[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 98 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 98

 To impose admitting privilege requirements with respect to physicians 
                         who perform abortions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 6, 2009

  Mr. Vitter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To impose admitting privilege requirements with respect to physicians 
                         who perform 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 ``Pregnant Women Health and Safety 
Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR PHYSICIANS RELATING TO THE PERFORMANCE OF 
              ABORTIONS.

    Chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
``Sec. 1532. Prohibition on certain procedures
    ``(a) In General.--A physician who, in or affecting interstate or 
foreign commerce, knowingly performs an abortion and, in doing so, 
fails to comply with subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or 
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. This subsection shall not 
apply to an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother 
whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or 
physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused 
by or arising from the pregnancy itself.
    ``(b) Requirements.--A physician who performs an abortion shall--
            ``(1) have admitting privileges at a hospital to which the 
        physician can travel in one hour or less (determined on the 
        basis of starting at the principal medical office of the 
        physician and traveling to the hospital) and under the average 
        conditions of travel for the physician; and
            ``(2) at the time of the abortion, notify the patient 
        involved of the hospital location where the patient can receive 
        follow-up care by the physician if complications resulting from 
        the abortion arise.
    ``(c) Definition.--As used in this section, the term `physician' 
means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice 
medicine and surgery by the State in which the doctor performs such 
activity, or any other individual legally authorized by the State to 
perform abortions: Provided, however, That any individual who is not a 
physician or not otherwise legally authorized by the State to perform 
abortions, but who nevertheless directly performs an abortion, shall be 
subject to the provisions of this section.
    ``(d) Limitation.--A woman upon whom a procedure described in 
subsection (a) is performed may not be prosecuted under this section, 
for a conspiracy to violate this section, or for an offense under 
section 2, 3, or 4 of this title based on a violation of this 
section.''.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF ABORTION CLINICS.

    (a) In General.--Each abortion clinic that receives any Federal 
funds or assistance shall--
            (1) be licensed by the State in which it is located; and
            (2) be in compliance with the requirements existing on the 
        date of enactment of this Act for ambulatory surgery centers 
        under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1935 et 
        seq.), except for the requirement of a certificate of public 
        need.
    (b) Waiver.--For purposes of complying with subsection (a)(2) with 
respect to an abortion clinic, a State board of health may waive the 
application of certain structural requirements (as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary of Health and Human Services).
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``abortion clinic'' mean 
a facility other than a hospital or an ambulatory surgery center, in 
which 25 or more first trimester abortions are performed during any 12-
month period.
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