I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3805 

To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the 

opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent 

to receive an abortion. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2012 

Mr. JORDAN (for himself, Mr. AKIN, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. 

BARTLETT, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BRADY

of Texas, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CANSECO, Mr. 

DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. FLORES, Mr. 

FORBES, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. HALL, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Ohio, Mr. JONES, Mr. KELLY, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KLINE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. LONG, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. ROE

of Tennessee, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mrs. 

SCHMIDT, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SOUTHERLAND, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. FLEMING, and Mr. MILLER of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an 

ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound 

before giving informed consent to receive an abortion. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ultrasound Informed 

3 Consent Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

5 ACT. 

6 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 

7 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘TITLE XXXIV—INFORMED 

9 CONSENT 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3401. DEFINITIONS. 

11 ‘‘In this title: 

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

13 the intentional use or prescription of any instru14 ment, medicine, drug, or any other substance or de15 vice or method to terminate the life of an unborn 

16 child, or to terminate the pregnancy of a woman 

17 known to be pregnant with an intention other 

18 than— 

19 ‘‘(A) to produce a live birth and preserve 

20 the life and health of the child after live birth; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(B) to remove an ectopic pregnancy, or to 

23 remove a dead unborn child who died as the re24 sult of a spontaneous abortion, accidental trau25 ma, or a criminal assault on the pregnant fe26 male or her unborn child. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ABORTION PROVIDER.—The term ‘abortion 

2 provider’ means any person legally qualified to per3 form an abortion under applicable Federal and State 

4 laws. 

5 ‘‘(3) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 

6 means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any 

7 stage of development prior to birth. 

8 ‘‘(4) UNEMANCIPATED MINOR.—The term 

9 ‘unemancipated minor’ means a minor who is sub10 ject to the control, authority, and supervision of his 

11 or her parent or guardian, as determined under 

12 State law. 

13 ‘‘(5) WOMAN.—The term ‘woman’ means a fe14 male human being whether or not she has reached 

15 the age of majority. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 3402. REQUIREMENT OF INFORMED CONSENT. 

17 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF COMPLIANCE BY PRO18 VIDERS.—Any abortion provider in or affecting interstate 

19 or foreign commerce, who knowingly performs any abor20 tion, shall comply with the requirements of this title. 

21 ‘‘(b) PERFORMANCE AND REVIEW OF

22 ULTRASOUND.—Prior to a woman giving informed con23 sent to having any part of an abortion performed, the 

24 abortion provider who is to perform the abortion, or an 

25 agent under the supervision of the provider, shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) perform an obstetric ultrasound on the 

2 pregnant woman; 

3 ‘‘(2) provide a simultaneous explanation of 

4 what the ultrasound is depicting; 

5 ‘‘(3) display the ultrasound images so that the 

6 pregnant woman may view them; and 

7 ‘‘(4) provide a complete medical description of 

8 the ultrasound images, which shall include all of the 

9 following: the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, 

10 cardiac activity if present and visible, and the pres11 ence of external members and internal organs if 

12 present and viewable. 

13 ‘‘(c) ABILITY TO TURN EYES AWAY.—Nothing in 

14 this section shall be construed to prevent a pregnant 

15 woman from turning her eyes away from the ultrasound 

16 images required to be displayed and described to her. Nei17 ther the abortion provider nor the pregnant woman shall 

18 be subject to any penalty under this title if the pregnant 

19 woman declines to look at the displayed ultrasound im20 ages. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3403. EXCEPTION FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCIES. 

22 ‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—The provisions of section 3402 

23 shall not apply to an abortion provider if the abortion is 

24 necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endan25 gered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical 


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1 injury, including a life-endangering physical condition 

2 caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. 

3 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—Upon a determination by an 

4 abortion provider under subsection (a) that an abortion 

5 is necessary to save the life of a mother, such provider 

6 shall include in the medical file of the pregnant woman 

7 a truthful and accurate certification of the specific medical 

8 circumstances that support such determination. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3404. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY. 

10 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

12 commence a civil action in Federal court under this 

13 section against any abortion provider who knowingly 

14 commits an act constituting a violation of this title 

15 for a penalty in an amount not to exceed— 

16 ‘‘(A) $100,000 for each violation in the 

17 first proceeding in the case of the first such vio18 lation; and 

19 ‘‘(B) $250,000 per violation in the case of 

20 each subsequent proceeding. 

21 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Upon the assessment of 

22 a civil penalty under paragraph (1), the Attorney 

23 General shall notify the appropriate State medical li24 censing authority. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A woman upon 

2 whom an abortion has been performed in violation of this 

3 title may commence a civil action against the abortion pro4 vider for any violation of this title for actual and punitive 

5 damages. For purposes of the preceding sentence, actual 

6 damages are objectively verifiable money damages for all 

7 injuries.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. PREEMPTION. 

9 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

10 Act shall be construed to preempt any provision of State 

11 law to the extent that such State law establishes, imple12 ments, or continues in effect disclosure requirements re13 garding abortion or penalties for failure to comply with 

14 such requirements that are more extensive than those pro15 vided under the amendment made by this Act. 

16 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

17 If any provision of this Act, or any application there18 of, is found to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this 

19 Act and any application thereof shall not be affected by 

20 such finding. 

Æ 


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