I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 649 

To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the 

opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent 

to receive an abortion. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2009 

Mr. JORDAN of Ohio (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. 

PITTS, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. 

WESTMORELAND, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. TERRY, Ms. FOXX, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. LATTA, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. ROGERS of 

Alabama, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. CAO, Mr. LINDER, 

Mr. POSEY, Mr. HARPER, Mr. OLSON, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. 

PRICE of Georgia, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. HERGER, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CANTOR, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. 

BISHOP of Utah, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. PENCE, Mr. 

MARCHANT, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. 

BARTLETT, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. FORTENBERRY, and Mr. SENSENBRENNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an 

ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound 

before giving informed consent to receive an abortion. 

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 ‘‘Ultrasound Informed 

3 Consent Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

5 ACT. 

6 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 

7 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘TITLE XXX—INFORMED 

9 CONSENT 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3001. DEFINITIONS. 

11 ‘‘In this title: 

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

13 the intentional use or prescription of any instru14 ment, medicine, drug, or any other substance or de15 vice or method to terminate the life of an unborn 

16 child, or to terminate the pregnancy of a woman 

17 known to be pregnant with an intention other 

18 than— 

19 ‘‘(A) to produce a live birth and preserve 

20 the life and health of the child after live birth; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(B) to remove an ectopic pregnancy, or to 

23 remove a dead unborn child who died as the re24 sult of a spontaneous abortion, accidental trau25 ma, or a criminal assault on the pregnant fe26 male or her unborn child. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ABORTION PROVIDER.—The term ‘abortion 

2 provider’ means any person legally qualified to per3 form an abortion under applicable Federal and State 

4 laws. 

5 ‘‘(3) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 

6 means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any 

7 stage of development prior to birth. 

8 ‘‘(4) WOMAN.—The term ‘woman’ means a fe9 male human being whether or not she has reached 

10 the age of majority. 

11 ‘‘(5) UNEMANCIPATED MINOR.—The term 

12 ‘unemancipated minor’ means a minor who is sub13 ject to the control, authority, and supervision of his 

14 or her parents or guardians, as determined under 

15 State law. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 3002. REQUIREMENT OF INFORMED CONSENT. 

17 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF COMPLIANCE BY PRO18 VIDERS.—Any abortion provider in or affecting interstate 

19 or foreign commerce, who knowingly performs any abor20 tion, shall comply with the requirements of this title. 

21 ‘‘(b) PERFORMANCE AND REVIEW OF

22 ULTRASOUND.—Prior to a woman giving informed con23 sent to having any part of an abortion performed, the 

24 abortion provider who is to perform the abortion, or cerVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:31 Jan 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H649.IH H649

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1 tified technician working in conjunction with the provider, 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) perform an obstetric ultrasound on the 

4 pregnant woman; 

5 ‘‘(2) provide an explanation of the results of the 

6 ultrasound; 

7 ‘‘(3) display the ultrasound images so that the 

8 pregnant woman may view them; and 

9 ‘‘(4) provide a medical description of the 

10 ultrasound images, which shall include the dimen11 sions of the embryo or fetus, cardiac activity if 

12 present and viable, and the presence of external 

13 members and internal organs, if present and 

14 viewable. 

15 ‘‘(c) NO REQUIREMENT TO VIEW ULTRASOUND IM16 AGES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to re17 quire a woman to view the ultrasound images. Neither the 

18 abortion provider nor the woman shall be subject to any 

19 penalty if she refuses to look at the presented ultrasound 

20 images. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3003. EXCEPTION FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCIES. 

22 ‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—The provisions of section 3002 

23 shall not apply to an abortion provider in the case that 

24 the abortion is necessary to save the life of a mother whose 

25 life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, 


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1 or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical 

2 condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. 

3 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination by 

5 an abortion provider under subsection (a) that an 

6 abortion is necessary to save the life of a mother, 

7 such provider shall certify the specific medical condi8 tions that support such determination and include 

9 such certification in the medical file of the pregnant 

10 woman. 

11 ‘‘(2) FALSE STATEMENTS.—An abortion pro12 vider who willfully falsifies a certification under 

13 paragraph (1) shall be subject to all the penalties 

14 provided for under section 3004 for failure to com15 ply with this title. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 3004. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An abortion provider who will18 fully fails to comply with the provisions of this title shall 

19 be subject to civil penalties in accordance with this section 

20 in an appropriate Federal court. 

21 ‘‘(b) COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION.—The Attorney 

22 General may commence a civil action under this section. 

23 ‘‘(c) FIRST OFFENSE.—Upon a finding by a court 

24 that a respondent in an action commenced under this sec25 tion has knowingly violated a provision of this title, the 


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1 court shall notify the appropriate State medical licensing 

2 authority and shall assess a civil penalty against the re3 spondent in an amount not to exceed $100,000. 

4 ‘‘(d) SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES.—Upon 

5 a finding by a court that the respondent in an action com6 menced under this section has knowingly violated a provi7 sion of this title and the respondent has been found to 

8 have knowingly violated a provision of this title on a prior 

9 occasion, the court shall notify the appropriate State med10 ical licensing authority and shall assess a civil penalty 

11 against the respondent in an amount not to exceed 

12 $250,000. 

13 ‘‘(e) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A pregnant 

14 woman upon whom an abortion has been performed in vio15 lation of this title, or the parent or legal guardian of such 

16 a woman if she is an unemancipated minor, may com17 mence a civil action against the abortion provider for any 

18 willful violation of this title for actual and punitive dam19 ages.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. PREEMPTION. 

21 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

22 Act shall be construed to preempt any provision of State 

23 law to the extent that such State law establishes, imple24 ments, or continues in effect greater disclosure requireVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:31 Jan 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H649.IH H649

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1 ments regarding abortion than those provided under this 

2 Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

3 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

4 The provisions of this Act shall be severable. If any 

5 provision of this Act, or any application thereof, is found 

6 unconstitutional, that finding shall not affect any provi7 sion or application of the Act not so adjudicated. 

Æ 


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