Union Calendar No. 15

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 929

[Report No. 105–24]

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban

partial-birth abortions.

MARCH 14, 1997

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 15

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 929

[Report No. 105–24]

To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban partial-birth abortions.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 5, 1997

Mr. CANADY of Florida (for himself, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. HYDE, Mrs.

MYRICK, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. COBURN, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr.

ARMEY, Mr. DELAY, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr.

WATTS of Oklahoma, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mrs. SMITH of

Washington, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. MASCARA, Mr.

HOSTETTLER, Mr. HULSHOF, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. DAVIS

of Virginia, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. KLINK,

Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. DANNER, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr.

KNOLLENBERG, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. BRYANT, Mr.

BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. HERGER, Mr. CRANE, Mr. DICKEY, Mr.

BURTON of Indiana, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. UNDERWOOD,

Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr.

PAPPAS, Mr. KING, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. CANNON, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FORBES, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. YOUNG of

Alaska, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. WALSH, Mr. BUNNING, Mr.

GANSKE, Mr. HILL, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. QUINN, Mr.

DIAZ-BALART, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.

CALLAHAN, Mr. STUMP, Mr. MICA, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr.

BEREUTER, Mr. TALENT, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. CAMP, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. BUYER, Mr.

LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. JOHN, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr.

BAKER, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr.

SOLOMON, Mr. WICKER, Mr. RYUN, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr.

PARKER, Mr. COBLE, Mr. BONO, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr.

TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. WATKINS,

Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCDADE, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. JONES,
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Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. WAMP,

Mr. LINDER, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. GOODLING, Mr.

PETRI, Mr. NEY, Mr. SANFORD, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. STUPAK, Mr.

HASTERT, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. ROGERS, Mr.

SALMON, Mr. POMBO, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr.

ADERHOLT, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr.

EVERETT, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. ARCHER, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. METCALF, Mr.

OXLEY, Mr. PAXON, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr.

GILLMOR, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. KASICH, Mr. NEUMANN, Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. GOODE, Mr. PEASE,

Mr. COMBEST, and Mr. WHITFIELD) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

MARCH 14, 1997

Additional sponsors: Mr. GOSS, Mr. WOLF, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. RILEY,

Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. FOWLER, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Mr. SNOWBARGER, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr.

MORAN of Kansas, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. CLEMENT, and

Mr. SCARBOROUGH

MARCH 14, 1997

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban partialbirth abortions.

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 ‘‘Partial-Birth Abortion

5 Ban Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 18, United States Code, is

8 amended by inserting after chapter 73 the following:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 74—PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS

‘‘Sec.

‘‘1531 Partial-birth abortions prohibited.

2 ‘‘§ 1531 Partial-birth abortions prohibited

3 ‘‘(a) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign

4 commerce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion

5 and thereby kills a human fetus or infant shall be fined

6 under this title or imprisoned not more than two years,

7 or both.

8 ‘‘(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a partial-birth

9 abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother be10 cause her life is endangered by a physical disorder, phys11 ical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering

12 physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy

13 itself, if no other medical procedure would suffice for that

14 purpose.

15 ‘‘(c) As used in this section—

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘partial-birth abortion’ means an

17 abortion in which the person performing the abor18 tion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before

19 killing the infant and completing the delivery; and

20 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘fetus’ and ‘infant’ are inter21 changeable.

22 ‘‘(d)(1) Unless the pregnancy resulted from the plain23 tiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the

24 abortion, the father, and if the mother has not attained
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1 the age of 18 years at the time of the abortion, the mater2 nal grandparents of the fetus or infant, may in a civil ac3 tion obtain appropriate relief.

4 ‘‘(2) Such relief shall include—

5 ‘‘(A) money damages for all injuries, psycho6 logical and physical, occasioned by the violation of

7 this section; and

8 ‘‘(B) statutory damages equal to three times

9 the cost of the partial-birth abortion;

10 even if the mother consented to the performance of an

11 abortion.

12 ‘‘(e) A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is

13 performed may not be prosecuted under this section for

14 a conspiracy to violate this section, or an offense under

15 section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this

16 section.’’.

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters

18 for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by

19 inserting after the item relating to chapter 73 the follow20 ing new item:

‘‘74. Partial-birth abortions ........................................................... 1531’’.

21 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

22 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partial-Birth Abortion

23 Ban Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 18, United States Code, is

3 amended by inserting after chapter 73 the following:

4 ‘‘CHAPTER 74—PARTIAL-BIRTH

5 ABORTIONS

‘‘Sec.

‘‘1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited.

6 ‘‘§ 1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited

7 ‘‘(a) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign com8 merce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and

9 thereby kills a human fetus or infant shall be fined under

10 this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

11 ‘‘(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a partial-birth

12 abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother be13 cause her life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical

14 injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering

15 physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy

16 itself, if no other medical procedure would suffice for that

17 purpose.

18 ‘‘(c) As used in this section—

19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘partial-birth abortion’ means an

20 abortion in which the person performing the abortion

21 partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before kill22 ing the infant and completing the delivery; and

23 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘fetus’ and ‘infant’ are inter24 changeable.
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1 ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the fa2 ther, and if the mother has not attained the age of 18 years

3 at the time of the abortion, the maternal grandparents of

4 the fetus or infant, may in a civil action obtain appropriate

5 relief.

6 ‘‘(2) Such relief shall include—

7 ‘‘(A) money damages for all psychological inju8 ries occasioned by the violation of this section; and

9 ‘‘(B) statutory damages equal to three times the

10 cost of the partial-birth abortion;

11 even if the mother consented to the performance of an abor12 tion.

13 ‘‘(3) A civil action may not be commenced under this

14 section if—

15 ‘‘(A) the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff’s

16 criminal conduct;

17 ‘‘(B) the plaintiff consented to the abortion; or

18 ‘‘(C) the plaintiff is a father who abandoned or

19 abused the mother.

20 ‘‘(e) A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is

21 performed may not be prosecuted under this section for a

22 conspiracy to violate this section, or an offense under sec23 tion 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this sec24 tion.’’.
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters for

2 part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by insert3 ing after the item relating to chapter 73 the following new

4 item:

‘‘74. Partial-birth abortions ............................................................... 1531’’.