I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 447 

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2013 

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

ALEXANDER, Mr. AMODEI, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. 

BENISHEK, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. BONNER, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BRADY of 

Texas, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. CARTER, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. COLE, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COTTON, 

Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. DAINES, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. 

FARENTHOLD, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. FLORES, Mr. FORBES, 

Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. 

GRAVES of Georgia, Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. HALL, Mr. HARRIS, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. 

HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. HULTGREN, Ms. JENKINS, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Ohio, Mr. JONES, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. KELLY, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. 

LAMALFA, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. LONG, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, 

Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. MICA, Mr. MILLER

of Florida, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. 

NUGENT, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. OLSON, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. 

PITTS, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. POMPEO, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. SALMON, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. 

SMITH of Texas, Mr. STEWART, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. 

WEBER of Texas, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, 

and Mr. YODER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 


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A BILL 

To prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis 

of sex or race, 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 (PRENDA) of 2013’’. 

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 maVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:22 Feb 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H447.IH H447

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1 ternal-fetal bloodstream DNA sampling, 

2 amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling or 

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

4 medically assisted sex determination, a growing 

5 sex-determination niche industry has developed 

6 and is marketing low-cost commercial products, 

7 widely advertised and available, that aid in the 

8 sex determination of an unborn child without 

9 the aid of medical professionals. Experts have 

10 demonstrated that the sex-selection industry is 

11 on the rise and predict that sex selection will 

12 continue to be a growing trend in the United 

13 States. Sex determination is always a necessary 

14 step to the procurement of a sex-selection abor15 tion. 

16 (D) A ‘‘sex-selection abortion’’ is an abor17 tion undertaken for purposes of eliminating an 

18 unborn child of an undesired sex. Sex-selection 

19 abortion is barbaric, and described by scholars 

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

21 or gender-based violence, predicated on sex dis22 crimination. Sex-selection abortions are typi23 cally late-term abortions performed in the 2d or 

24 3rd trimester of pregnancy, often after the un25 born child has developed sufficiently to feel 


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1 pain. Substantial medical evidence proves that 

2 an unborn child can experience pain at 20 

3 weeks after conception, and perhaps substan4 tially earlier. By definition, sex-selection abor5 tions do not implicate the health of the mother 

6 of the unborn, but instead are elective proce7 dures motivated by sex or gender bias. 

8 (E) The targeted victims of sex-selection 

9 abortions performed in the United States and 

10 worldwide are overwhelmingly female. The se11 lective abortion of females is female infanticide, 

12 the intentional killing of unborn females, due to 

13 the preference for male offspring or ‘‘son pref14 erence’’. Son preference is reinforced by the low 

15 value associated, by some segments of the world 

16 community, with female offspring. Those seg17 ments tend to regard female offspring as finan18 cial burdens to a family over their lifetime due 

19 to their perceived inability to earn or provide fi20 nancially for the family unit as can a male. In 

21 addition, due to social and legal convention, fe22 male offspring are less likely to carry on the 

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

24 most evident manifestations of sex or gender 

25 discrimination in any society, undermining feVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:22 Feb 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H447.IH H447

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1 male equality, and fueling the elimination of fe2 males’ right to exist in instances of sex-selection 

3 abortion. 

4 (F) Sex-selection abortions are not ex5 pressly prohibited by United States law or the 

6 laws of 46 States. Sex-selection abortions are 

7 performed in the United States. In a March 

8 2008 report published in the Proceedings of the 

9 National Academy of Sciences, Columbia Uni10 versity economists Douglas Almond and Lena 

11 Edlund examined the sex ratio of United 

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

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

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

15 the form of unnatural sex-ratio imbalances 

16 within certain segments of the United States 

17 population, primarily those segments tracing 

18 their origins to countries where sex-selection 

19 abortion is prevalent. The evidence strongly 

20 suggests that some Americans are exercising 

21 sex-selection abortion practices within the 

22 United States consistent with discriminatory 

23 practices common to their country of origin, or 

24 the country to which they trace their ancestry. 

