II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1231 

To prohibit disinformation in the advertising of abortion services, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WELCH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WARNER, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MURRAY, and 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit disinformation in the advertising of abortion 

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 ‘‘Stop Antiabortion 

5 Disinformation Act’’ or the ‘‘SAD Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Abortion services are an essential compo2 nent of reproductive health care. 

3 (2) On June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson 

4 Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court 

5 overruled Roe v. Wade, reversing decades of prece6 dent recognizing a constitutional right to abortion 

7 before fetal viability and permitting decimation of an 

8 already precarious landscape of abortion access. 

9 (3) The effects were immediate and disastrous. 

10 As of January 2023, abortion is unavailable in 14 

11 States, leaving 17.8 million women of reproductive 

12 age (ages 15 to 49) and transgender and gender 

13 nonconforming individuals without abortion access in 

14 the home state of such individuals. 

15 (4) Travel time to an abortion clinic, already 

16 burdensome under Roe, has more than tripled since 

17 the Dobbs decision, as scores of clinics in already 

18 underserved areas have been forced to close and 

19 more patients have been forced to travel to other 

20 States. As distance to an abortion facility increases, 

21 so do the accompanying burdens of time off from 

22 work or school, lost wages, transportation costs, 

23 lodging, child care costs, and other ancillary costs. 


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1 (5) The freedom to decide whether and when to 

2 have a child is key to the ability of an individual to 

3 participate fully in our democracy. 

4 (6) Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are anti5 abortion organizations that present themselves as 

6 comprehensive reproductive health care providers 

7 with the intent of discouraging pregnant people from 

8 having abortions. 

9 (7) According to the Journal of Medical Inter10 net Research (JMIR) Public Health and Surveil11 lance, there are more than 2,500 CPCs in the 

12 United States, though some antiabortion groups 

13 claim that the number is closer to 4,000. 

14 (8) According to 2020 data from JMIR Public 

15 Health and Surveillance, on average, CPCs out16 number abortion clinics nationwide by an average of 

17 3 to 1. In some States, this statistic is higher. For 

18 example, The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s 

19 Rights & Gender Equality (The Alliance) found that 

20 in Pennsylvania, CPCs outnumber abortion clinics 

21 by 9 to 1. The Alliance also found that in Min22 nesota, CPCs outnumber abortion clinics by 11 to 1. 

23 (9) CPCs routinely engage in a variety of de24 ceptive tactics, including making false claims about 

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1 nating inaccurate, misleading, and stigmatizing in2 formation about the risks of abortion and contracep3 tion, and using illegitimate or false citations to 

4 imply that deceptive claims are supported by legiti5 mate medical sources. 

6 (10) CPCs typically advertise themselves as 

7 providers of comprehensive health care. However, 

8 most CPCs in the United States do not employ li9 censed medical personnel or provide referrals for 

10 birth control or abortion care. 

11 (11) By using these deceptive tactics, CPCs 

12 prevent people from accessing reproductive health 

13 care and intentionally delay access to time-sensitive 

14 abortion services. The harm of these delays is far 

15 greater in the wake of the Dobbs decision. 

16 (12) CPCs target underresourced neighbor17 hoods and communities of color, including Black, 

18 Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American, Pacific Is19 lander, and immigrant communities, by locating 

20 their facilities near social services centers and com21 prehensive reproductive health care providers. CPCs 

22 place advertisements in these neighborhoods that 

23 mislead and draw people away from nearby pro24 viders that offer evidence-based sexual and reproduc25 tive health care, including abortion care. This exacVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1231.IS S1231

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1 erbates existing health barriers and delays access to 

2 time-sensitive care. 

3 (13) People are entitled to honest, accurate, 

4 and timely information when seeking reproductive 

5 health care. 

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISINFORMATION OF ABORTION 

7 SERVICES. 

8 (a) CONDUCT PROHIBITED.— 

9 (1) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any 

10 person to engage in deceptive advertising about the 

11 reproductive health services offered by the person, 

12 including advertising that deceptively states that the 

13 person— 

14 (A) offers or provides contraception or 

15 abortion services (or referrals for such contra16 ception or abortion services); or 

17 (B) employs or offers access to licensed 

18 medical personnel. 

