Sponsors (11)
The bill strengthens parental notification and enforcement and preserves state authority over minors' abortion consent, but at the cost of added delays, legal and criminal exposure for providers, and elevated risks to minors—especially those in abusive or unsafe homes—potentially reducing timely access, privacy, and autonomy.
Parents and legal guardians of unemancipated minors will be notified when a minor requests an abortion and have clear legal tools to enforce notification (including the ability to sue and prompt injunctive relief), increasing parental awareness and involvement.
A narrow medical-emergency exception allows immediate life‑saving care when two physicians certify an imminent life‑threatening risk, preserving emergency treatment options.
States retain the authority to impose stricter parental-notification rules, preserving local control over minors' consent and allowing states to require greater parental involvement if they choose.
Unemancipated minors seeking abortions can be delayed or effectively prevented from obtaining care because of a required 96‑hour wait and the ability of parents to sue and obtain injunctions while litigation proceeds, which can worsen medical risk and reduce timely access.
Mandatory parental notification can endanger minors in abusive, coercive, or unsafe family situations if waivers are inaccessible or untimely, increasing the risk of harm to those youths.
Criminal penalties (fines up to $100,000 and possible imprisonment) and broad applicability to entities 'engaged in interstate commerce' or receiving federal funds may deter providers and clinics from offering services to minors and expand federal enforcement into nonmedical actors, reducing service availability.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires written parental notice and a 96-hour wait before most abortions for unemancipated minors, allows parents to sue to enjoin abortions, and creates criminal penalties for violations.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Mary E. Miller · Last progress January 28, 2025
Makes it illegal for providers who operate in interstate commerce or accept federal funds to perform or assist with an abortion for an unemancipated minor under 18 unless the provider gives written notice to the minor’s parent or guardian, waits 96 hours after the parent receives notice, and follows any court injunctions. It creates criminal penalties (fines up to $100,000 and/or up to one year in jail) for willful violations, allows parents who must be notified to sue in federal court to block the abortion, and includes a narrow medical-emergency exception when two physicians certify immediate treatment is required and notification is not possible. The law takes effect on enactment and preserves states’ authority to impose stricter parental-notice or intervention rules.