, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. CRAWFORD, and Mr. 

JOHNSON of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination by abortion against an unborn child on the basis 

of Down syndrome. 

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 ‘‘Down Syndrome Dis5 crimination by Abortion Prohibition Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCRIMINATION BY ABORTION AGAINST AN UN2 BORN CHILD ON THE BASIS OF DOWN SYN3 DROME PROHIBITED. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn 

8 child on the basis of Down syndrome pro9 hibited 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) ABORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 

12 the act of using or prescribing any instrument, med13 icine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means 

14 with the intent to— 

15 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 

16 known to be pregnant; or 

17 ‘‘(B) terminate the pregnancy of a woman 

18 known to be pregnant, with an intention other 

19 than— 

20 ‘‘(i) to produce a live birth and pre21 serve the life and health of the child born 

22 alive; 

23 ‘‘(ii) to save the life of the pregnant 

24 woman; or 

25 ‘‘(iii) to remove a dead unborn child. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DOWN SYNDROME.—The term ‘Down syn2 drome’ means a chromosomal disorder associated 

3 with— 

4 ‘‘(A) an extra copy of the chromosome 21, 

5 in whole or in part; or 

6 ‘‘(B) an effective trisomy for chromosome 

7 21. 

8 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PLAINTIFF.—The term ‘quali9 fied plaintiff’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) a woman upon whom an abortion is 

11 performed or attempted in violation of this sec12 tion; 

13 ‘‘(B) a maternal grandparent of the un14 born child if the woman upon whom an abortion 

15 is performed or attempted in violation of this 

16 section is an unemancipated minor; 

17 ‘‘(C) the father of an unborn child who is 

18 the subject of an abortion performed or at19 tempted in violation of this section unless the 

20 pregnancy or abortion resulted from the crimi21 nal conduct of the father; or 

22 ‘‘(D) the Attorney General. 

23 ‘‘(4) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 

24 means an individual of the species homo sapiens 

25 from the beginning of the biological development of 


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1 that individual, including fertilization, until the point 

2 of being born alive, as defined in section 8(b) of title 

3 1. 

4 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to— 

5 ‘‘(1) perform an abortion— 

6 ‘‘(A) with the knowledge that a pregnant 

7 woman is seeking an abortion, in whole or in 

8 part, on the basis of— 

9 ‘‘(i) a test result indicating that the 

10 unborn child has Down syndrome; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a prenatal diagnosis that the un12 born child has Down syndrome; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) any other reason to believe that 

14 the unborn child has or may have Down 

15 syndrome; or 

16 ‘‘(B) without first— 

17 ‘‘(i) asking the pregnant woman if she 

18 is aware of any test results, prenatal diag19 nosis, or any other evidence that the un20 born child has or may have Down syn21 drome; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) if the woman is aware that the 

23 unborn child has or may have Down syn24 drome, informing the pregnant woman of 


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1 the prohibitions on abortion under this sec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(2) use force or the threat of force to inten4 tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur5 pose of coercing an abortion described in paragraph 

6 (1)(A); 

7 ‘‘(3) solicit or accept funds for the performance 

8 of an abortion described in paragraph (1)(A); or 

9 ‘‘(4) knowingly transport a woman into the 

10 United States or across a State line for the purpose 

11 of obtaining an abortion described in paragraph 

12 (1)(A). 

13 ‘‘(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person that violates, 

14 or attempts to violate, subsection (b) shall be fined under 

15 this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

16 ‘‘(d) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) CIVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR18 TION IS PERFORMED.—A woman upon whom an 

19 abortion has been performed or attempted in viola20 tion of subsection (b)(2) may bring a civil action in 

21 an appropriate court against any person who en22 gaged in a violation of subsection (b)(2) to obtain 

23 appropriate relief. 

24 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION BY RELATIVES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), the father of an unborn 

3 child who is the subject of an abortion per4 formed or attempted in violation of subsection 

5 (b), or a maternal grandparent of the unborn 

6 child if the pregnant woman is an 

7 unemancipated minor, may bring a civil action 

8 in an appropriate court against any person who 

9 engaged in the violation to obtain appropriate 

10 relief. 

11 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 

12 shall not apply if— 

13 ‘‘(i) the pregnancy or abortion re14 sulted from the criminal conduct of the 

15 plaintiff described in subparagraph (A); or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the plaintiff described in sub17 paragraph (A) consented to the abortion. 

18 ‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE RELIEF.—Appropriate relief 

19 in a civil action under this subsection includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 

21 for all injuries, psychological and physical, in22 cluding loss of companionship and support, oc23 casioned by the violation of this section; and 

24 ‘‘(B) punitive damages. 


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1 ‘‘(4) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—A qualified plaintiff 

2 may bring a civil action in an appropriate court to 

3 obtain injunctive relief to prevent an abortion pro4 vider from performing or attempting further abor5 tions in violation of this section. 

6 ‘‘(5) ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR PLAINTIFF.—The 

7 court shall award a reasonable attorney’s fee as part 

8 of the costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action 

9 under this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(e) BAR TO PROSECUTION.—A woman upon whom 

11 an abortion is performed may not be prosecuted or held 

12 civilly liable for any violation of this section or for a con13 spiracy to violate this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDING.—A violation of 

15 subsection (b) shall be deemed discrimination for the pur16 poses of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

17 U.S.C. 794). 

18 ‘‘(g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A physician, physician’s as20 sistant, nurse, counselor, or other medical or mental 

21 health professional shall report known or suspected 

22 violations of any of this section to appropriate law 

23 enforcement authorities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person who vio2 lates paragraph (1) shall be fined under this title, 

3 imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 

4 ‘‘(h) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—It shall be the 

5 duty of the district courts of the United States, the courts 

6 of appeals of the United States, and the Supreme Court 

7 of the United States to advance on the docket and to expe8 dite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 

9 matter brought under this section. 

10 ‘‘(i) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY IN COURT PRO11 CEEDINGS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except to the extent the 

13 Constitution of the United States or other similarly 

14 compelling reason requires, in every civil or criminal 

15 action under this section, the court shall make such 

16 orders as are necessary to protect the anonymity of 

17 any woman upon whom an abortion has been per18 formed or attempted if she does not give her written 

19 consent to such disclosure. Such orders may be 

20 made upon motion, but shall be made sua sponte if 

21 not otherwise sought by a party. 

22 ‘‘(2) ORDERS TO PARTIES, WITNESSES, AND

23 COUNSEL.—The court shall issue appropriate orders 

24 to the parties, witnesses, and counsel and shall di25 rect the sealing of the record and exclusion of indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:51 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4903.IH H4903

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1 viduals from courtrooms or hearing rooms to the ex2 tent necessary to safeguard the identity of a woman 

3 described in paragraph (1) from public disclosure. 

4 ‘‘(3) PSEUDONYM REQUIRED.—In the absence 

5 of written consent of the woman upon whom an 

6 abortion has been performed or attempted, any 

7 party, other than a public official, who brings an ac8 tion under this section shall do so under a pseu9 donym. 

10 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—This subsection may not be 

11 construed to conceal the identity of the plaintiff or 

12 of witnesses from the defendant or from attorneys 

13 for the defendant.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 of chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

16 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn child on the basis of Down 

syndrome prohibited.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any portion of this Act, or the amendments made 

19 by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or 

20 circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not af21 fect the portions or applications of this Act which can be 

22 given effect without the invalid portion or application. 

Æ 


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