IB
Union Calendar No. 138
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1833
[Report No. 104–267]
To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban partial-birth abortions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 14, 1995
Mr. CANADY of Florida (for himself, Mrs. VUCANOVICH, Mr. HALL of Ohio,
Mr. HYDE, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. SMITH
of Texas, Mrs. SMITH of Washington, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr.
SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. HILLEARY,
Mr. BUNNING
of Kentucky, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. EMERSON, Mr.
HAYWORTH, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. WALSH, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. TAL-
ENT, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mrs. SEASTRAND, Mr. BARTON of Texas,
Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee, Mr. YOUNG of Arkansas, Mr. LEWIS of Ken-
tucky, Mr. STEARNS, and Mr. MCINTOSH) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
SEPTEMBER 27, 1995
Additional sponsors: Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. PETER-
SON of Minnesota, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. HOLDEN, Mrs. CHENOWETH,
Mr. VOLKMER, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. KLINK, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr.
TAUZIN, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. BURTON of Indi-
ana, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. BART-
LETT of Maryland, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. CRANE, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. COL-
LINS of Georgia, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. MCDADE, Mr. MAS-
CARA, Mr. SALMON, Mr. BONO, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. SOLO-
MON, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. WICKER, Mr. WAMP, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. TAY-
LOR of North Carolina, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. ENSIGN, Mrs.
CUBIN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr.
HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. LIGHTFOOT, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. HAYES,
Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. WALDHOLTZ, Mr. PAXON, Mr.
MCCOLLUM, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. BAKER
of Louisiana, Mr. BARR, Mr. PARKER, Mr. HERGER, Mr. RADANOVICH,
Mr. RIGGS, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MANTON, Mr. DEAL of
Georgia, Mr. DELAY, Mr. POMBO, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. BE-
REUTER, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr.
WHITFIELD, Mr. COBURN, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. BUNN of Oregon, Mr.
MICA, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. BUYER, Mr. FUNDERBURK, Mr. STUMP, Mr.
MYERS of Indiana, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. WALKER, Mr.
WOLF, and Mr. NEUMANN
SEPTEMBER 27, 1995
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 1995’’.
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 shall be fined under this
title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘partial-birth
abortion’ means an abortion in which the person perform-
ing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus
before killing the fetus and completing the delivery.
‘‘(c)(1) The mother, father, and if the mother has
not attained the age of 18 years at the time of the abor-
tion, the maternal grandparents of the fetus, may in a civil
action 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 any party consented to the performance of an abor-
tion.
‘‘(d) 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.
‘‘(e) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution or
a civil action under this section, which must be proved by
a preponderance of the evidence, that the partial-birth
abortion was performed by a physician who reasonably be-
lieved—
‘‘(1) the partial-birth abortion was necessary to
save the life of the woman upon whom it was per-
formed; and
‘‘(2) no other form of abortion would suffice for
that purpose.’’.
(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 1995’’.
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 shall be fined under this title
or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘partial-birth
abortion’ means an abortion in which the person perform-
ing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus
before killing the fetus and completing the delivery.
‘‘(c)(1) The father, and if the mother has not attained
the age of 18 years at the time of the abortion, the maternal
grandparents of the fetus, may in a civil action obtain ap-
propriate relief, unless the pregnancy resulted from the
plaintiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the
abortion.
‘‘(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.
‘‘(d) 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 for an offense under
section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this
section.
‘‘(e) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution or
a civil action under this section, which must be proved by
a preponderance of the evidence, that the partial-birth abor-
tion was performed by a physician who reasonably be-
lieved—
‘‘(1) the partial-birth abortion was necessary to
save the life of the mother; and
‘‘(2) no other procedure would suffice for that
purpose.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters for
part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by insert-
ing after the item relating to chapter 73 the following new
item:
‘‘74. Partial-birth abortions ............................................................... 1531’’.