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. CAN-
NON, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HUTCHIN-
SON, 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 Geor-
gia, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. BUYER, Mr.
LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. KIL-
DEE, 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. HAN-
SEN, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. JONES,
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 SCHAF-
FER 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. ROS-
LEHTINEN, 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 partial-
birth abortions.
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 ‘‘Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after chapter 73 the following:
‘‘CHAPTER 74—PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS
‘‘Sec.
‘‘1531 Partial-birth abortions prohibited.
‘‘§ 1531 Partial-birth abortions prohibited
‘‘(a) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion
and thereby kills a human fetus or infant shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than two years,
or both.
‘‘(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a partial-birth
abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother be-
cause her life is endangered by a physical disorder, phys-
ical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering
physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy
itself, if no other medical procedure would suffice for that
purpose.
‘‘(c) As used in this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘partial-birth abortion’ means an
abortion in which the person performing the abor-
tion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before
killing the infant and completing the delivery; and
‘‘(2) the terms ‘fetus’ and ‘infant’ are inter-
changeable.
‘‘(d)(1) Unless the pregnancy resulted from the plain-
tiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the
abortion, the father, and if the mother has not attained
the age of 18 years at the time of the abortion, the mater-
nal grandparents of the fetus or infant, may in a civil ac-
tion obtain appropriate relief.
‘‘(2) Such relief shall include—
‘‘(A) money damages for all injuries, psycho-
logical and physical, occasioned by the violation of
this section; and
‘‘(B) statutory damages equal to three times
the cost of the partial-birth abortion;
even if the mother consented to the performance of an
abortion.
‘‘(e) A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is
performed may not be prosecuted under this section for
a conspiracy to violate this section, or an offense under
section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this
section.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters
for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting after the item relating to chapter 73 the follow-
ing new item:
‘‘74. Partial-birth abortions ........................................................... 1531’’.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after chapter 73 the following:
‘‘CHAPTER 74—PARTIAL-BIRTH
ABORTIONS
‘‘Sec.
‘‘1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited.
‘‘§ 1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited
‘‘(a) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign com-
merce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and
thereby kills a human fetus or infant shall be fined under
this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
‘‘(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a partial-birth
abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother be-
cause her life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical
injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering
physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy
itself, if no other medical procedure would suffice for that
purpose.
‘‘(c) As used in this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘partial-birth abortion’ means an
abortion in which the person performing the abortion
partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before kill-
ing the infant and completing the delivery; and
‘‘(2) the terms ‘fetus’ and ‘infant’ are inter-
changeable.
‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the fa-
ther, and if the mother has not attained the age of 18 years
at the time of the abortion, the maternal grandparents of
the fetus or infant, may in a civil action obtain appropriate
relief.
‘‘(2) Such relief shall include—
‘‘(A) money damages for all psychological inju-
ries occasioned by the violation of this section; and
‘‘(B) statutory damages equal to three times the
cost of the partial-birth abortion;
even if the mother consented to the performance of an abor-
tion.
‘‘(3) A civil action may not be commenced under this
section if—
‘‘(A) the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff’s
criminal conduct;
‘‘(B) the plaintiff consented to the abortion; or
‘‘(C) the plaintiff is a father who abandoned or
abused the mother.
‘‘(e) A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is
performed may not be prosecuted under this section for a
conspiracy to violate this section, or an offense under sec-
tion 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this sec-
tion.’’.