[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 6 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                  S. 6

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban partial-birth abortions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 1997

 Mr. Santorum (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Hampshire, Mr. Lott, Mr. 
Abraham, Mr. Allard, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Bond, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Coats, 
   Mr. Coverdell, Mr. Craig, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
Faircloth, Mr. Gorton, Mr. Gramm, Mr. Grams, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Hatch, Mr. 
     Helms, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Lugar, Mr. McConnell, Mr. 
Murkowski, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Smith of Oregon, 
 Mr. Thomas, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Kempthorne) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban partial-birth abortions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after chapter 73 the following:

                 ``CHAPTER 74--PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS

        ``Sec.
        ``1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited.
``Sec. 1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited
    ``(a) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, 
knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human 
fetus or infant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 
than two years, or both.
    ``(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a partial-birth abortion 
that is necessary to save the life of a mother because her life is 
endangered by a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical 
illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or 
arising from the pregnancy itself, if no other medical procedure would 
suffice for that purpose.
    ``(c) As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `partial-birth abortion' means an abortion 
        in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally 
        delivers a living fetus before killing the infant and 
        completing the delivery; and
            ``(2) the terms `fetus' and `infant' are interchangeable.
    ``(d)(1) Unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's 
criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion, the 
father, and if the mother has not attained the age of 18 years at the 
time of the abortion, the maternal grandparents of the fetus or infant, 
may in a civil action obtain appropriate relief.
    ``(2) Such relief shall include--
            ``(A) money damages for all injuries, psychological and 
        physical, occasioned by the violation of this section; and
            ``(B) statutory damages equal to three times the cost of 
        the partial-birth abortion;
even if the mother consented to the performance of an abortion.
    ``(e) A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed may 
not be prosecuted under this section for a conspiracy to violate this 
section, or an offense under section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on 
a violation of this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for part I of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to chapter 73 the following new item:

``74. Partial-birth abortions...............................    1531''.
                                 <all>