Dignity for Aborted Children Act

This bill sets national rules for what happens to fetal remains after an abortion. It requires clinics to give each patient a choice: take the remains and arrange for burial or cremation, or allow the clinic to handle it. If the clinic handles it, the remains must be buried or cremated within seven days, following state rules. Clinics must keep signed forms showing the patient’s choice.

Clinics must also send a yearly report to the federal health department with the number of abortions, the stage of pregnancy, and, for procedures other than medication abortion, how remains were handled. States can keep stricter rules. Violations can bring civil fines up to $50,000 for poor recordkeeping and criminal penalties, including up to five years in prison, for not properly disposing of remains. Patients cannot be charged under these rules. Clinics are allowed to handle remains from multiple cases together for burial or cremation.

• Who is affected: Abortion providers and their patients
• What changes: Patient choice form; 7-day deadline to bury or cremate if the clinic handles remains; required recordkeeping and annual reports; fines and possible prison for violations; states can set stricter rules; group burial/cremation allowed
• When: After each abortion; disposal within 7 days; reports filed yearly