Dignity for Aborted Children Act

Summary

Creates federal rules for how human fetal tissue from abortions must be handled, who decides what happens to it, and how abortion providers must document and report those decisions. Providers must offer patients a written consent option to take fetal tissue or release it to the provider; if released, the provider must inter or cremate the tissue within 7 days and keep the signed consent in the medical record. The law adds criminal and civil penalties for provider violations (including fines and up to 5 years imprisonment for failing to dispose within 7 days), requires annual provider reporting of aggregate counts and disposal outcomes, and directs the HHS Secretary to publish state-by-state annual reports by procedure type and disposal method. It also preserves state rules that require at minimum interment or cremation consistent with treatment of other human remains.

• Providers must offer a written consent choice letting patients take fetal tissue or release it to the provider and must retain the signed form in the medical record.
• If the patient releases fetal tissue to the provider, the provider must inter or cremate the tissue within 7 days, with collective options allowed.
• Failure to retain the consent form can result in civil penalties up to $50,000; failure to dispose within 7 days can bring criminal penalties including up to 5 years imprisonment.
• Providers must submit annual aggregate reports on counts, gestational ages, and—for non-chemical abortions—disposition outcomes; HHS must publish state-by-state reports.
• Patients are explicitly protected from prosecution for offenses that arise from provider failures to follow the law.
• The statute references federal constitutional authorities as its legal basis but does not create a funding program or appropriate money.
• State requirements that at minimum require interment or cremation consistent with other human remains are preserved.
• The law applies differently to chemical versus non-chemical abortions for reporting of fetal remains.
• Adds a new section to the Public Health Service Act to impose federal standards on post‑abortion tissue disposition, recordkeeping, penalties, and reporting.
• Likely increases administrative, logistical, and legal burdens on clinics, hospitals, and abortion providers, potentially affecting access and costs.