Sponsors (87)
Makes deceptive advertising about abortion/contraception/referrals or access to licensed medical staff unlawful and empowers the FTC to issue rules and civil penalties for violations.
Official title: To prohibit disinformation in the advertising of abortion services, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress January 31, 2025
The bill strengthens federal enforcement and transparency to curb deceptive reproductive‑health advertising and improve consumer information, while imposing meaningful compliance costs, large penalties, centralized federal authority, and potential legal and political tensions.
Federal enforcement tools (FTC rulemaking, injunctions, restitution authority and required biennial reports) create a national pathway to stop deceptive reproductive-health advertising and increase transparency about enforcement.
People seeking reproductive health care (women, transgender, and gender‑nonconforming individuals) would receive more honest, accurate information at the point of service, improving informed decision‑making.
Consumers seeking contraception or abortion services will face fewer misleading advertisements and fewer false claims about use of licensed medical staff, reducing the risk of being directed to non-medical or unsafe providers.
Nonprofits and small clinic providers could face substantial new compliance obligations, reporting/privacy requirements and very large civil penalties (minimums tied to revenue) that risk serious financial harm or closure.
Centralizing broad FTC rulemaking and exclusive litigation authority at the federal level may limit states' enforcement flexibility and enable aggressive nationwide actions that override local approaches.
Legal uncertainty while the FTC defines new rules (including under §553) could chill lawful speech and advertising by organizations that provide or discuss reproductive‑health services.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits deceptive advertising about reproductive health services and gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authority to write rules and enforce penalties against people or organizations that misrepresent offering abortion, contraception, referrals for those services, or access to licensed medical personnel. It applies FTC enforcement tools (including civil suits, injunctions, restitution, and civil penalties), extends FTC authority to nonprofits for this purpose, and creates statutory civil penalties of at least $100,000 (CPI‑adjusted) or 50% of the parent entity’s prior 12‑month revenue per violation. The bill requires the FTC to report to Congress every two years on enforcement activity and defines key terms used for enforcement.