I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4924 

To prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis of sex or race, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2016 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. PETERSON, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. SALMON, Mr. 

GOSAR, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. 

KING of Iowa, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 

STEWART, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. 

WALBERG, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. PALMER, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

RUSSELL, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. 

LOUDERMILK, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. MESSER, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Mr. OLSON, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. GOHMERT, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. GOWDY, 

Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. JONES, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. YODER, Mr. PITTENGER, 

Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina, Mr. BRADY of Texas, 

Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. BISHOP

of Utah, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. DUFFY, Mr. 

LAMBORN, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. 

FARENTHOLD, Mr. SHUSTER, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. JOLLY, Mr. 

PALAZZO, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. KLINE, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. 

ROTHFUS, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. RIBBLE, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. BABIN, Mr. 

KNIGHT, Mr. FLORES, Mr. LATTA, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 

HUDSON, Mr. FORBES, and Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis 

of sex or race, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Prenatal Non5 discrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

8 findings: 

9 (1) SEX DISCRIMINATION FINDINGS.— 

10 (A) Women are a vital part of American 

11 society and culture and possess the same funda12 mental human rights and civil rights as men. 

13 (B) United States law prohibits the dis14 similar treatment of males and females who are 

15 similarly situated and prohibits sex discrimina16 tion in various contexts, including the provision 

17 of employment, education, housing, health in18 surance coverage, and athletics. 

19 (C) Sex is an immutable characteristic as20 certainable at the earliest stages of human de21 velopment through existing medical technology 

22 and procedures commonly in use, including ma23 ternal-fetal bloodstream DNA sampling, 

24 amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling or 

25 ‘‘CVS’’, and obstetric ultrasound. In addition to 


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1 medically assisted sex determination, a growing 

2 sex-determination niche industry has developed 

3 and is marketing low-cost commercial products, 

4 widely advertised and available, that aid in the 

5 sex determination of an unborn child without 

6 the aid of medical professionals. Experts have 

7 demonstrated that the sex-selection industry is 

8 on the rise and predict that sex selection will 

9 continue to be a growing trend in the United 

10 States. Sex determination is always a necessary 

11 step to the procurement of a sex-selection abor12 tion. 

13 (D) A ‘‘sex-selection abortion’’ is an abor14 tion undertaken for purposes of eliminating an 

15 unborn child of an undesired sex. Sex-selection 

16 abortion is barbaric, and described by scholars 

17 and civil rights advocates as an act of sex-based 

18 or gender-based violence, predicated on sex dis19 crimination. Sex-selection abortions are typi20 cally late-term abortions performed in the 2d or 

21 3rd trimester of pregnancy, often after the un22 born child has developed sufficiently to feel 

23 pain. Substantial medical evidence proves that 

24 an unborn child can experience pain at 20 

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1 tially earlier. By definition, sex-selection abor2 tions do not implicate the health of the mother 

3 of the unborn, but instead are elective proce4 dures motivated by sex or gender bias. 

5 (E) The targeted victims of sex-selection 

6 abortions performed in the United States and 

7 worldwide are overwhelmingly female. The se8 lective abortion of females is female infanticide, 

9 the intentional killing of unborn females, due to 

10 the preference for male offspring or ‘‘son pref11 erence’’. Son preference is reinforced by the low 

12 value associated, by some segments of the world 

13 community, with female offspring. Those seg14 ments tend to regard female offspring as finan15 cial burdens to a family over their lifetime due 

16 to their perceived inability to earn or provide fi17 nancially for the family unit as can a male. In 

18 addition, due to social and legal convention, fe19 male offspring are less likely to carry on the 

20 family name. ‘‘Son preference’’ is one of the 

21 most evident manifestations of sex or gender 

22 discrimination in any society, undermining fe23 male equality, and fueling the elimination of fe24 males’ right to exist in instances of sex-selection 

25 abortion. 


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1 (F) Sex-selection abortions are not ex2 pressly prohibited by United States law or the 

3 laws of 46 States. Sex-selection abortions are 

4 performed in the United States. In a March 

5 2008 report published in the Proceedings of the 

6 National Academy of Sciences, Columbia Uni7 versity economists Douglas Almond and Lena 

8 Edlund examined the sex ratio of United 

9 States-born children and found ‘‘evidence of sex 

10 selection, most likely at the prenatal stage’’. 

