Sponsors (11)
Creates a federal crime banning physicians from performing "dismemberment abortions," adds civil causes of action, and sets penalties including fines, prison, and damages.
Official title: Amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit dismemberment abortions, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 24, 2026 by Marion Michael Rounds · Last progress June 24, 2026
The bill protects women from criminal prosecution and creates civil remedies for victims, but does so while broadly criminalizing certain abortion methods, imposing criminal and civil penalties on providers, and expanding federal enforcement — a trade-off between victim protections and significantly increased legal risk and reduced access to abortion care.
Women who undergo the specified procedure are explicitly protected from criminal prosecution under this law, ensuring they cannot be criminally charged for seeking that abortion care.
Women subjected to an unlawful 'dismemberment' abortion can sue for compensatory, statutory (triple), and punitive damages and recover attorney’s fees, increasing access to civil remedies and financial compensation for victims.
Many women’s access to abortion could be restricted because the bill defines an 'unborn child' from fertilization and criminalizes a broad category of procedures, creating legal uncertainty about which methods are permitted and potentially limiting available care.
Physicians and other providers who perform the defined 'dismemberment' abortions face federal criminal penalties (up to two years imprisonment), which will deter providers and reduce the availability of abortion services.
The bill creates substantial federal civil liability (large damages awards and fee-shifting) that will raise legal and insurance costs for providers and could drive clinics to stop offering services, further limiting access.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a new federal crime making it illegal for a physician to knowingly perform a "dismemberment abortion" in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison. Provides a life-saving exception for the pregnant woman and bars criminal prosecution of the woman who receives the abortion. Gives civil causes of action to the woman subjected to an unlawful procedure and to a parent of a minor (with limited exceptions), authorizes compensatory, statutory (three times the abortion cost), and punitive damages, and shifts attorney fees to prevailing plaintiffs and to prevailing defendants in frivolous suits. Defines key terms and adds the new crime to Title 18 of the U.S. Code.