Sponsors (2)
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
The bill aims to raise facility safety standards and protect patients from prosecution but does so by imposing federal penalties and facility requirements that are likely to reduce provider availability and access—especially for low-income and rural patients—while shifting more power to states.
Pregnant people seeking the covered procedure (women) are explicitly protected from federal criminal prosecution for undergoing it.
Patients at state-licensed clinics would face higher structural safety standards (ASC-level), which could increase procedural safety for procedures performed at those clinics.
State health boards are permitted to waive certain ASC structural requirements, giving states flexibility to adapt standards to local facility realities.
Women seeking abortions are likely to face substantially reduced access (fewer willing providers, clinic closures, longer travel distances and wait times) because the bill combines federal penalties for providers, admitting-privilege requirements, and ASC licensing rules.
Smaller clinics and nonprofit providers — especially in low-income and rural areas — would face significant compliance costs to meet ASC standards and admitting-privilege requirements, risking closures or reduced services.
The bill creates new federal criminalization of certain clinical practices for providers, expanding federal involvement in medical regulation and likely chilling providers from offering care.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal crime for physicians lacking nearby hospital admitting privileges and patient notification, and ties federal funding to clinic licensing and ASC-level standards.
Creates a new federal crime for physicians who perform abortions without meeting two requirements: having hospital admitting privileges within 15 miles of both their principal office and the abortion location, and notifying the patient of the hospital where the physician can provide follow-up care. Violations can be punished by fines and up to 2 years in prison; the pregnant patient cannot be prosecuted under the new offense. Separately, it conditions receipt of any federal funds on abortion clinics being state-licensed and meeting Medicare ambulatory surgery center (ASC) standards (with a limited waiver process through state health boards and HHS), and defines “abortion clinic” as a non-hospital, non-ASC facility that performs abortions during any 12-month period.