I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3805 
To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the 
opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent 
to receive an abortion. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2012 
Mr. JORDAN (for himself, Mr. AKIN, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. 
BARTLETT, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BRADY 
of Texas, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CANSECO, Mr. 
DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. FLORES, Mr. 
FORBES, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. HALL, Mr. HER-
GER, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. JOHNSON of 
Ohio, Mr. JONES, Mr. KELLY, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KLINE, Mr. LIPIN-
SKI, Mr. LONG, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 
MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. ROE 
of Tennessee, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mrs. 
SCHMIDT, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SOUTHERLAND, Mr. WEST-
MORELAND, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. FLEMING, and Mr. MILLER of Flor-
ida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an 
ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound 
before giving informed consent to receive an abortion. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ultrasound Informed 
Consent Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
ACT. 
The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘TITLE XXXIV—INFORMED 
CONSENT 
‘‘SEC. 3401. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) ABORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 
the intentional use or prescription of any instru-
ment, medicine, drug, or any other substance or de-
vice or method to terminate the life of an unborn 
child, or to terminate the pregnancy of a woman 
known to be pregnant with an intention other 
than— 
‘‘(A) to produce a live birth and preserve 
the life and health of the child after live birth; 
or 
‘‘(B) to remove an ectopic pregnancy, or to 
remove a dead unborn child who died as the re-
sult of a spontaneous abortion, accidental trau-
ma, or a criminal assault on the pregnant fe-
male or her unborn child. 
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‘‘(2) ABORTION PROVIDER.—The term ‘abortion 
provider’ means any person legally qualified to per-
form an abortion under applicable Federal and State 
laws. 
‘‘(3) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 
means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any 
stage of development prior to birth. 
‘‘(4) 
UNEMANCIPATED
MINOR.—The 
term 
‘unemancipated minor’ means a minor who is sub-
ject to the control, authority, and supervision of his 
or her parent or guardian, as determined under 
State law. 
‘‘(5) WOMAN.—The term ‘woman’ means a fe-
male human being whether or not she has reached 
the age of majority. 
‘‘SEC. 3402. REQUIREMENT OF INFORMED CONSENT. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT
OF
COMPLIANCE
BY
PRO-
VIDERS.—Any abortion provider in or affecting interstate 
or foreign commerce, who knowingly performs any abor-
tion, shall comply with the requirements of this title. 
‘‘(b) 
PERFORMANCE
AND
REVIEW
OF 
ULTRASOUND.—Prior to a woman giving informed con-
sent to having any part of an abortion performed, the 
abortion provider who is to perform the abortion, or an 
agent under the supervision of the provider, shall— 
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‘‘(1) perform an obstetric ultrasound on the 
pregnant woman; 
‘‘(2) provide a simultaneous explanation of 
what the ultrasound is depicting; 
‘‘(3) display the ultrasound images so that the 
pregnant woman may view them; and 
‘‘(4) provide a complete medical description of 
the ultrasound images, which shall include all of the 
following: the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, 
cardiac activity if present and visible, and the pres-
ence of external members and internal organs if 
present and viewable. 
‘‘(c) ABILITY TO TURN EYES AWAY.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to prevent a pregnant 
woman from turning her eyes away from the ultrasound 
images required to be displayed and described to her. Nei-
ther the abortion provider nor the pregnant woman shall 
be subject to any penalty under this title if the pregnant 
woman declines to look at the displayed ultrasound im-
ages. 
‘‘SEC. 3403. EXCEPTION FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCIES. 
‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—The provisions of section 3402 
shall not apply to an abortion provider if the abortion is 
necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endan-
gered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical 
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‘‘(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A woman upon 
whom an abortion has been performed in violation of this 
title may commence a civil action against the abortion pro-
vider for any violation of this title for actual and punitive 
damages. For purposes of the preceding sentence, actual 
damages are objectively verifiable money damages for all 
injuries.’’. 
SEC. 3. PREEMPTION. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed to preempt any provision of State 
law to the extent that such State law establishes, imple-
ments, or continues in effect disclosure requirements re-
garding abortion or penalties for failure to comply with 
such requirements that are more extensive than those pro-
vided under the amendment made by this Act. 
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, or any application there-
of, is found to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this 
Act and any application thereof shall not be affected by 
such finding. 
Æ 
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