25 While sex-selection abortions are more common 


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1 outside the United States, the evidence reveals 

2 that female feticide is also occurring in the 

3 United States. 

4 (G) The American public supports a prohi5 bition of sex-selection abortion. In a March 

6 2006 Zogby International poll, 86 percent of 

7 Americans agreed that sex-selection abortion 

8 should be illegal, yet only four States proscribe 

9 sex-selection abortion. In a 2012 poll conducted 

10 by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, 80 percent of 

11 Americans agreed that sex-selection abortion 

12 should be illegal. 

13 (H) Despite the failure of the United 

14 States to proscribe sex-selection abortion, the 

15 United States Congress has expressed repeat16 edly, through Congressional resolution, strong 

17 condemnation of policies promoting sex-selec18 tion abortion in the ‘‘Communist Government 

19 of China’’. Likewise, at the 2007 United Na20 tion’s Annual Meeting of the Commission on 

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

22 States delegation spearheaded a resolution call23 ing on countries to condemn sex-selective abor24 tion, a policy directly contradictory to the per25 missiveness of current United States law, which 


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1 places no restriction on the practice of sex-se2 lection abortion. The United Nations Commis3 sion on the Status of Women has urged govern4 ments of all nations ‘‘to take necessary meas5 ures to prevent . . . prenatal sex selection’’. 

6 (I) A 1990 report by Harvard University 

7 economist Amartya Sen, estimated that more 

8 than 100 million women were ‘‘demographically 

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

10 to sexist practices, including sex-selection abor11 tion. Many experts believe sex-selection abortion 

12 is the primary cause. More recent estimates of 

13 women missing from the world range in the 

14 hundreds of millions. 

15 (J) Countries with longstanding experience 

16 with sex-selection abortion—such as the Repub17 lic of India, the United Kingdom, and the Peo18 ple’s Republic of China—have enacted restric19 tions on sex selection, and have steadily contin20 ued to strengthen prohibitions and penalties. 

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

22 place to restrict sex-selection abortion, estab23 lishing the United States as affording less pro24 tection from sex-based feticide than the Repub25 lic of India or the People’s Republic of China, 


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1 whose recent practices of sex-selection abortion 

2 were vehemently and repeatedly condemned by 

3 United States congressional resolution and by 

4 the United States Ambassador to the Commis5 sion on the Status of Women. Public state6 ments from within the medical community re7 veal that citizens of other countries come to the 

8 United States for sex-selection procedures that 

9 would be criminal in their country of origin. Be10 cause the United States permits abortion on the 

11 basis of sex, the United States may effectively 

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

13 to have American physicians do what would 

14 otherwise be criminal in their home countries— 

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

16 (K) The American medical community op17 poses sex selection. The American Congress of 

18 Obstetricians and Gynecologists (‘‘ACOG’’) 

19 stated in its 2007 Ethics Committee Opinion, 

20 Number 360, that sex selection is inappropriate 

21 because it ‘‘ultimately supports sexist prac22 tices’’. The American Society of Reproductive 

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

24 Committee Opinion, noting that central to the 

25 controversy of sex selection in the use of asVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:22 Feb 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H447.IH H447

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1 sisted reproductive technology (‘‘ART’’) is the 

2 potential for ‘‘inherent gender discrimination’’, 

3 . . . the ‘‘risk of psychological harm to sex-se4 lected offspring (i.e., by placing on them expec5 tations that are too high),’’ . . . and ‘‘rein6 forcement of gender bias in society as a whole.’’ 

7 Sex selection in ART remains ‘‘vulnerable to 

8 the judgment that no matter what its basis, 

9 [the method] identifies gender as a reason to 

10 value one person over another, and it supports 

11 socially constructed stereotypes of what gender 

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

13 possibilities of unfair discrimination, but may 

14 trivialize human reproduction by making it de15 pend on the selection of nonessential features of 

16 offspring.’’ The ASRM ethics opinion continues, 

17 ‘‘ongoing problems with the status of women in 

18 the United States make it necessary to take ac19 count of concerns for the impact of sex-selection 

20 on goals of gender equality.’’ The American As21 sociation of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gyne22 cologists, an organization with hundreds of 

