I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 175 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where 

a fetal heartbeat is detectable. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. 

CAMMACK, Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. 

DUNCAN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. CARL, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. JOHNSON

of Ohio, Mr. TIFFANY, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. MAST, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. JOYCE of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. BURCHETT, 

Mr. CLINE, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ESTES, Mr. 

BABIN, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. ROSE, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. WEBSTER of 

Florida, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. POSEY, Mr. KUSTOFF, Mr. 

BIGGS, Mr. JACKSON of Texas, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. FITZGERALD, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, 

Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. FALLON, Mr. DUNN of Florida, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. GOOD

of Virginia, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. 

BAIRD, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mrs. LESKO, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, 

Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. GUTHRIE, and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion 

in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable. 

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 ‘‘Heartbeat Protection 

3 Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A CHECK FOR 

5 FETAL HEARTBEAT, OR IF A FETAL HEART6 BEAT IS DETECTABLE. 

7 (a) ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A CHECK

8 FOR FETAL HEARTBEAT, OR IF A FETAL HEARTBEAT IS

9 DETECTABLE.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in the chapter heading, by striking ‘‘PAR12 TIAL-BIRTH’’; 

13 (2) by inserting after section 1531 the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 1532. Abortions prohibited without a check for 

16 fetal heartbeat, or if a fetal heartbeat is 

17 detectable 

18 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any physician who knowingly per19 forms an abortion and thereby kills a human unborn 

20 child— 

21 ‘‘(1) without determining, according to stand22 ard medical practice, whether the unborn child has 

23 a detectable heartbeat; 

24 ‘‘(2) without informing the mother of the re25 sults of that determination; or 


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1 ‘‘(3) after determining, according to standard 

2 medical practice, that the unborn child has a detect3 able heartbeat, 

4 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

5 5 years, or both. This subsection does not apply to an 

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

7 whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical 

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

9 physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy 

10 itself, but not including psychological or emotional condi11 tions. 

12 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

13 if— 

14 ‘‘(1) in reasonable medical judgment, the abor15 tion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant 

16 woman whose life is endangered by a physical dis17 order, physical illness, or physical injury, including 

18 a life-endangering physical condition caused by or 

19 arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including 

20 psychological or emotional conditions; 

21 ‘‘(2) the pregnancy is the result of rape against 

22 an adult woman, and at least 48 hours prior to the 

23 abortion— 

24 ‘‘(A) she has obtained counseling for the 

25 rape; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) she has obtained medical treatment 

2 for the rape or an injury related to the rape; or 

3 ‘‘(3) the pregnancy is a result of rape against 

4 a minor or incest against a minor, and the rape or 

5 incest has been reported at any time prior to the 

6 abortion to either— 

7 ‘‘(A) a government agency legally author8 ized to act on reports of child abuse; or 

9 ‘‘(B) a law enforcement agency. 

10 ‘‘(c) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DOCUMENTATION PERTAINING TO

12 ADULTS.—A physician who performs or attempts to 

13 perform an abortion under an exception provided by 

14 subsection (b)(2) shall, prior to performing the abor15 tion, place in the patient medical file documentation 

16 from a hospital licensed by the State or operated 

17 under authority of a Federal agency, a medical clinic 

18 licensed by the State or operated under authority of 

19 a Federal agency, from a personal physician licensed 

20 by the State, a counselor licensed by the State, or 

21 a victim’s rights advocate provided by a law enforce22 ment agency that the adult woman seeking the abor23 tion obtained medical treatment or counseling for 

24 the rape or an injury related to the rape. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION PERTAINING TO MI2 NORS.—A physician who performs or attempts to 

3 perform an abortion under an exception provided by 

4 subsection (b)(3) shall, prior to performing the abor5 tion, place in the patient medical file documentation 

6 from a government agency legally authorized to act 

7 on reports of child abuse that the rape or incest was 

8 reported prior to the abortion; or, as an alternative, 

9 documentation from a law enforcement agency that 

10 the rape or incest was reported prior to the abortion. 

11 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETENTION.—Para12 graph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of title 45, Code of Federal 

13 Regulations, shall apply to documentation required to be 

14 placed in a patient’s medical file pursuant to paragraph 

15 (6) of such section and a consent form required to be re16 tained in a patient’s medical file pursuant to paragraph 

17 (7) of such section in the same manner and to the same 

18 extent as such paragraph applies to documentation re19 quired by paragraph (j)(1) of such section. 

20 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTIONS AND REQUIRE21 MENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES.— 

23 Notwithstanding the definitions set forth in sub24 section (j), the counseling described in subsection 

25 (b)(2)(A) and subsection (c)(1) or medical treatment 


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1 may not be provided by a facility that performs 

2 abortions (unless that facility is a hospital). 