11 The data revealed obvious ‘‘son preference’’ in 

12 the form of unnatural sex-ratio imbalances 

13 within certain segments of the United States 

14 population, primarily those segments tracing 

15 their origins to countries where sex-selection 

16 abortion is prevalent. The evidence strongly 

17 suggests that some Americans are exercising 

18 sex-selection abortion practices within the 

19 United States consistent with discriminatory 

20 practices common to their country of origin, or 

21 the country to which they trace their ancestry. 

22 While sex-selection abortions are more common 

23 outside the United States, the evidence reveals 

24 that female feticide is also occurring in the 

25 United States. 


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1 (G) The American public supports a prohi2 bition of sex-selection abortion. In a March 

3 2006 Zogby International poll, 86 percent of 

4 Americans agreed that sex-selection abortion 

5 should be illegal, yet only eight States proscribe 

6 sex-selection abortion. In a 2012 poll conducted 

7 by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, 77 percent of 

8 Americans agreed that sex-selection abortion 

9 should be illegal. 

10 (H) Despite the failure of the United 

11 States to proscribe sex-selection abortion, the 

12 United States Congress has expressed repeat13 edly, through Congressional resolution, strong 

14 condemnation of policies promoting sex-selec15 tion abortion in the ‘‘Communist Government 

16 of China’’. Likewise, at the 2007 United Na17 tion’s Annual Meeting of the Commission on 

18 the Status of Women, 51st Session, the United 

19 States delegation spearheaded a resolution call20 ing on countries to condemn sex-selective abor21 tion, a policy directly contradictory to the per22 missiveness of current United States law, which 

23 places no restriction on the practice of sex-se24 lection abortion. The United Nations Commis25 sion on the Status of Women has urged governVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Apr 16, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4924.IH H4924

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1 ments of all nations ‘‘to take necessary meas2 ures to prevent . . . prenatal sex selection’’. 

3 (I) A 1990 report by Harvard University 

4 economist Amartya Sen, estimated that more 

5 than 100 million women were ‘‘demographically 

6 missing’’ from the world as early as 1990 due 

7 to sexist practices, including sex-selection abor8 tion. Many experts believe sex-selection abortion 

9 is the primary cause. More recent estimates of 

10 women missing from the world range in the 

11 hundreds of millions. 

12 (J) Countries with longstanding experience 

13 with sex-selection abortion—such as the Repub14 lic of India, the United Kingdom, and the Peo15 ple’s Republic of China—have enacted restric16 tions on sex selection, and have steadily contin17 ued to strengthen prohibitions and penalties. 

18 The United States, by contrast, has no law in 

19 place to restrict sex-selection abortion, estab20 lishing the United States as affording less pro21 tection from sex-based feticide than the Repub22 lic of India or the People’s Republic of China, 

23 whose recent practices of sex-selection abortion 

24 were vehemently and repeatedly condemned by 

25 United States congressional resolution and by 


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1 the United States Ambassador to the Commis2 sion on the Status of Women. Public state3 ments from within the medical community re4 veal that citizens of other countries come to the 

5 United States for sex-selection procedures that 

6 would be criminal in their country of origin. Be7 cause the United States permits abortion on the 

8 basis of sex, the United States may effectively 

9 function as a ‘‘safe haven’’ for those who seek 

10 to have American physicians do what would 

11 otherwise be criminal in their home countries— 

12 a sex-selection abortion, most likely late-term. 

13 (K) The American medical community op14 poses sex selection. The American Congress of 

15 Obstetricians and Gynecologists (‘‘ACOG’’) 

16 stated in its 2007 Ethics Committee Opinion, 

17 Number 360, that sex selection is inappropriate 

18 because it ‘‘ultimately supports sexist prac19 tices’’. The American Society of Reproductive 

20 Medicine (‘‘ASRM’’) published a 2004 Ethics 

21 Committee Opinion, noting that central to the 

22 controversy of sex selection in the use of as23 sisted reproductive technology (‘‘ART’’) is the 

24 potential for ‘‘inherent gender discrimination’’, 

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1 lected offspring (i.e., by placing on them expec2 tations that are too high),’’ . . . and ‘‘rein3 forcement of gender bias in society as a whole.’’ 