19 (2) RULEMAKING.—The Commission may pro20 mulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, to implement this section. 

22 (3) ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION.—A 

23 violation of this section or a regulation promulgated 

24 under this section shall be treated as a violation of 

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1 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or 

3 practices. Except as otherwise provided in para4 graphs (4) to (6), the Commission shall enforce this 

5 section and the regulations promulgated under this 

6 section in the same manner, by the same means, and 

7 with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 

8 though all applicable terms and provisions of the 

9 Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated 

10 into and made a part of this section. Any person 

11 who violates this section or a regulation promulgated 

12 under this section shall be subject to the penalties 

13 and entitled to the privileges and immunities pro14 vided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

16 (4) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—Notwith17 standing section 4, 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal 

18 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) 

19 or any jurisdictional limitation of the Commission, 

20 the Commission shall also enforce this section or a 

21 regulation promulgated under this section, in the 

22 same manner provided in paragraphs (1) and (3), 

23 with respect to organizations not organized to carry 

24 on business for their own profit or that of their 

25 members. 


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1 (5) CIVIL PENALTY.—In addition to any other 

2 penalty as may be prescribed by law, any person who 

3 violates this section or a regulation promulgated 

4 under this section shall be punishable by a civil pen5 alty that shall not exceed the greater of— 

6 (A) $100,000; or 

7 (B) 50 percent of the revenues earned by 

8 the ultimate parent entity of a person during 

9 the preceding 12-month period. 

10 (6) INDEPENDENT LITIGATION AUTHORITY.— 

11 (A) CIVIL ACTION BY COMMISSION.—If the 

12 Commission has reason to believe that a person 

13 has violated this section or a regulation promul14 gated under this section, the Commission may 

15 bring a civil action in any appropriate United 

16 States district court for any of the following 

17 remedies: 

18 (i) To enjoin any further such viola19 tion by such person. 

20 (ii) To enforce compliance with this 

21 section or a regulation promulgated under 

22 this section. 

23 (iii) To obtain a permanent, tem24 porary, or preliminary injunction. 

25 (iv) To obtain civil penalties. 


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1 (v) To obtain damages, restitution, or 

2 other compensation on behalf of aggrieved 

3 consumers. 

4 (vi) To obtain any other appropriate 

5 equitable relief. 

6 (B) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY OF COMMIS7 SION.—Except as otherwise provided in section 

8 16(a)(3) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 56(a)(3)), the Commission shall 

10 have exclusive authority to commence or defend, 

11 and supervise the litigation of, any civil action 

12 under this section and any appeal of such ac13 tion, in its own name by any of its attorneys, 

14 designated by it for such purpose, unless the 

15 Commission authorizes the Attorney General to 

16 do so. The Commission shall inform the Attor17 ney General of the exercise of such authority, 

18 and such exercise shall not preclude the Attor19 ney General from intervening on behalf of the 

20 United States in such action and any appeal of 

21 such action as may be otherwise provided by 

22 law. 

23 (b) REPORTS.—Beginning 1 year after the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 

25 the Commission shall submit to Congress a report that 


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1 includes, with respect to the previous year, a description 

2 of any enforcement action by the Commission under this 

3 Act, any regulation promulgated under this Act, and the 

4 outcomes of such actions. 

5 (c) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this Act may be 

6 construed to limit the authority of the Commission under 

7 any other provision of law. 

8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

9 (1) ABORTION SERVICES.—The term ‘‘abortion 

10 services’’ means an abortion or any medical or non11 medical services related to or provided in conjunction 

12 with an abortion, whether or not provided at the 

13 same time or on the same day as the abortion. 

14 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

15 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

16 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 

17 meaning given that term in section 551(2) of title 5, 

18 United States Code. 

Æ 


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