23 members—many of whom are former abortion24 ists—makes the following declaration: ‘‘Sex se25 lection abortions are more graphic examples of 


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1 the damage that abortion inflicts on women. In 

2 addition to increasing premature labor in subse3 quent pregnancies, increasing suicide and major 

4 depression, and increasing the risk of breast 

5 cancer in teens who abort their first pregnancy 

6 and delay childbearing, sex selection abortions 

7 are often targeted at fetuses simply because the 

8 fetus is female. As physicians who care for both 

9 the mother and her unborn child, the American 

10 Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gyne11 cologists vigorously opposes aborting fetuses be12 cause of their gender.’’ The President’s Council 

13 on Bioethics published a Working Paper stating 

14 the council’s belief that society’s respect for re15 productive freedom does not prohibit the regu16 lation or prohibition of ‘‘sex control’’, defined as 

17 the use of various medical technologies to 

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

19 expresses concern that ‘‘sex control might lead 

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

21 (L)(i) Sex-selection abortions are often co22 erced, and therefore, the opposite of ‘‘choice’’. 

23 Researchers at the University of California at 

24 Berkeley and the University of California at 

25 San Francisco completed a study of IndianVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:22 Feb 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H447.IH H447

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1 American women who had undergone sex-selec2 tion abortions in the United States. The study 

3 found that sex-selection abortions are often the 

4 product of violent coercion. 

5 (ii) Women who carried a female unborn 

6 child to term said they were subject to varying 

7 degrees of verbal and physical abuse, which 

8 may be to the point of actually inducing a sex9 selection abortion. A woman may be denied 

10 food, water, and rest to induce an abortion 

11 where the family determines that the woman is 

12 carrying a female unborn child. Some women 

13 described being hit, pushed, choked and kicked 

14 in the abdomen in a husband’s attempt to forc15 ibly terminate a female unborn child. Preg16 nancy is already a vulnerable time for women; 

17 the most common cause of death for pregnant 

18 women in the United States is homicide, often 

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

20 (iii) The study concluded that sex selection 

21 can be the product of an abusive environment 

22 created by marital partners, an extended fam23 ily, or both. One-third of the women in the 

24 study reported that a history of family violence 

25 exacerbated when they did not give birth to a 


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1 son. Notably, because the researchers had rea2 son to fear for the participants’ exposure to 

3 marital violence, all subjects received informa4 tion on local South Asian women’s organiza5 tions offering assistance for victims of family vi6 olence. The failure to bear a son is a serious 

7 matter; the birth of a daughter could result in 

8 violence or a brutal death for the mother at the 

9 hands of the father and mother-in-law. For ex10 ample, photojournalist Walter Astrada’s re11 nowned documentary tells the story of an In12 dian woman who was tortured and abandoned 

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

14 to abort twin girls. Sex-selection abortion has 

15 long been considered a form of violence against 

16 women, and the study proved that both the 

17 women and the unborn daughter are victims of 

18 violence where sex-selection abortion is legally 

19 available but not sought by the mother. Forty 

20 percent of the women had terminated prior 

21 pregnancies when they learned that the unborn 

22 child was female. Of the women who discovered 

23 they were pregnant with a girl during the inter24 view period, 89 percent underwent a sex-selec25 tion abortion. Among those that did not abort 


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1 their unborn daughters, 100 percent expressed 

2 ambivalence about prior sex-selection abortions. 

3 Further, 100 percent cited physical and psycho4 logical trauma from the past abortions as rea5 sons for not seeking another. Most tragically, 

6 100 percent expressed guilt, shame and sadness 

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

8 had aborted. 

9 (iv) Coercive sex-selection abortions are 

10 suspected in other western countries as well. 

11 Following a 2012 investigation of sex-selection 

12 abortion in the United Kingdom, Dr. Tony Fal13 coner, President of the Royal College of Obstet14 rics and Gynaecology, raised the specter that 

15 women may be experiencing violence and coer16 cion to force sex-selection abortions. 

17 (v) A growing body of research documents 

18 the relationship between intimate partner vio19 lence and reproductive coercion. 

20 (M) Sex-selection abortion harms women. 