4 Sex selection in ART remains ‘‘vulnerable to 

5 the judgment that no matter what its basis, 

6 [the method] identifies gender as a reason to 

7 value one person over another, and it supports 

8 socially constructed stereotypes of what gender 

9 means.’’ In doing so, it not only ‘‘reinforces 

10 possibilities of unfair discrimination, but may 

11 trivialize human reproduction by making it de12 pend on the selection of nonessential features of 

13 offspring.’’ The ASRM ethics opinion continues, 

14 ‘‘ongoing problems with the status of women in 

15 the United States make it necessary to take ac16 count of concerns for the impact of sex-selection 

17 on goals of gender equality.’’ The American As18 sociation of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gyne19 cologists, an organization with hundreds of 

20 members—many of whom are former abortion21 ists—makes the following declaration: ‘‘Sex se22 lection abortions are more graphic examples of 

23 the damage that abortion inflicts on women. In 

24 addition to increasing premature labor in subse25 quent pregnancies, increasing suicide and major 


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1 depression, and increasing the risk of breast 

2 cancer in teens who abort their first pregnancy 

3 and delay childbearing, sex selection abortions 

4 are often targeted at fetuses simply because the 

5 fetus is female. As physicians who care for both 

6 the mother and her unborn child, the American 

7 Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gyne8 cologists vigorously opposes aborting fetuses be9 cause of their gender.’’ The President’s Council 

10 on Bioethics published a Working Paper stating 

11 the council’s belief that society’s respect for re12 productive freedom does not prohibit the regu13 lation or prohibition of ‘‘sex control’’, defined as 

14 the use of various medical technologies to 

15 choose the sex of one’s child. The publication 

16 expresses concern that ‘‘sex control might lead 

17 to . . . dehumanization and a new eugenics’’. 

18 (L)(i) Sex-selection abortions are often co19 erced, and therefore, the opposite of ‘‘choice’’. 

20 Researchers at the University of California at 

21 Berkeley and the University of California at 

22 San Francisco completed a study of Indian23 American women who had undergone sex-selec24 tion abortions in the United States. The study 


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1 found that sex-selection abortions are often the 

2 product of violent coercion. 

3 (ii) Women who carried a female unborn 

4 child to term said they were subject to varying 

5 degrees of verbal and physical abuse, which 

6 may be to the point of actually inducing a sex7 selection abortion. A woman may be denied 

8 food, water, and rest to induce an abortion 

9 where the family determines that the woman is 

10 carrying a female unborn child. Some women 

11 described being hit, pushed, choked and kicked 

12 in the abdomen in a husband’s attempt to forc13 ibly terminate a female unborn child. Preg14 nancy is already a vulnerable time for women; 

15 the most common cause of death for pregnant 

16 women in the United States is homicide, often 

17 at the hands of the unborn child’s father. 

18 (iii) The study concluded that sex selection 

19 can be the product of an abusive environment 

20 created by marital partners, an extended fam21 ily, or both. One-third of the women in the 

22 study reported that a history of family violence 

23 exacerbated when they did not give birth to a 

24 son. Notably, because the researchers had rea25 son to fear for the participants’ exposure to 


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1 marital violence, all subjects received informa2 tion on local South Asian women’s organiza3 tions offering assistance for victims of family vi4 olence. The failure to bear a son is a serious 

5 matter; the birth of a daughter could result in 

6 violence or a brutal death for the mother at the 

7 hands of the father and mother-in-law. For ex8 ample, photojournalist Walter Astrada’s re9 nowned documentary tells the story of an In10 dian woman who was tortured and abandoned 

11 by her husband and mother-in-law for refusing 

12 to abort twin girls. Sex-selection abortion has 

13 long been considered a form of violence against 

14 women, and the study proved that both the 

15 women and the unborn daughter are victims of 

16 violence where sex-selection abortion is legally 

17 available but not sought by the mother. Forty 

18 percent of the women had terminated prior 

19 pregnancies when they learned that the unborn 

20 child was female. Of the women who discovered 

21 they were pregnant with a girl during the inter22 view period, 89 percent underwent a sex-selec23 tion abortion. Among those that did not abort 

24 their unborn daughters, 100 percent expressed 

25 ambivalence about prior sex-selection abortions. 


