HR7237-119

What This Bill Does

The Chemical Abortion Risk Awareness Act creates a new Public Health Service Act title. It defines chemical abortion as using or prescribing an abortion-inducing drug with intent to cause death of an unborn child, while excluding life-saving separation when no other mitigation is possible, ectopic or molar pregnancy treatment, and miscarriage treatment. It defines chemical abortion providers, unborn child, and woman. Effective 30 days after enactment, a federally funded chemical abortion provider, or a provider working in or on behalf of a federally funded medical practice or company, must comply before knowingly performing, inducing, or attempting a chemical abortion. At least 24 hours before the procedure, the provider must give the woman full FDA-approved product labels for each abortion-inducing drug in both electronic and paper form, highlight warnings and precautions and adverse reactions or similar sections, read those highlighted sections aloud, and obtain written confirmation. Within 30 days, the provider or entity must submit an implementation plan to the HHS Secretary. HHS may withhold federal funding from noncompliant providers or their employers. A woman or a parent of a woman who received or was subject to an attempted chemical abortion in violation of the title may sue for verifiable physical and psychological injuries, statutory damages equal to three times the abortion cost, punitive damages, and attorney fees for prevailing plaintiffs; prevailing defendants recover fees only for frivolous suits, and damages or fees generally cannot be assessed against the woman. The bill preserves more extensive State disclosure or penalty laws and includes severability.

Who Benefits and How

Women receiving abortion-inducing drugs, parents eligible to sue under the bill, anti-abortion advocates, State officials with more extensive disclosure laws, and plaintiffs' attorneys benefit from mandatory label delivery, oral warning disclosure, written confirmation, funding-withholding leverage, and a private civil-action remedy. HHS gains a federal compliance hook over federally funded providers.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Chemical abortion providers, federally funded medical practices, reproductive health clinics, HHS enforcement staff, abortion patients facing waiting-period logistics, federal courts, and healthcare compliance counsel face new 24-hour disclosure, paper and electronic label, oral-reading, written-confirmation, implementation-plan, funding-withholding, civil-liability, damages, and attorney-fee burdens. Providers may have to redesign visits, telehealth workflows, documentation, and patient communications within 30 days.

Key Provisions

• Defines chemical abortion, chemical abortion provider, unborn child, and woman for a new Public Health Service Act title.
• Requires federally funded chemical abortion providers to comply beginning 30 days after enactment.
• Requires full FDA-approved product labels in paper and electronic form at least 24 hours before a chemical abortion.
• Requires providers to highlight and read warnings, precautions, and adverse reactions and obtain written confirmation.
• Requires implementation plans within 30 days and authorizes HHS to withhold federal funding for noncompliance.
• Creates a private civil action with verifiable damages, treble abortion-cost statutory damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees.
• Preserves stronger State disclosure or penalty laws and includes severability.