I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4903 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimination by abortion 
against an unborn child on the basis of Down syndrome. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 29, 2019 
Mr. ESTES (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. 
BABIN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. BRADY, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 
GIANFORTE, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma, Mr. KING of 
Iowa, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 
MEADOWS, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. ROY, Mr. 
SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WEBER of 
Texas, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. HICE of 
Georgia, Mr. CLINE, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. CRAWFORD, and Mr. 
JOHNSON of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit discrimi-
nation by abortion against an unborn child on the basis 
of Down syndrome. 
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 ‘‘Down Syndrome Dis-
crimination by Abortion Prohibition Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DISCRIMINATION BY ABORTION AGAINST AN UN-
BORN CHILD ON THE BASIS OF DOWN SYN-
DROME PROHIBITED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 250. Discrimination by abortion against an unborn 
child on the basis of Down syndrome pro-
hibited 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ABORTION.—The term ‘abortion’ means 
the act of using or prescribing any instrument, med-
icine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means 
with the intent to— 
‘‘(A) kill the unborn child of a woman 
known to be pregnant; or 
‘‘(B) terminate the pregnancy of a woman 
known to be pregnant, with an intention other 
than— 
‘‘(i) to produce a live birth and pre-
serve the life and health of the child born 
alive; 
‘‘(ii) to save the life of the pregnant 
woman; or 
‘‘(iii) to remove a dead unborn child. 
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‘‘(2) DOWN SYNDROME.—The term ‘Down syn-
drome’ means a chromosomal disorder associated 
with— 
‘‘(A) an extra copy of the chromosome 21, 
in whole or in part; or 
‘‘(B) an effective trisomy for chromosome 
21. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PLAINTIFF.—The term ‘quali-
fied plaintiff’ means— 
‘‘(A) a woman upon whom an abortion is 
performed or attempted in violation of this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(B) a maternal grandparent of the un-
born child if the woman upon whom an abortion 
is performed or attempted in violation of this 
section is an unemancipated minor; 
‘‘(C) the father of an unborn child who is 
the subject of an abortion performed or at-
tempted in violation of this section unless the 
pregnancy or abortion resulted from the crimi-
nal conduct of the father; or 
‘‘(D) the Attorney General. 
‘‘(4) UNBORN CHILD.—The term ‘unborn child’ 
means an individual of the species homo sapiens 
from the beginning of the biological development of 
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that individual, including fertilization, until the point 
of being born alive, as defined in section 8(b) of title 
1. 
‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to— 
‘‘(1) perform an abortion— 
‘‘(A) with the knowledge that a pregnant 
woman is seeking an abortion, in whole or in 
part, on the basis of— 
‘‘(i) a test result indicating that the 
unborn child has Down syndrome; 
‘‘(ii) a prenatal diagnosis that the un-
born child has Down syndrome; or 
‘‘(iii) any other reason to believe that 
the unborn child has or may have Down 
syndrome; or 
‘‘(B) without first— 
‘‘(i) asking the pregnant woman if she 
is aware of any test results, prenatal diag-
nosis, or any other evidence that the un-
born child has or may have Down syn-
drome; and 
‘‘(ii) if the woman is aware that the 
unborn child has or may have Down syn-
drome, informing the pregnant woman of 
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the prohibitions on abortion under this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(2) use force or the threat of force to inten-
tionally injure or intimidate any person for the pur-
pose of coercing an abortion described in paragraph 
(1)(A); 
‘‘(3) solicit or accept funds for the performance 
of an abortion described in paragraph (1)(A); or 
‘‘(4) knowingly transport a woman into the 
United States or across a State line for the purpose 
of obtaining an abortion described in paragraph 
(1)(A). 
‘‘(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person that violates, 
or attempts to violate, subsection (b) shall be fined under 
this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 
‘‘(d) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 
‘‘(1) CIVIL ACTION BY WOMAN ON WHOM ABOR-
TION
IS
PERFORMED.—A woman upon whom an 
abortion has been performed or attempted in viola-
tion of subsection (b)(2) may bring a civil action in 
an appropriate court against any person who en-
gaged in a violation of subsection (b)(2) to obtain 
appropriate relief. 
‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION BY RELATIVES.— 
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