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1 Further, 100 percent cited physical and psycho2 logical trauma from the past abortions as rea3 sons for not seeking another. Most tragically, 

4 100 percent expressed guilt, shame and sadness 

5 over their inability to ‘‘save’’ the daughters they 

6 had aborted. 

7 (iv) Coercive sex-selection abortions are 

8 suspected in other western countries as well. 

9 Following a 2012 investigation of sex-selection 

10 abortion in the United Kingdom, Dr. Tony Fal11 coner, President of the Royal College of Obstet12 rics and Gynaecology, raised the specter that 

13 women may be experiencing violence and coer14 cion to force sex-selection abortions. 

15 (v) A growing body of research documents 

16 the relationship between intimate partner vio17 lence and reproductive coercion. 

18 (M) Sex-selection abortion harms women. 

19 Researchers at the University of California 

20 found that women in the United States who un21 dergo sex-selection abortions are at increased 

22 risk for psychological and physical morbidity, 

23 documented by their descriptions of depression, 

24 anxiety, chronic pain, physical abuse, closely 

25 spaced pregnancies, and ‘‘forced abortions’’. 


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1 Further, 100 percent of the study participants 

2 who chose to carry unborn baby girls cited 

3 physical and psychological trauma from past 

4 abortions as reasons for not seeking another. 

5 Similarly, Indian-Canadian counselor, Aruna 

6 Papp, stated publicly that in her 30 years of ex7 perience treating Indian-Canadian women, she 

8 has found that sex-selection abortion is the 

9 leading cause of mental illness among women in 

10 the Punjabi Health Services, Peel region, and 

11 the leading cause of depression and attempted 

12 suicide in the South Asian Settlement Services 

13 in Scarborough. Some of Papp’s patients ob14 tained their sex-selection abortions in Michigan 

15 and New York. Papp also reports ‘‘many other 

16 physical ailments that are related to two, three, 

17 or four abortions’’. 

18 (N) Sex-selection abortion results in an un19 natural sex-ratio imbalance. An unnatural sex20 ratio imbalance is undesirable, due to the in21 ability of the numerically predominant sex to 

22 find mates. Experts worldwide document that a 

23 significant sex-ratio imbalance in which males 

24 numerically predominate can be a cause of in25 creased violence and militancy within a society. 


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1 Likewise, an unnatural sex-ratio imbalance 

2 gives rise to the commoditization of humans in 

3 the form of human trafficking, and a con4 sequent increase in kidnapping and other vio5 lent crime. 

6 (O) Sex-selection abortions have the effect 

7 of diminishing the representation of women in 

8 the American population, and therefore, the 

9 American electorate. 

10 (P) Sex-selection abortion reinforces sex 

11 discrimination and has no place in a civilized 

12 society. 

13 (2) RACIAL DISCRIMINATION FINDINGS.— 

14 (A) Minorities are a vital part of American 

15 society and culture and possess the same funda16 mental human rights and civil rights as the ma17 jority. 

18 (B) United States law prohibits discrimi19 nation on the basis of race in various contexts, 

20 including employment, education, housing, 

21 health insurance coverage, and athletics. 

22 (C) A ‘‘race-selection abortion’’ is an abor23 tion performed for purposes of eliminating an 

24 unborn child because the child or a parent of 

25 the child is of an undesired race. Race-selection 


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1 abortion is barbaric, and described by civil 

2 rights advocates as an act of race-based vio3 lence, predicated on race discrimination. By 

4 definition, race-selection abortions do not impli5 cate the health of mother of the unborn, but in6 stead are elective procedures motivated by race 

7 bias. 

8 (D) A thorough review of the history of the 

9 American population control movement and its 

10 close affiliation with the American Eugenics So11 ciety reveals a history of targeting certain racial 

12 or ethnic groups for ‘‘family planning’’. This 

13 history likely contributes to the current statistic 

14 that a Black baby is five times as likely to be 

15 aborted as a White baby, often in a federally 

16 subsidized clinic. 

17 (E) Abortion is the leading cause of death 

18 in the Black community. With approximately 

19 450,000 Black abortions per year, more Black 

20 Americans lose their lives each year to abortion 

21 than to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, AIDS, 

22 and violence combined. These statistics are de23 rived by comparing the abortion statistics of the 

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1 tional Vital Statistics annual reports showing 

2 the number of deaths by cause and race. The 

3 numbers for each of these variables have re4 mained relatively constant from year to year, 

5 since 2005. 

