H.R. 629

119 HR 629 IH: Ending Chemical Abortions Act of 2025
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-01-22
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 629  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   January 22, 2025   Mr. Ogles  (for himself,  Mrs. Miller of Illinois ,  Mr. Kelly of Mississippi ,  Mr. Bost ,  Mr. Cline ,  Mr. Brecheen ,  Mr. Allen ,  Mr. Weber of Texas ,  Mr. Crenshaw ,  Mr. Crane ,  Mr. Green of Tennessee ,  Mr. Clyde ,  Mr. Biggs of Arizona ,  Mr. LaMalfa ,  Mr. Gosar ,  Mr. Moore of Alabama , and  Ms. Boebert ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit chemical abortions, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Ending Chemical Abortions Act of 2025  .
2.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States. The agency illegally categorized pregnancy as an illness and asserted chemical abortion drugs provide a meaningful therapeutic benefit.
(2)
In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration reduced the number of doctor visits required for administration of chemical abortion drugs from 3 visits to 1 visit. The agency also removed the requirement for both the in-person administration of misoprostol and a subsequent follow-up appointment. At this time, the agency also expanded the availability of inducing a chemical abortion from 7 to 10 weeks.
(3)
In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement for chemical abortion drugs, purporting to allow these drugs to be dispensed by mail in violation of longstanding Federal law.
(4)
When compared to surgical abortions, chemical abortions are consistently more likely to result in complications that are miscoded as a spontaneous abortion or  miscarriage .
(5)
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the Abortion Industry’s think tank, since 2000, the administration of mifepristone and misoprostol has grown to comprise over 50 percent of all induced abortions in the United States.
(6)
There is a four times higher risk of experiencing complications due to a chemical abortion than a surgical abortion.
3.
Renaming  chapter 74  of title 18, United States Code
The table of chapters for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking the item related to chapter 74 and inserting the following:
74. Abortion crimes.
  .
4.
Chemical abortions prohibited
(a)
In general
 Chapter 74  of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after  section 1531  the following:
1532.
Chemical abortions
(a)
Prohibition
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whoever prescribes, dispenses, distributes, or sells, any drug, medication, or chemical for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion on any woman, shall be imprisoned for not more than 25 years, fined under this title, or both.
(b)
Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any of the following:
(1)
The sale, use, prescription or administration of any contraceptive agent administered before conception or before pregnancy can be confirmed through conventional testing.
(2)
The treatment of a miscarriage according to medical guidelines as accepted as of the date of the miscarriage.
(3)
In the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death.
(c)
Bar to prosecution
A woman upon whom a chemical abortion is performed or attempted may not be criminally prosecuted under this section.
(d)
Definitions
In this section:
(1)
Abortion
The term  abortion  means intentionally terminating the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant, with an intention other than—
(A)
to produce a live birth;
(B)
to remove a dead unborn child caused by miscarriage; or
(C)
to treat an ectopic or molar pregnancy.
(2)
Pregnant; pregnancy
The term  pregnant  or  pregnancy  refers to the human female reproductive condition of having a living unborn child within her body throughout the entire embryonic and fetal stages from fertilization to full gestation and childbirth.
(3)
Unborn child
The term  unborn child  means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of being born alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 1, United States Code.
 .
(b)
Clerical amendment
The table of sections for  chapter 74  of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to  section 1531  the following:
1532. Chemical abortions.
  .