Sponsors (2)
The bill aims to increase procedural safety and continuity of care by imposing ASC standards and requiring follow-up information, but doing so—and criminalizing failure to meet admitting-privilege rules—risks substantially reducing provider availability and access (especially in rural areas) while shifting costs and regulatory control upward to the federal level.
State-licensed abortion clinics will be required to meet ambulatory surgical center (ASC) safety and quality standards, likely increasing procedural safety for patients at those facilities.
Women receiving abortions will be given information at the time of the procedure about where the performing physician can provide follow-up care if complications occur, improving continuity of care.
State health boards, with HHS approval, can obtain waivers of some ASC structural requirements, allowing flexibility to adapt standards to local circumstances.
Women and physicians will face reduced local access to abortion care because criminal penalties for failing to secure admitting privileges and stricter ASC/funding requirements will deter providers and prompt clinic closures, especially in rural areas—raising travel distances, delays, and out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Conditioning federal funding on meeting ASC standards could effectively defund some providers, shifting fiscal burdens to states, taxpayers, or patients and reducing services at federally supported clinics.
Smaller and rural clinics may face high compliance costs to meet ASC structural standards and could close or stop providing abortions, further concentrating services and increasing costs and travel for patients.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires admitting privileges within 15 miles for abortion providers, mandates patient notification of hospital, criminalizes knowing noncompliance, and conditions federal funds on state licensing and ASC compliance for clinics.
Official title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain abortion procedures, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
Requires physicians who perform abortions to hold hospital admitting privileges within 15 miles of their main office and the abortion facility, requires disclosure to patients of the hospital that will provide follow-up care, and makes knowing noncompliance a federal crime with fines or imprisonment. Conditions receipt of any federal funds or assistance on abortion clinics being licensed by their state and meeting ambulatory surgery center (ASC) structural standards under Medicare law, while allowing state health boards to waive certain ASC structural elements when HHS approves.