6 (F) Only one State, Arizona, has enacted 

7 law to proscribe the performance of race-selec8 tion abortions. 

9 (G) Race-selection abortions have the ef10 fect of diminishing the number of minorities in 

11 the American population and therefore, the 

12 American electorate. 

13 (H) Race-selection abortion reinforces ra14 cial discrimination and has no place in a civ15 ilized society. 

16 (3) GENERAL FINDINGS.— 

17 (A) The history of the United States in18 cludes examples of both sex discrimination and 

19 race discrimination. The people of the United 

20 States ultimately responded in the strongest 

21 possible legal terms by enacting constitutional 

22 amendments correcting elements of such dis23 crimination. Women, once subjected to sex dis24 crimination that denied them the right to vote, 

25 now have suffrage guaranteed by the 19th 


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1 Amendment. African-Americans, once subjected 

2 to race discrimination through slavery that de3 nied them equal protection of the laws, now 

4 have that right guaranteed by the 14th Amend5 ment. The elimination of discriminatory prac6 tices has been and is among the highest prior7 ities and greatest achievements of American 

8 history. 

9 (B) Implicitly approving the discriminatory 

10 practices of sex-selection abortion and race-se11 lection abortion by choosing not to prohibit 

12 them will reinforce these inherently discrimina13 tory practices, and evidence a failure to protect 

14 a segment of certain unborn Americans because 

15 those unborn are of a sex or racial makeup that 

16 is disfavored. Sex-selection and race-selection 

17 abortions trivialize the value of the unborn on 

18 the basis of sex or race, reinforcing sex and 

19 race discrimination, and coarsening society to 

20 the humanity of all vulnerable and innocent 

21 human life, making it increasingly difficult to 

22 protect such life. Thus, Congress has a compel23 ling interest in acting—indeed it must act—to 

24 prohibit sex-selection abortion and race-selec25 tion abortion. 


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1 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.—In accordance 

2 with the above findings, Congress enacts the following 

3 pursuant to Congress’ power under— 

4 (1) the Commerce Clause; 

5 (2) section 2 of the 13th Amendment; 

6 (3) section 5 of the 14th Amendment, including 

7 the power to enforce the prohibition on government 

8 action denying equal protection of the laws; and 

9 (4) section 8 of article I to make all laws nec10 essary and proper for the carrying into execution of 

11 powers vested by the Constitution in the Govern12 ment of the United States. 

13 SEC. 3. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE UNBORN ON THE 

14 BASIS OF RACE OR SEX. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘§ 250. Discrimination against the unborn on the 

19 basis of race or sex 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly— 

21 ‘‘(1) performs an abortion knowing that such 

22 abortion is sought based on the sex, gender, color or 

23 race of the child, or the race of a parent of that 

24 child; 


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1 ‘‘(2) uses force or the threat of force to inten2 tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur3 pose of coercing a sex-selection or race-selection 

4 abortion; 

5 ‘‘(3) solicits or accepts funds for the perform6 ance of a sex-selection abortion or a race-selection 

7 abortion; or 

8 ‘‘(4) transports a woman into the United States 

9 or across a State line for the purpose of obtaining 

10 a sex-selection abortion or race-selection abortion; 

11 or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or im12 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

13 ‘‘(b) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CIVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR15 TION IS PERFORMED.—A woman upon whom an 

16 abortion has been performed or attempted in viola17 tion of subsection (a)(2) may in a civil action 

18 against any person who engaged in a violation of 

19 subsection (a) obtain appropriate relief. 

20 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION BY RELATIVES.—The father 

21 of an unborn child who is the subject of an abortion 

22 performed or attempted in violation of subsection 

23 (a), or a maternal grandparent of the unborn child 

24 if the pregnant woman is an unemancipated minor, 

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1 gaged in the violation, obtain appropriate relief, un2 less the pregnancy or abortion resulted from the 

3 plaintiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented 

4 to the abortion. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE RELIEF.—Appropriate relief 

6 in a civil action under this subsection includes— 

7 ‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 

8 for all injuries, psychological and physical, in9 cluding loss of companionship and support, oc10 casioned by the violation of this section; and 

11 ‘‘(B) punitive damages. 

