I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 195 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants 

to nonprofit tax-exempt organizations for the purchase of ultrasound 

equipment to provide free examinations to pregnant women needing such 

services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. STEARNS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to make grants to nonprofit tax-exempt organizations 

for the purchase of ultrasound equipment to provide 

free examinations to pregnant women needing such services, 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 ‘‘Informed Choice Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PURCHASE OF ULTRASOUND EQUIP2 MENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services may make grants for the purchase of 

5 ultrasound equipment. Such ultrasound equipment shall 

6 be used by the recipients of such grants to provide, under 

7 the direction and supervision of a licensed medical physi8 cian, free ultrasound examinations to pregnant women 

9 needing such services. 

10 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—An entity may re11 ceive a grant under subsection (a) only if the entity meets 

12 the following conditions: 

13 (1) The entity is a nonprofit private organiza14 tion that is approved by the Internal Revenue Serv15 ice as a tax-exempt entity under section 501(c)(3) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

17 (2) The entity operates as a community-based 

18 pregnancy help medical clinic, as defined in sub19 section (f). 

20 (3) The entity provides medical services to 

21 pregnant women under the guidance and supervision 

22 of a physician who serves as the medical director of 

23 the clinic and is duly licensed to practice medicine 

24 in the State in which the entity is located. 

25 (4) The entity is legally qualified to provide 

26 such medical services to pregnant women and is in 


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1 compliance with all Federal, State, and local require2 ments for the provision of such services. 

3 (5) The entity agrees to comply with the fol4 lowing medical procedures: 

5 (A) Each pregnant woman upon whom the 

6 ultrasound equipment is used will be shown the 

7 visual image of the fetus from the ultrasound 

8 examination and will be given a general ana9 tomical and physiological description of the 

10 characteristics of the fetus. 

11 (B) Each pregnant woman will be given, 

12 according to the best medical judgment of the 

13 physician performing the ultrasound examina14 tion or the physician’s agent performing such 

15 exam, the approximate age of the embryo or 

16 fetus considering the number of weeks elapsed 

17 from the probable time of the conception of the 

18 embryo or fetus, based upon the information 

19 provided by the client as to the time of her last 

20 menstrual period, her medical history, a phys21 ical examination, or appropriate laboratory 

22 tests. 

23 (C) Each pregnant woman will be given in24 formation on abortion and alternatives to abor25 tion such as childbirth and adoption and inforVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:49 Jan 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H195.IH H195

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1 mation concerning public and private agencies 

2 that will assist in those alternatives. 

3 (D) The entity will obtain and maintain 

4 medical malpractice insurance in an amount not 

5 less than $1,000,000, and such insurance will 

6 cover all activities relating to the use of the 

7 ultrasound machine purchased with the grant 

8 under subsection (a). 

9 (6) The entity does not receive more than 30 

10 percent of its gross annual revenue from a single 

11 source or donor. 

12 (c) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUAL GRANT AMOUNT.— 

13 No grant under subsection (a) may be made in an amount 

14 that exceeds an amount equal to 50 percent of the pur15 chase price cost of the ultrasound machine involved, or 

16 $20,000, whichever is less. 

17 (d) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.—A grant may be 

18 made under subsection (a) only if an application for the 

19 grant is submitted to the Secretary and the application 

20 is in such form, is made in such manner, and contains 

21 such agreements, assurances, and information as the Sec22 retary determines to be necessary to carry out this section. 

23 (e) ANNUAL REPORT TO SECRETARY.—A grant may 

24 be made under subsection (a) only if the applicant for the 

25 grant agrees to report on an annual basis to the Secretary, 


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1 in such form and manner as the Secretary may require, 

2 on the ongoing compliance of the applicant with the eligi3 bility conditions established in subsection (b). 

4 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act: 

5 (1) The term ‘‘community-based pregnancy help 

6 medical clinic’’ means a facility that— 

7 (A) provides free medical services to preg8 nant women under the supervision and direction 

9 of a licensed physician who serves as the med10 ical director for such clinic; and 

11 (B) does not charge for any services ren12 dered to its clients, whether or not such services 

13 are for pregnancy or nonpregnancy related mat14 ters. 

15 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services. 

17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

18 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

19 to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and 

20 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

21 2011 through 2012. 

Æ 


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