Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Healthcare Services Act

Bill: 116-hr-2646
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12]
Introduced: 2019-05-09
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Abortion

Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Consumer affairs

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Marketing and advertising
Latest action: action_date: 2019-05-10
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-05-09
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Healthcare Services Act</b><br /><br /> This bill prohibits advertisements that create the false impression that (1) a person or organization provides abortion services when they do not, or (2) they do not provide such services when they do. </p> <p>Abortion services include (1) surgical and non-surgical procedures to terminate pregnancy, or (2) providing referrals for such procedures. </p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2646 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 9, 2019 Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself, Ms. Bonamici , Mr. Foster , Ms. Jayapal , Mr. Moulton , Miss Rice of New York , Mr. Gallego , Mr. Schiff , Ms. McCollum , Mr. Grijalva , Mr. Raskin , Ms. DeLauro , Mr. Krishnamoorthi , Mr. Pocan , Mr. Aguilar , and Mr. Khanna ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules prohibiting deceptive advertising of abortion services, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Healthcare Services Act . 2. Prohibition of deceptive advertising of abortion services (a) Conduct prohibited Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, promulgate rules to prohibit, as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, any person from advertising with the intent to deceptively create the impression that— (1) such person is a provider of abortion services if such person does not provide abortion services; and (2) such person is not a provider of abortion services if such person does provide abortion services. (b) Enforcement by the FTC A violation of a rule promulgated under subsection (a) shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B) ). The Commission shall enforce such rules in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). (c) Nonprofit organizations The Commission shall enforce this Act with respect to an organization that is not organized to carry on business for its own profit or that of its members as if such organization were a person over which the Commission has authority pursuant to section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2) ). 3. Reports (a) Report on plan for enforcement Not later than 60 days after issuing a final rule under section 2(a), the Federal Trade Commission shall transmit to Congress a report detailing its plan to enforce such rule. (b) Annual reports The Commission shall submit annual reports to Congress that include the enforcement actions of the Commission under this Act and any rule promulgated pursuant to this Act and the outcomes of such actions. 4. Definitions For purposes of the rules prescribed under section 2, the following definitions apply: (1) Advertise The term advertise means offering of goods or services to the public, regardless of whether such goods or services are offered for payment or result in a profit. (2) Abortion services The term abortion services means providing surgical and non-surgical procedures to terminate a pregnancy, or providing referrals for such procedures. (3) Person The term person has the meaning given that term in section 551(2) of title 5, United States Code.