[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1231 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1231

To prohibit disinformation in the advertising of abortion services, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 20, 2023

Mr. Menendez (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
Sanders, Mr. Welch, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Warner, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Wyden, 
 Mr. Booker, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Murray, and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit disinformation in the advertising of abortion services, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Stop Antiabortion Disinformation 
Act'' or the ``SAD Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Abortion services are an essential component of 
        reproductive health care.
            (2) On June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health 
        Organization, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, 
        reversing decades of precedent recognizing a constitutional 
        right to abortion before fetal viability and permitting 
        decimation of an already precarious landscape of abortion 
        access.
            (3) The effects were immediate and disastrous. As of 
        January 2023, abortion is unavailable in 14 States, leaving 
        17.8 million women of reproductive age (ages 15 to 49) and 
        transgender and gender nonconforming individuals without 
        abortion access in the home state of such individuals.
            (4) Travel time to an abortion clinic, already burdensome 
        under Roe, has more than tripled since the Dobbs decision, as 
        scores of clinics in already underserved areas have been forced 
        to close and more patients have been forced to travel to other 
        States. As distance to an abortion facility increases, so do 
        the accompanying burdens of time off from work or school, lost 
        wages, transportation costs, lodging, child care costs, and 
        other ancillary costs.
            (5) The freedom to decide whether and when to have a child 
        is key to the ability of an individual to participate fully in 
        our democracy.
            (6) Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are antiabortion 
        organizations that present themselves as comprehensive 
        reproductive health care providers with the intent of 
        discouraging pregnant people from having abortions.
            (7) According to the Journal of Medical Internet Research 
        (JMIR) Public Health and Surveillance, there are more than 
        2,500 CPCs in the United States, though some antiabortion 
        groups claim that the number is closer to 4,000.
            (8) According to 2020 data from JMIR Public Health and 
        Surveillance, on average, CPCs outnumber abortion clinics 
        nationwide by an average of 3 to 1. In some States, this 
        statistic is higher. For example, The Alliance: State Advocates 
        for Women's Rights & Gender Equality (The Alliance) found that 
        in Pennsylvania, CPCs outnumber abortion clinics by 9 to 1. The 
        Alliance also found that in Minnesota, CPCs outnumber abortion 
        clinics by 11 to 1.
            (9) CPCs routinely engage in a variety of deceptive 
        tactics, including making false claims about reproductive 
        health care and providers, disseminating inaccurate, 
        misleading, and stigmatizing information about the risks of 
        abortion and contraception, and using illegitimate or false 
        citations to imply that deceptive claims are supported by 
        legitimate medical sources.
            (10) CPCs typically advertise themselves as providers of 
        comprehensive health care. However, most CPCs in the United 
        States do not employ licensed medical personnel or provide 
        referrals for birth control or abortion care.
            (11) By using these deceptive tactics, CPCs prevent people 
        from accessing reproductive health care and intentionally delay 
        access to time-sensitive abortion services. The harm of these 
        delays is far greater in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
            (12) CPCs target underresourced neighborhoods and 
        communities of color, including Black, Latino, Indigenous, 
        Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities, by 
        locating their facilities near social services centers and 
        comprehensive reproductive health care providers. CPCs place 
        advertisements in these neighborhoods that mislead and draw 
        people away from nearby providers that offer evidence-based 
        sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care. 
        This exacerbates existing health barriers and delays access to 
        time-sensitive care.
            (13) People are entitled to honest, accurate, and timely 
        information when seeking reproductive health care.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISINFORMATION OF ABORTION SERVICES.

    (a) Conduct Prohibited.--
            (1) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person to 
        engage in deceptive advertising about the reproductive health 
        services offered by the person, including advertising that 
        deceptively states that the person--
                    (A) offers or provides contraception or abortion 
                services (or referrals for such contraception or 
                abortion services); or
                    (B) employs or offers access to licensed medical 
                personnel.
            (2) Rulemaking.--The Commission may promulgate regulations 
        under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to implement 
        this section.
            (3) Enforcement by the commission.--A violation of this 
        section or a regulation promulgated under this section shall be 
        treated as a violation of a regulation under section 
        18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
        57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices. 
        Except as otherwise provided in paragraphs (4) to (6), the 
        Commission shall enforce this section and the regulations 
        promulgated under this section in the same manner, by the same 
        means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 
        though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 
        Commission Act were incorporated into and made a part of this 
        section. Any person who violates this section or a regulation 
        promulgated under this section shall be subject to the 
        penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities 
        provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 
        seq.).
            (4) Nonprofit organizations.--Notwithstanding section 4, 
        5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
        44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any jurisdictional limitation of the 
        Commission, the Commission shall also enforce this section or a 
        regulation promulgated under this section, in the same manner 
        provided in paragraphs (1) and (3), with respect to 
        organizations not organized to carry on business for their own 
        profit or that of their members.
            (5) Civil penalty.--In addition to any other penalty as may 
        be prescribed by law, any person who violates this section or a 
        regulation promulgated under this section shall be punishable 
        by a civil penalty that shall not exceed the greater of--
                    (A) $100,000; or
                    (B) 50 percent of the revenues earned by the 
                ultimate parent entity of a person during the preceding 
                12-month period.
            (6) Independent litigation authority.--
                    (A) Civil action by commission.--If the Commission 
                has reason to believe that a person has violated this 
                section or a regulation promulgated under this section, 
                the Commission may bring a civil action in any 
                appropriate United States district court for any of the 
                following remedies:
                            (i) To enjoin any further such violation by 
                        such person.
                            (ii) To enforce compliance with this 
                        section or a regulation promulgated under this 
                        section.
                            (iii) To obtain a permanent, temporary, or 
                        preliminary injunction.
                            (iv) To obtain civil penalties.
                            (v) To obtain damages, restitution, or 
                        other compensation on behalf of aggrieved 
                        consumers.
                            (vi) To obtain any other appropriate 
                        equitable relief.
                    (B) Exclusive authority of commission.--Except as 
                otherwise provided in section 16(a)(3) of the Federal 
                Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 56(a)(3)), the 
                Commission shall have exclusive authority to commence 
                or defend, and supervise the litigation of, any civil 
                action under this section and any appeal of such 
                action, in its own name by any of its attorneys, 
                designated by it for such purpose, unless the 
                Commission authorizes the Attorney General to do so. 
                The Commission shall inform the Attorney General of the 
                exercise of such authority, and such exercise shall not 
                preclude the Attorney General from intervening on 
                behalf of the United States in such action and any 
                appeal of such action as may be otherwise provided by 
                law.
    (b) Reports.--Beginning 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit to 
Congress a report that includes, with respect to the previous year, a 
description of any enforcement action by the Commission under this Act, 
any regulation promulgated under this Act, and the outcomes of such 
actions.
    (c) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to limit 
the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law.
    (d) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Abortion services.--The term ``abortion services'' 
        means an abortion or any medical or non-medical services 
        related to or provided in conjunction with an abortion, whether 
        or not provided at the same time or on the same day as the 
        abortion.
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (3) Person.--The term ``person'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 551(2) of title 5, United States Code.
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