I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1382 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize any abortion or sterilization procedure performed without the informed consent of the person 

on whom such procedure is performed, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. 

MURPHY of North Carolina, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mrs. FISCHBACH, 

Mrs. HINSON, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BABIN, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. 

BANKS, Mrs. BOEBERT, Ms. MACE, Mr. BUDD, Mr. FALLON, Mr. 

FEENSTRA, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of South 

Dakota, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. KELLER, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. LATTA, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. ROSE, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and 

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize any 

abortion or sterilization procedure performed without the 

informed consent of the person on whom such procedure 

is performed, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ABORTION AND STERILIZATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 120. Abortion and sterilization without informed 

9 consent 

10 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Whoever, under the circumstances 

11 described in subsection (b), knowingly performs an abor12 tion or a sterilization procedure on a person without the 

13 informed consent of such person shall be fined under this 

14 title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 

15 ‘‘(b) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 

16 subsection (a), the circumstances described in this sub17 section are that— 

18 ‘‘(1) the defendant is an officer, employee, or 

19 contractor of the Federal Government; 

20 ‘‘(2) the defendant is a recipient of Federal 

21 funds from the Secretary of Health and Human 

22 Services or a program administered by the Secretary 

23 of Health and Human Services; or 

24 ‘‘(3) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc25 curred in or affected interstate commerce. 

26 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) does not 

2 apply— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case that a woman suffers 

4 from a physical disorder, physical injury, or 

5 physical illness that would, as certified by a 

6 physician, place the woman in danger of death 

7 unless an abortion is performed, including a 

8 life-endangering physical condition caused by or 

9 arising from the pregnancy itself and not in10 cluding psychological or emotional conditions; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(B) if, in reasonable medical judgement, 

13 a sterilization procedure is necessary to— 

14 ‘‘(i) save the life of an individual 

15 whose life is endangered by a physical dis16 order, physical illness, or physical injury, 

17 including a life-endangering physical condi18 tion caused by or arising from the repro19 ductive organs of the individual and not in20 cluding psychological or emotional condi21 tions; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) to prevent serious risk of sub23 stantial and irreversible impairment of a 

24 major bodily function created by a delay. 


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1 ‘‘(2) WITHHOLDING OF CONSENT.—Paragraph 

2 (1) shall not apply if the individual on whom an 

3 abortion or sterilization procedure is performed has 

4 explicitly refused to consent to the abortion or steri5 lization procedure. 

6 ‘‘(d) CONDUCT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH KNOWLEDGE

7 OF VIOLATIONS.—Whoever, being an officer, employee, or 

8 contractor of the Federal Government or an employee or 

9 contractor of a recipient of Federal funds from the Sec10 retary of Health and Human Services or a program ad11 ministered by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv12 ices, has knowledge of a failure to comply with subsection 

13 (a) and does not, as soon as possible, make known the 

14 same to a Federal or State law enforcement agency, shall 

15 be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three 

16 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

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

19 the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, 

20 drug, or any other substance or device— 

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

22 of a woman known to be pregnant; or 

23 ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg24 nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 

25 an intention other than— 


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1 ‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live 

2 birth and preserve the life and health of 

3 the child born alive; or 

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

5 ‘‘(2) REASONABLE MEDICAL JUDGMENT.—The 

6 term ‘reasonable medical judgment’ means a medical 

7 judgment that would be made by a reasonably pru8 dent physician, knowledgeable about the case and 

9 the treatment possibilities with respect to the med10 ical conditions involved. 

11 ‘‘(3) STERILIZATION PROCEDURE.—The term 

12 ‘sterilization procedure’ means any medical proce13 dure, treatment, or operation for the purpose of ren14 dering an individual permanently incapable of repro15 ducing.’’. 

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

17 for chapter 7 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

18 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘120. Abortion and sterilization without informed consent.’’. 

Æ 


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