21 Researchers at the University of California 

22 found that women in the United States who un23 dergo sex-selection abortions are at increased 

24 risk for psychological and physical morbidity, 

25 documented by their descriptions of depression, 


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1 anxiety, chronic pain, physical abuse, closely 

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

3 Further, 100 percent of the study participants 

4 who chose to carry unborn baby girls cited 

5 physical and psychological trauma from past 

6 abortions as reasons for not seeking another. 

7 Similarly, Indian-Canadian counselor, Aruna 

8 Papp, stated publicly that in her 30 years of ex9 perience treating Indian-Canadian women, she 

10 has found that sex-selection abortion is the 

11 leading cause of mental illness among women in 

12 the Punjabi Health Services, Peel region, and 

13 the leading cause of depression and attempted 

14 suicide in the South Asian Settlement Services 

15 in Scarborough. Some of Papp’s patients ob16 tained their sex-selection abortions in Michigan 

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

18 physical ailments that are related to two, three, 

19 or four abortions’’. 

20 (N) Sex-selection abortion results in an un21 natural sex-ratio imbalance. An unnatural sex22 ratio imbalance is undesirable, due to the in23 ability of the numerically predominant sex to 

24 find mates. Experts worldwide document that a 

25 significant sex-ratio imbalance in which males 


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1 numerically predominate can be a cause of in2 creased violence and militancy within a society. 

3 Likewise, an unnatural sex-ratio imbalance 

4 gives rise to the commoditization of humans in 

5 the form of human trafficking, and a con6 sequent increase in kidnapping and other vio7 lent crime. 

8 (O) Sex-selection abortions have the effect 

9 of diminishing the representation of women in 

10 the American population, and therefore, the 

11 American electorate. 

12 (P) Sex-selection abortion reinforces sex 

13 discrimination and has no place in a civilized 

14 society. 

15 (2) RACIAL DISCRIMINATION FINDINGS.— 

16 (A) Minorities are a vital part of American 

17 society and culture and possess the same funda18 mental human rights and civil rights as the ma19 jority. 

20 (B) United States law prohibits discrimi21 nation on the basis of race in various contexts, 

22 including employment, education, housing, 

23 health insurance coverage, and athletics. 

24 (C) A ‘‘race-selection abortion’’ is an abor25 tion performed for purposes of eliminating an 


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1 unborn child because the child or a parent of 

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

3 abortion is barbaric, and described by civil 

4 rights advocates as an act of race-based vio5 lence, predicated on race discrimination. By 

6 definition, race-selection abortions do not impli7 cate the health of mother of the unborn, but in8 stead are elective procedures motivated by race 

9 bias. 

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

11 American population control movement and its 

12 close affiliation with the American Eugenics So13 ciety reveals a history of targeting certain racial 

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

15 history likely contributes to the current statistic 

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

17 aborted as a White baby, often in a federally 

18 subsidized clinic. 

19 (E) Abortion is the leading cause of death 

20 in the Black community. With approximately 

21 450,000 Black abortions per year, more Black 

22 Americans lose their lives each year to abortion 

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

24 and violence combined. These statistics are de25 rived by comparing the abortion statistics of the 


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1 Alan Guttmacher Institute (formerly the re2 search arm of Planned Parenthood) to the Na3 tional Vital Statistics annual reports showing 

4 the number of deaths by cause and race. The 

5 numbers for each of these variables have re6 mained relatively constant from year to year, 

7 since 2005. 

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

9 law to proscribe the performance of race-selec10 tion abortions. 

11 (G) Race-selection abortions have the ef12 fect of diminishing the number of minorities in 

13 the American population and therefore, the 

14 American electorate. 

15 (H) Race-selection abortion reinforces ra16 cial discrimination and has no place in a civ17 ilized society. 

18 (3) GENERAL FINDINGS.— 

19 (A) The history of the United States in20 cludes examples of both sex discrimination and 

21 race discrimination. The people of the United 

22 States ultimately responded in the strongest 

23 possible legal terms by enacting constitutional 

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1 crimination that denied them the right to vote, 

2 now have suffrage guaranteed by the 19th 

3 Amendment. African-Americans, once subjected 

4 to race discrimination through slavery that de5 nied them equal protection of the laws, now 

6 have that right guaranteed by the 14th Amend7 ment. The elimination of discriminatory prac8 tices has been and is among the highest prior9 ities and greatest achievements of American 

10 history. 

