Sponsors (4)
The bill preserves state authority to maintain or adopt stricter abortion disclosure and penalty rules—protecting residents in those states—at the cost of creating uneven protections across the country and added compliance burdens for multi-state healthcare providers.
Residents of states with stricter abortion-disclosure or penalty rules (including parents and women) will continue to be governed by those stronger state protections rather than a weaker federal floor, and state governments retain authority to adopt more stringent rules.
People seeking abortion-related care may face a patchwork of differing disclosure and penalty rules across states, leaving residents in some states with weaker uniform federal protections and uneven access or protections.
Hospitals, health systems, and healthcare workers who operate in multiple states must track and comply with varying state disclosure and penalty regimes, increasing administrative burden and compliance costs.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Adds a titled Act and a blank placeholder to federal law, preserves State abortion disclosure/penalty rules, and includes severability; it creates no new federal requirements or funding.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
Establishes a short title, inserts an empty placeholder into the Public Health Service Act without adding any substantive requirements or funding, preserves State laws that impose stricter disclosure or penalty rules related to abortion, and includes a severability clause so remaining provisions survive if part is found unconstitutional. The measure makes no operational changes to federal law or programs because the inserted statutory text is blank.