II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 86 

To prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis of sex, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

COTTON, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. DAINES, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. HYDESMITH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. SASSE, and Mr. 

THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis 

of sex, 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 ‘‘Prenatal Non5 discrimination Act’’ or ‘‘PRENDA’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Women are a vital part of American society 

2 and culture and possess the same fundamental 

3 human rights and civil rights as men. 

4 (2) United States law prohibits the dissimilar 

5 treatment of males and females who are similarly 

6 situated and prohibits sex discrimination in various 

7 contexts, including the provision of employment, 

8 education, housing, health insurance coverage, and 

9 athletics. 

10 (3) A ‘‘sex-selection abortion’’ is an abortion 

11 undertaken for purposes of eliminating an unborn 

12 child of an undesired sex. Sex-selection abortion is 

13 described by scholars and civil rights advocates as 

14 an act of sex-based or gender-based violence, predi15 cated on sex discrimination. By definition, sex-selec16 tion abortions do not implicate the health of the 

17 mother of the unborn, but instead are elective proce18 dures motivated by sex or gender bias. 

19 (4) The targeted victims of sex-selection abor20 tions performed in the United States and worldwide 

21 are overwhelmingly female. 

22 (5) Sex-selection abortions are not expressly 

23 prohibited by United States law, and only 7 States 

24 ban abortions for reason of sex selection at some 

25 point in pregnancy. Sex is an immutable charVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:06 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S86.IS S86

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1 acteristic ascertainable at the earliest stages of 

2 human development through existing medical tech3 nology and procedures commonly in use, including 

4 maternal-fetal bloodstream DNA sampling, amnio5 centesis, chorionic villus sampling or ‘‘CVS’’, and 

6 obstetric ultrasound. 

7 (6) Sex-selection abortions have the effect of di8 minishing the representation of women in the Amer9 ican population, and therefore, the American elec10 torate. 

11 (7) Sex-selection abortion reinforces sex dis12 crimination and has no place in a civilized society. 

13 (8) The history of the United States includes 

14 many examples of sex discrimination. The people of 

15 the United States ultimately responded in the 

16 strongest possible legal terms by enacting a constitu17 tional amendment correcting an element of this dis18 crimination. Women, once subjected to sex discrimi19 nation that denied them the right to vote, now have 

20 suffrage guaranteed by the 19th Amendment to the 

21 Constitution of the United States. The elimination 

22 of discriminatory practices has been and is among 

23 the highest priorities and greatest achievements of 

24 American history. 


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1 (9) Implicitly approving the discriminatory 

2 practices of sex-selection abortion by choosing not to 

3 prohibit them will reinforce sex discrimination, and 

4 coarsen society to the value of females. Thus, Con5 gress has a compelling interest in acting—indeed it 

6 must act—to prohibit sex-selection abortion. 

7 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.—In accordance 

8 with the above findings, Congress enacts the following 

9 pursuant to Congress’ power under— 

10 (1) the Commerce Clause; 

11 (2) section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the 

12 Constitution of the United States, including the 

13 power to enforce the prohibition on government ac14 tion denying equal protection of the laws; and 

15 (3) section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 

16 the United States to make all laws necessary and 

17 proper for the carrying into execution of powers 

18 vested by the Constitution in the Government of the 

19 United States. 

20 SEC. 3. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE UNBORN ON THE 

21 BASIS OF SEX. 

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

23 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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

2 basis of sex 

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

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

5 abortion is sought based on the sex or gender of the 

6 child; 

7 ‘‘(2) uses force or the threat of force to inten8 tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur9 pose of coercing a sex-selection abortion; 

10 ‘‘(3) solicits or accepts funds for the perform11 ance of a sex-selection abortion; or 

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

13 or across a State line for the purpose of obtaining 

14 a sex-selection abortion, 

15 or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or im16 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(b) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) CIVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR19 TION IS PERFORMED.—A woman upon whom an 

20 abortion has been performed or attempted in viola21 tion of subsection (a)(2) may in a civil action 

22 against any person who engaged in a violation of 

23 subsection (a) obtain appropriate relief. 

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

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

26 performed or attempted in violation of subsection 


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

2 if the pregnant woman is an unemancipated minor, 

3 may in a civil action against any person who en4 gaged in the violation, obtain appropriate relief, un5 less the pregnancy or abortion resulted from the 

6 plaintiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented 

7 to the abortion. 

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

9 in a civil action under this subsection includes— 

10 ‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 

11 for all injuries, psychological and physical, in12 cluding loss of companionship and support, oc13 casioned by the violation of this section; and 

14 ‘‘(B) punitive damages. 

15 ‘‘(4) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

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

17 may in a civil action obtain injunctive relief to 

18 prevent an abortion provider from performing 

19 or attempting further abortions in violation of 

20 this section. 

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

22 term ‘qualified plaintiff’ means— 

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

24 is performed or attempted in violation of 

25 this section; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a maternal grandparent of the 

2 unborn child if the woman upon whom an 

3 abortion is performed or attempted in vio4 lation of this section is an unemancipated 

5 minor; 

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

7 who is the subject of an abortion per8 formed or attempted in violation of sub9 section (a); or 

10 ‘‘(iv) the Attorney General. 

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

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

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

14 under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(c) BAR TO PROSECUTION.—A woman upon whom 

16 a sex-selection abortion is performed may not be pros17 ecuted or held civilly liable for any violation of this section, 

18 or for a conspiracy to violate this section. 

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

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

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

22 prohibited by section 601 of that Act. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—A physician, phy24 sician’s assistant, nurse, counselor, or other medical or 

25 mental health professional shall report known or suspected 


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1 violations of any of this section to appropriate law enforce2 ment authorities. Whoever violates this requirement shall 

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

4 year, or both. 

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

6 duty of the United States district courts, United States 

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

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

9 greatest possible extent the disposition of any matter 

10 brought under this section. 

11 ‘‘(g) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY IN COURT PRO12 CEEDINGS.— 

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

14 Constitution or other similarly compelling reason re15 quires, in every civil or criminal action under this 

16 section, the court shall make such orders as are nec17 essary to protect the anonymity of any woman upon 

18 whom an abortion has been performed or attempted 

19 if she does not give her written consent to such dis20 closure. Such orders may be made upon motion, but 

21 shall be made sua sponte if not otherwise sought by 

22 a party. 

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

24 COUNSEL.—The court shall issue appropriate orders 

25 to the parties, witnesses, and counsel and shall diVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:06 Feb 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S86.IS S86

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1 rect the sealing of the record and exclusion of indi2 viduals from courtrooms or hearing rooms to the ex3 tent necessary to safeguard the identity of the 

4 woman described in paragraph (1) from public dis5 closure. 

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

7 of written consent of the woman upon whom an 

8 abortion has been performed or attempted, any 

9 party, other than a public official, who brings an ac10 tion under this section shall do so under a pseu11 donym. 

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

13 construed to conceal the identity of the plaintiff or 

14 of witnesses from the defendant or from attorneys 

15 for the defendant. 

16 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

18 or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or 

19 any other substance, device, or means with the in20 tent to— 

21 ‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 

22 known to be pregnant; or 

23 ‘‘(B) terminate the pregnancy of a woman 

24 known to be pregnant, with an intention other 

25 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 and 

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

7 abortion undertaken for purposes of eliminating an 

8 unborn child of an undesired sex.’’. 

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

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

11 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec12 tion 249 the following: 

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

13 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

14 If any portion of this Act, or the amendments made 

15 by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or 

16 circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not af17 fect the portions or applications of this Act which can be 

18 given effect without the invalid portion or application. 

Æ 


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