11 (B) Implicitly approving the discriminatory 

12 practices of sex-selection abortion and race-se13 lection abortion by choosing not to prohibit 

14 them will reinforce these inherently discrimina15 tory practices, and evidence a failure to protect 

16 a segment of certain unborn Americans because 

17 those unborn are of a sex or racial makeup that 

18 is disfavored. Sex-selection and race-selection 

19 abortions trivialize the value of the unborn on 

20 the basis of sex or race, reinforcing sex and 

21 race discrimination, and coarsening society to 

22 the humanity of all vulnerable and innocent 

23 human life, making it increasingly difficult to 

24 protect such life. Thus, Congress has a compel25 ling interest in acting—indeed it must act—to 


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1 prohibit sex-selection abortion and race-selec2 tion abortion. 

3 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.—In accordance 

4 with the above findings, Congress enacts the following 

5 pursuant to Congress’ power under— 

6 (1) the Commerce Clause; 

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

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

9 the power to enforce the prohibition on government 

10 action denying equal protection of the laws; and 

11 (4) section 8 of article I to make all laws nec12 essary and proper for the carrying into execution of 

13 powers vested by the Constitution in the Govern14 ment of the United States. 

15 SEC. 3. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE UNBORN ON THE 

16 BASIS OF RACE OR SEX. 

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

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

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

21 basis of race or sex 

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

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

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


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

2 child; 

3 ‘‘(2) uses force or the threat of force to inten4 tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur5 pose of coercing a sex-selection or race-selection 

6 abortion; 

7 ‘‘(3) solicits or accepts funds for the perform8 ance of a sex-selection abortion or a race-selection 

9 abortion; or 

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

11 or across a State line for the purpose of obtaining 

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

13 or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or im14 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

15 ‘‘(b) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) CIVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR17 TION IS PERFORMED.—A woman upon whom an 

18 abortion has been performed or attempted in viola19 tion of subsection (a)(2) may in a civil action 

20 against any person who engaged in a violation of 

21 subsection (a) obtain appropriate relief. 

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

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

24 performed or attempted in violation of subsection 

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


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1 if the pregnant woman is an unemancipated minor, 

2 may in a civil action against any person who en3 gaged in the violation, obtain appropriate relief, un4 less the pregnancy or abortion resulted from the 

5 plaintiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented 

6 to the abortion. 

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

8 in a civil action under this subsection includes— 

9 ‘‘(A) objectively verifiable money damages 

10 for all injuries, psychological and physical, in11 cluding loss of companionship and support, oc12 casioned by the violation of this section; and 

13 ‘‘(B) punitive damages. 

14 ‘‘(4) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

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

16 may in a civil action obtain injunctive relief to 

17 prevent an abortion provider from performing 

18 or attempting further abortions in violation of 

19 this section. 

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

21 term ‘qualified plaintiff’ means— 

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

23 is performed or attempted in violation of 

24 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) EXCEPTION.—A woman upon whom a sex-selec16 tion or race-selection abortion is performed may not be 

17 prosecuted or held civilly liable for any violation of this 

18 section, 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 

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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) DEFINITION.—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 terminate the clinically diagnosable preg21 nancy of a woman, with knowledge that the termi22 nation by those means will with reasonable likelihood 

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

24 is done with the intent to— 


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

2 the unborn child; 

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

4 by spontaneous abortion; or 

5 ‘‘(C) remove an ectopic pregnancy; 

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

7 abortion undertaken for purposes of eliminating an 

8 unborn child of an undesired sex; and 

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

10 abortion performed for purposes of eliminating an 

11 unborn child because the child or a parent of the 

12 child is of an undesired race.’’. 

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

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

15 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec16 tion 249 the following new item: 

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

17 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any portion of this Act or the application thereof 

19 to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such inva20 lidity shall not affect the portions or applications of this 

21 Act which can be given effect without the invalid portion 

22 or application. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS