113 HR 5551 IH: Heartbeat Informed Consent Act U.S. House of Representatives 2014-09-18 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 113th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5551 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 18, 2014 Mrs. Bachmann (for herself, Mr. Huelskamp, Mr. Harris, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Long, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Huizenga of Michigan, Mr. Latta, and Mr. Johnson of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and an opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Heartbeat Informed Consent Act.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds as follows: (1)The presence of a heartbeat in a woman’s unborn child will be a material consideration to many women contemplating abortion. (2)The presence of a heartbeat in a woman’s unborn child is a developmental fact that illustrates to the woman that her baby is already alive. (3)On about the 21st or 22nd day after fertilization (which is about 5 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period) the heart of an unborn child begins to beat. (4)The heartbeat of an unborn child can be visually detected at an early stage of pregnancy using an ultrasound machine, typically, at 4 to 4.5 weeks after fertilization (6 to 6.5 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period) on transvaginal ultrasound, and at 5.5 to 6 weeks after fertilization (7.5 to 8 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period) on transabdominal ultrasound. (5)The heartbeat of an unborn child can be made audible at later stages, including by using a handheld Doppler fetal monitor. (6)Less than five percent of all natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage after detection of cardiac activity. A fetal heartbeat is therefore a key medical indicator that an unborn child is likely to achieve the capacity for live birth. (7)The observation of a heartbeat in a woman’s unborn child, when a heartbeat has been detected, is an important component of full informed consent. (8)Ensuring full informed consent for an abortion is imperative, because of the profound physical and psychological risks of an abortion. As the Supreme Court has observed, [t]he medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of an abortion are serious and can be lasting. H.L. v. Matheson, 450 U.S. 398, 411 (1981). The woman’s decision whether to abort is an important, and often a stressful one, and it is desirable and imperative that it be made with full knowledge of its nature and consequences. Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52, 67 (1976). Whether to have an abortion requires a difficult and painful moral decision, in which some women come to regret their choice to abort the infant life they once created and sustained, and [s]evere depression and loss of esteem can follow … The State has an interest in ensuring so grave a choice is well informed. It is self-evident that a mother who comes to regret her choice to abort must struggle with grief more anguished and sorrow more profound when she learns, only after the event, what she once did not know … Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 159–160 (2007). (9)Requiring providers to give a woman an opportunity to observe her unborn child’s heartbeat is constitutionally permissible, and the ultrasound image of an unborn child is truthful, nonmisleading information. In attempting to ensure that a woman apprehend the full consequences of her decision, the State furthers the legitimate purpose of reducing the risk that a woman may elect an abortion, only to discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that her decision was not fully informed. If the information the State requires to be made available to the woman is truthful and not misleading, the requirement may be permissible. (Opinion of O’Connor, Kennedy, and Souter, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 882 (1992)). (10)Further, recent research, taking into account 22 studies with control groups and more than 877,000 women over a 14-year period, finds that women who have had an abortion have an 81 percent increased risk for mental health problems and 10 percent of the mental health problems of women who have had an abortion are directly attributed to abortion.

3.

Amendment to the public health service act

The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: .

4.

Preemption

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to preempt any provision of State law to the extent that such State law establishes, implements, or continues in effect greater disclosure requirements regarding abortion than those provided under this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

5.

Severability

If any provision of this Act, an amendment by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such remainder to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.