I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 356 
To ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding 
the pain experienced by their unborn child. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 25, 2005 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mrs. JO ANN 
DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. HYDE, Mr. STU-
PAK, Mr. WICKER, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. 
HAYES, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. AKIN, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 
MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. ENGLISH of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. 
BURGESS, Mr. FORTUN˜O, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. GOODE, Mr. 
GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. JINDAL, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. WAMP, Mrs. 
BLACKBURN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. 
KING of Iowa, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. KING-
STON, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. BAKER, Mr. CARTER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. 
WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. FORBES, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, 
Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. HALL, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. 
PUTNAM, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. 
STEARNS, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. 
CHOCOLA, Mr. RENZI, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. 
GOODLATTE, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. 
FEENEY, Mr. CONAWAY, Mrs. DRAKE, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. WESTMORE-
LAND, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. POMBO, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. WELDON of Florida) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed 
regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unborn Child Pain 
Awareness Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) At least 20 weeks after fertilization, an un-
born child has the physical structures necessary to 
experience pain. 
(2) There is substantial evidence that by 20 
weeks after fertilization, unborn children draw away 
from certain stimuli in a manner which in an infant 
or an adult would be interpreted as a response to 
pain. 
(3) Anesthesia is routinely administered to un-
born children who have developed 20 weeks or more 
past fertilization who undergo prenatal surgery. 
(4) There is substantial evidence that the abor-
tion methods most commonly used 20 weeks after 
fertilization cause substantial pain to an unborn 
child, whether by dismemberment, poisoning, pene-
trating or crushing the skull, or other methods. Ex-
amples of abortion methods used 20 weeks after fer-
tilization include, but are not limited to the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The Dilation and Evacuation (DE) 
method of abortion is commonly performed in 
the second trimester of pregnancy. In a dilation 
and evacuation abortion, the unborn child’s 
body parts are grasped at random with a long- 
toothed clamp. The fetal body parts are then 
torn off of the body and pulled out of the vag-
inal canal. The remaining body parts are 
grasped and pulled out until only the head re-
mains. The head is then grasped and crushed 
in order to remove it from the vaginal canal. 
(B) Partial-Birth Abortion is an abortion 
in which the abortion practitioner delivers an 
unborn child’s body until only the head remains 
inside the womb, punctures the back of the 
child’s skull with a sharp instrument, and sucks 
the child’s brains out before completing the de-
livery of the dead infant. 
(5) Expert testimony confirms that by 20 weeks 
after fertilization an unborn child may experience 
substantial pain even if the woman herself has re-
ceived local analgesic or general anesthesia.
(6) Medical science is capable of reducing such 
pain through the administration of anesthesia or 
other pain-reducing drugs directly to the unborn 
child. 
(7) There is a valid Federal Government inter-
est in reducing the number of events in which great 
pain is inflicted on sentient creatures. Examples of 
this are laws governing the use of laboratory animals 
and requiring pain-free methods of slaughtering live-
stock, which include, but are not limited to the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Section 2 of the Act commonly known 
as the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 (Public 
Law 85–765; 7 U.S.C. 1902) states, ‘‘No meth-
od of slaughter or handling in connection with 
slaughtering shall be deemed to comply with the 
public policy of the United States unless it is 
humane. Either of the following two methods of 
slaughtering and handling are hereby found to 
be humane: 
‘‘(a) in the case of cattle, calves, 
horses, mules, sheep, swine, and other live-
stock, all animals are rendered insensible 
to pain by a single blow or gunshot or an 
electrical, chemical or other means that is
rapid and effective, before being shackled, 
hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut; or 
‘‘(b) by slaughtering in accordance 
with the ritual requirements of the Jewish 
faith or any other religious faith that pre-
scribes a method of slaughter whereby the 
animal suffers loss of consciousness by 
anemia of the brain caused by the simulta-
neous and instantaneous severance of the 
carotid arteries with a sharp instrument 
and handling in connection with such 
slaughtering.’’. 
(B) Section 13(a)(3) of the Animal Wel-
fare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143(a)(3)) sets the stand-
ards and certification process for the humane 
handling, care, treatment, and transportation of 
animals. This includes having standards with 
respect to animals in research facilities that in-
clude requirements— 
‘‘(i) for animal care, treatment, and 
practices in experimental procedures to en-
sure that animal pain and distress are 
minimized, including adequate veterinary 
care with the appropriate use of anesthetic,
analgesic, tranquilizing drugs, or eutha-
nasia; 
‘‘(ii) that the principal investigator 
considers alternatives to any procedure 
likely to produce pain to or distress in an 
experimental animal; 
‘‘(iii) in any practice which could 
cause pain to animals— 
‘‘(I) that a doctor of veterinary 
medicine is consulted in the planning 
of such procedures; 
‘‘(II) for the use of tranquilizers, 
analgesics, and anesthetics; 
‘‘(III) for pre-surgical and post- 
surgical care by laboratory workers, in 
accordance with established veterinary 
medical and nursing procedures; 
‘‘(IV) against the use of para-
lytics without anesthesia; and 
‘‘(V) that the withholding of 
tranquilizers, anesthesia, analgesia, or 
euthanasia when scientifically nec-
essary shall continue for only the nec-
essary period of time;’’.