3 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION IN CASES OF RE4 PORTS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.—The requirements 

5 of subsection (b)(2) do not apply if the rape has 

6 been reported at any time prior to the abortion to 

7 a law enforcement agency or Department of Defense 

8 victim assistance personnel. 

9 ‘‘(f) DEFENDANT MAY SEEK HEARING.—A defend10 ant indicted for an offense under this section may seek 

11 a hearing before the State Medical Board on whether the 

12 physician’s conduct was necessary to save the life of the 

13 mother whose life was endangered by a physical disorder, 

14 physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endan15 gering physical condition caused by or arising from the 

16 pregnancy itself, but not including psychological or emo17 tional conditions. The findings on that issue are admissible 

18 on that issue at the trial of the defendant. Upon a motion 

19 of the defendant, the court shall delay the beginning of 

20 the trial for not more than 30 days to permit such a hear21 ing to take place. 

22 ‘‘(g) NO LIABILITY FOR THE MOTHER ON WHOM

23 ABORTION IS PERFORMED.—A mother upon whom an 

24 abortion is performed may not be prosecuted under this 

25 section, for a conspiracy to violate this section, or for an 


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1 offense under section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a 

2 violation of this section. 

3 ‘‘(h) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETENTION.—The 

4 physician shall include in the medical file of the mother 

5 documentation of the determination, according to stand6 ard medical practice, of whether the unborn child has a 

7 detectable heartbeat, the results of that determination, no8 tification of the mother of those results, and any informa9 tion entered into evidence in any proceedings under sub10 section (b). Paragraph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of title 

11 45, Code of Federal Regulations, shall apply to such docu12 mentation. 

13 ‘‘(i) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 

14 or the application of such provision to any person or cir15 cumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec16 tion and the application of the provisions of the remainder 

17 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there18 by. 

19 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) The term ‘counseling’ means counseling 

21 provided by a counselor licensed by the State, or a 

22 victims rights advocate provided by a law enforce23 ment agency. 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘medical treatment’ means treat25 ment provided at a hospital licensed by the State or 


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1 operated under authority of a Federal agency, at a 

2 medical clinic licensed by the State or operated 

3 under authority of a Federal agency, or from a per4 sonal physician licensed by the State. 

5 ‘‘(3) The term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre6 scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any 

7 other substance or device— 

8 ‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 

9 of a woman known to be pregnant; or 

10 ‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg11 nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 

12 an intention other than— 

13 ‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live 

14 birth and preserve the life and health of 

15 the child born alive; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 

17 ‘‘(4) The term ‘attempt’, with respect to an 

18 abortion, means conduct that, under the cir19 cumstances as the actor believes them to be, con20 stitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct 

21 planned to culminate in performing an abortion. 

22 ‘‘(5) The term ‘facility’ means any medical or 

23 counseling group, center or clinic and includes the 

24 entire legal entity, including any entity that controls, 


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1 is controlled by, or is under common control with 

2 such facility. 

3 ‘‘(6) The term ‘perform’, with respect to an 

4 abortion, includes inducing an abortion through a 

5 medical or chemical intervention including writing a 

6 prescription for a drug or device intended to result 

7 in an abortion. 

8 ‘‘(7) The term ‘physician’ means a person li9 censed to practice medicine and surgery or osteo10 pathic medicine and surgery, or otherwise legally au11 thorized to perform an abortion. 

12 ‘‘(8) The term ‘reasonable medical judgment’ 

13 means a medical judgment that would be made by 

14 a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about 

15 the case and the treatment possibilities with respect 

16 to the medical conditions involved. 

17 ‘‘(9) The term ‘unborn child’ means an indi18 vidual organism of the species homo sapiens, begin19 ning at fertilization, until the point of being born 

20 alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 1. 

21 ‘‘(10) The term ‘woman’ means a female 

22 human being whether or not she has reached the age 

23 of majority. 

24 ‘‘(k) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) GREATER PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in this 

2 section may be construed to pre-empt or limit any 

3 Federal, State, or local law that provides greater 

4 protections for an unborn child than those provided 

5 in this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) CREATION OF RECOGNITION OF RIGHT.— 

7 Nothing in this section may be construed to create 

8 or recognize a right to abortion or to make lawful 

9 an abortion that is unlawful on the effective date of 

10 this section.’’; and 

11 (3) in the table of sections, by inserting after 

12 the item pertaining to section 1841 the following: 

‘‘1532. Abortions prohibited without a check for fetal heartbeat, or if a fetal 

heartbeat is detectable.’’. 

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

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

15 in the item relating to chapter 74, to read as follows: 

‘‘74. Abortions .......................................................................................... 1531’’. 

Æ 


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