12 ‘‘(4) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A qualified plaintiff 

14 may in a civil action obtain injunctive relief to 

15 prevent an abortion provider from performing 

16 or attempting further abortions in violation of 

17 this section. 

18 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph the 

19 term ‘qualified plaintiff’ means— 

20 ‘‘(i) a woman upon whom an abortion 

21 is performed or attempted in violation of 

22 this section; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a maternal grandparent of the 

24 unborn child if the woman upon whom an 

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1 lation of this section is an unemancipated 

2 minor; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the father of an unborn child 

4 who is the subject of an abortion per5 formed or attempted in violation of sub6 section (a); or 

7 ‘‘(iv) the Attorney General. 

8 ‘‘(5) ATTORNEYS FEES FOR PLAINTIFF.—The 

9 court shall award a reasonable attorney’s fee as part 

10 of the costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action 

11 under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—A woman upon whom a sex-selec13 tion or race-selection abortion is performed may not be 

14 prosecuted or held civilly liable for any violation of this 

15 section, or for a conspiracy to violate this section. 

16 ‘‘(d) LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDING.—A violation of 

17 subsection (a) shall be deemed for the purposes of title 

18 VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be discrimination 

19 prohibited by section 601 of that Act. 

20 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—A physician, phy21 sician’s assistant, nurse, counselor, or other medical or 

22 mental health professional shall report known or suspected 

23 violations of any of this section to appropriate law enforce24 ment authorities. Whoever violates this requirement shall 


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1 be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 1 

2 year, or both. 

3 ‘‘(f) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—It shall be the 

4 duty of the United States district courts, United States 

5 courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United 

6 States to advance on the docket and to expedite to the 

7 greatest possible extent the disposition of any matter 

8 brought under this section. 

9 ‘‘(g) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY IN COURT PRO10 CEEDINGS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except to the extent the 

12 Constitution or other similarly compelling reason re13 quires, in every civil or criminal action under this 

14 section, the court shall make such orders as are nec15 essary to protect the anonymity of any woman upon 

16 whom an abortion has been performed or attempted 

17 if she does not give her written consent to such dis18 closure. Such orders may be made upon motion, but 

19 shall be made sua sponte if not otherwise sought by 

20 a party. 

21 ‘‘(2) ORDERS TO PARTIES, WITNESSES, AND

22 COUNSEL.—The court shall issue appropriate orders 

23 to the parties, witnesses, and counsel and shall di24 rect the sealing of the record and exclusion of indi25 viduals from courtrooms or hearing rooms to the exVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Apr 16, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4924.IH H4924

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1 tent necessary to safeguard the identity of the 

2 woman described in paragraph (1) from public dis3 closure. 

4 ‘‘(3) PSEUDONYM REQUIRED.—In the absence 

5 of written consent of the woman upon whom an 

6 abortion has been performed or attempted, any 

7 party, other than a public official, who brings an ac8 tion under this section shall do so under a pseu9 donym. 

10 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—This subsection shall not be 

11 construed to conceal the identity of the plaintiff or 

12 of witnesses from the defendant or from attorneys 

13 for the defendant. 

14 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘abortion’ means the act of using 

16 or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or 

17 any other substance, device, or means with the in18 tent to terminate the clinically diagnosable preg19 nancy of a woman, with knowledge that the termi20 nation by those means will with reasonable likelihood 

21 cause the death of the unborn child, unless the act 

22 is done with the intent to— 

23 ‘‘(A) save the life or preserve the health of 

24 the unborn child; 


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1 ‘‘(B) remove a dead unborn child caused 

2 by spontaneous abortion; or 

3 ‘‘(C) remove an ectopic pregnancy; 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘sex-selection abortion’ means an 

5 abortion undertaken for purposes of eliminating an 

6 unborn child of an undesired sex; and 

7 ‘‘(3) the term ‘race-selection abortion’ means an 

8 abortion performed for purposes of eliminating an 

9 unborn child because the child or a parent of the 

10 child is of an undesired race.’’. 

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

12 at the beginning of chapter 13 of title 18, United States 

13 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec14 tion 249 the following new item: 

‘‘250. Discrimination against the unborn on the basis of race or sex.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

16 If any portion of this Act or the application thereof 

17 to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such inva18 lidity shall not affect the portions or applications of this 

19 Act which can be given effect without the invalid portion 

20 or application. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS