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 Flor-
ida, 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. 
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 ‘‘Heartbeat Protection 
Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT A CHECK FOR 
FETAL HEARTBEAT, OR IF A FETAL HEART-
BEAT IS DETECTABLE. 
(a) ABORTIONS PROHIBITED WITHOUT
A CHECK 
FOR FETAL HEARTBEAT, OR IF A FETAL HEARTBEAT IS 
DETECTABLE.—Chapter 74 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in the chapter heading, by striking ‘‘PAR-
TIAL-BIRTH’’; 
(2) by inserting after section 1531 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 1532. Abortions prohibited without a check for 
fetal heartbeat, or if a fetal heartbeat is 
detectable 
‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—Any physician who knowingly per-
forms an abortion and thereby kills a human unborn 
child— 
‘‘(1) without determining, according to stand-
ard medical practice, whether the unborn child has 
a detectable heartbeat; 
‘‘(2) without informing the mother of the re-
sults of that determination; or 
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‘‘(3) after determining, according to standard 
medical practice, that the unborn child has a detect-
able heartbeat, 
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 
5 years, or both. This subsection does not apply to an 
abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother 
whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical 
illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering 
physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy 
itself, but not including psychological or emotional condi-
tions. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 
if— 
‘‘(1) in reasonable medical judgment, the abor-
tion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant 
woman whose life is endangered by a physical dis-
order, physical illness, or physical injury, including 
a life-endangering physical condition caused by or 
arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including 
psychological or emotional conditions; 
‘‘(2) the pregnancy is the result of rape against 
an adult woman, and at least 48 hours prior to the 
abortion— 
‘‘(A) she has obtained counseling for the 
rape; or 
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‘‘(B) she has obtained medical treatment 
for the rape or an injury related to the rape; or 
‘‘(3) the pregnancy is a result of rape against 
a minor or incest against a minor, and the rape or 
incest has been reported at any time prior to the 
abortion to either— 
‘‘(A) a government agency legally author-
ized to act on reports of child abuse; or 
‘‘(B) a law enforcement agency. 
‘‘(c) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) 
DOCUMENTATION
PERTAINING
TO 
ADULTS.—A physician who performs or attempts to 
perform an abortion under an exception provided by 
subsection (b)(2) shall, prior to performing the abor-
tion, place in the patient medical file documentation 
from a hospital licensed by the State or operated 
under authority of a Federal agency, a medical clinic 
licensed by the State or operated under authority of 
a Federal agency, from a personal physician licensed 
by the State, a counselor licensed by the State, or 
a victim’s rights advocate provided by a law enforce-
ment agency that the adult woman seeking the abor-
tion obtained medical treatment or counseling for 
the rape or an injury related to the rape. 
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‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION
PERTAINING
TO
MI-
NORS.—A physician who performs or attempts to 
perform an abortion under an exception provided by 
subsection (b)(3) shall, prior to performing the abor-
tion, place in the patient medical file documentation 
from a government agency legally authorized to act 
on reports of child abuse that the rape or incest was 
reported prior to the abortion; or, as an alternative, 
documentation from a law enforcement agency that 
the rape or incest was reported prior to the abortion. 
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETENTION.—Para-
graph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of title 45, Code of Federal 
Regulations, shall apply to documentation required to be 
placed in a patient’s medical file pursuant to paragraph 
(6) of such section and a consent form required to be re-
tained in a patient’s medical file pursuant to paragraph 
(7) of such section in the same manner and to the same 
extent as such paragraph applies to documentation re-
quired by paragraph (j)(1) of such section. 
‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL
EXCEPTIONS
AND
REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(1) EXCLUSION
OF
CERTAIN
FACILITIES.— 
Notwithstanding the definitions set forth in sub-
section (j), the counseling described in subsection 
(b)(2)(A) and subsection (c)(1) or medical treatment 
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may not be provided by a facility that performs 
abortions (unless that facility is a hospital). 
‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION IN CASES OF RE-
PORTS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.—The requirements 
of subsection (b)(2) do not apply if the rape has 
been reported at any time prior to the abortion to 
a law enforcement agency or Department of Defense 
victim assistance personnel. 
‘‘(f) DEFENDANT MAY SEEK HEARING.—A defend-
ant indicted for an offense under this section may seek 
a hearing before the State Medical Board on whether the 
physician’s conduct was necessary to save the life of the 
mother whose life was endangered by a physical disorder, 
physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endan-
gering physical condition caused by or arising from the 
pregnancy itself, but not including psychological or emo-
tional conditions. The findings on that issue are admissible 
on that issue at the trial of the defendant. Upon a motion 
of the defendant, the court shall delay the beginning of 
the trial for not more than 30 days to permit such a hear-
ing to take place. 
‘‘(g) NO LIABILITY FOR THE MOTHER ON WHOM 
ABORTION IS PERFORMED.—A mother upon whom an 
abortion is performed may not be prosecuted under this 
section, for a conspiracy to violate this section, or for an 
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offense under section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a 
violation of this section. 
‘‘(h) REQUIREMENT FOR DATA RETENTION.—The 
physician shall include in the medical file of the mother 
documentation of the determination, according to stand-
ard medical practice, of whether the unborn child has a 
detectable heartbeat, the results of that determination, no-
tification of the mother of those results, and any informa-
tion entered into evidence in any proceedings under sub-
section (b). Paragraph (j)(2) of section 164.530 of title 
45, Code of Federal Regulations, shall apply to such docu-
mentation. 
‘‘(i) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 
or the application of such provision to any person or cir-
cumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec-
tion and the application of the provisions of the remainder 
to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there-
by. 
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘counseling’ means counseling 
provided by a counselor licensed by the State, or a 
victims rights advocate provided by a law enforce-
ment agency. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘medical treatment’ means treat-
ment provided at a hospital licensed by the State or 
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operated under authority of a Federal agency, at a 
medical clinic licensed by the State or operated 
under authority of a Federal agency, or from a per-
sonal physician licensed by the State. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘abortion’ means the use or pre-
scription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any 
other substance or device— 
‘‘(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child 
of a woman known to be pregnant; or 
‘‘(B) to intentionally terminate the preg-
nancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with 
an intention other than— 
‘‘(i) after viability to produce a live 
birth and preserve the life and health of 
the child born alive; or 
‘‘(ii) to remove a dead unborn child. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘attempt’, with respect to an 
abortion, means conduct that, under the cir-
cumstances as the actor believes them to be, con-
stitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct 
planned to culminate in performing an abortion. 
‘‘(5) The term ‘facility’ means any medical or 
counseling group, center or clinic and includes the 
entire legal entity, including any entity that controls, 
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is controlled by, or is under common control with 
such facility. 
‘‘(6) The term ‘perform’, with respect to an 
abortion, includes inducing an abortion through a 
medical or chemical intervention including writing a 
prescription for a drug or device intended to result 
in an abortion. 
‘‘(7) The term ‘physician’ means a person li-
censed to practice medicine and surgery or osteo-
pathic medicine and surgery, or otherwise legally au-
thorized to perform an abortion. 
‘‘(8) The term ‘reasonable medical judgment’ 
means a medical judgment that would be made by 
a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about 
the case and the treatment possibilities with respect 
to the medical conditions involved. 
‘‘(9) The term ‘unborn child’ means an indi-
vidual organism of the species homo sapiens, begin-
ning at fertilization, until the point of being born 
alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 1. 
‘‘(10) The term ‘woman’ means a female 
human being whether or not she has reached the age 
of majority. 
‘‘(k) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
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‘‘(1) GREATER PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in this 
section may be construed to pre-empt or limit any 
Federal, State, or local law that provides greater 
protections for an unborn child than those provided 
in this section. 
‘‘(2) CREATION OF RECOGNITION OF RIGHT.— 
Nothing in this section may be construed to create 
or recognize a right to abortion or to make lawful 
an abortion that is unlawful on the effective date of 
this section.’’; and 
(3) in the table of sections, by inserting after 
the item pertaining to section 1841 the following: 
‘‘1532. Abortions prohibited without a check for fetal heartbeat, or if a fetal 
heartbeat is detectable.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 
for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended, 
in the item relating to chapter 74, to read as follows: 
‘‘74. Abortions .......................................................................................... 1531’’. 
Æ 
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