II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 121 

To impose admitting privilege requirements with respect to physicians who 

perform abortions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To impose admitting privilege requirements with respect to 

physicians who perform abortions. 

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 ‘‘Pregnant Women 

5 Health and Safety Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR PHYSICIANS RELATING TO THE 

7 PERFORMANCE OF ABORTIONS. 

8 Chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1532. Prohibition on certain procedures 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A physician who, in or affecting 

3 interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly performs an 

4 abortion and, in doing so, fails to comply with subsection 

5 (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 

6 than 2 years, or both. This subsection shall not apply to 

7 an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother 

8 whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical 

9 illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering 

10 physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy 

11 itself. 

12 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A physician who performs an 

13 abortion shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) have admitting privileges at a hospital to 

15 which the physician can travel in one hour or less 

16 (determined on the basis of starting at the principal 

17 medical office of the physician and traveling to the 

18 hospital) and under the average conditions of travel 

19 for the physician; and 

20 ‘‘(2) at the time of the abortion, notify the pa21 tient involved of the hospital location where the pa22 tient can receive follow-up care by the physician if 

23 complications resulting from the abortion arise. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

25 ‘physician’ means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy le26 gally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the 


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1 State in which the doctor performs such activity, or any 

2 other individual legally authorized by the State to perform 

3 abortions: Provided, however, That any individual who is 

4 not a physician or not otherwise legally authorized by the 

5 State to perform abortions, but who nevertheless directly 

6 performs an abortion, shall be subject to the provisions 

7 of this section. 

8 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—A woman upon whom a proce9 dure described in subsection (a) is performed may not be 

10 prosecuted under this section, for a conspiracy to violate 

11 this section, or for an offense under section 2, 3, or 4 

12 of this title based on a violation of this section.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF ABORTION CLINICS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each abortion clinic that receives 

15 any Federal funds or assistance shall— 

16 (1) be licensed by the State in which it is lo17 cated; and 

18 (2) be in compliance with the requirements ex19 isting on the date of enactment of this Act for am20 bulatory surgery centers under title XVIII of the So21 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1935 et seq.), except 

22 for the requirement of a certificate of public need. 

23 (b) WAIVER.—For purposes of complying with sub24 section (a)(2) with respect to an abortion clinic, a State 

25 board of health may waive the application of certain strucVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:44 Jan 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S121.IS S121

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1 tural requirements (as determined appropriate by the Sec2 retary of Health and Human Services). 

3 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘abortion 

4 clinic’’ means a facility other than a hospital or an ambu5 latory surgery center, in which 25 or more first trimester 

6 abortions are performed during any 12-month period. 

Æ 


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