[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4880 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4880
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit dismemberment
abortions, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2026
Mr. Rounds (for himself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Budd, Mr. Risch, Mr.
Daines, Mr. Banks, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Hawley,
and Mrs. Blackburn) 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 prohibit dismemberment
abortions, 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 ``Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. DISMEMBERMENT ABORTION BAN.
(a) In General.--Chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1531 the following:
``Sec. 1532. Dismemberment abortion ban
``(a) Dismemberment Abortion Prohibited.--
``(1) In general.--Any physician who, in or affecting
interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly performs a
dismemberment abortion and thereby kills an unborn child shall
be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years,
or both.
``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a
dismemberment 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) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit abortions performed for any reason, including when
the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, if performed by a method
other than dismemberment abortion.
``(c) Civil Remedies.--
``(1) Civil action by a woman on whom an abortion is
performed.--A woman upon whom an abortion has been performed in
violation of subsection (a) may, in a civil action against any
person who committed the violation, obtain appropriate relief.
``(2) Civil action by a parent of a minor on whom an
abortion is performed.--A parent of a minor upon whom an
abortion has been performed in violation of subsection (a) may,
in a civil action against any person who committed the
violation, obtain appropriate relief, unless the pregnancy
resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct.
``(3) Appropriate relief.--Appropriate relief in a civil
action under this subsection includes--
``(A) objectively verifiable money damages for all
injuries, psychological and physical, occasioned by the
violation;
``(B) statutory damages equal to 3 times the cost
of the abortion; and
``(C) punitive damages.
``(4) Attorney's fees for plaintiff.--The court shall award
a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs to a
prevailing plaintiff in a civil action under this subsection.
``(5) Attorney's fees for defendant.--If a defendant in a
civil action under this subsection prevails and the court finds
that the plaintiff's suit was frivolous, the court shall award
a reasonable attorney's fee in favor of the defendant against
the plaintiff.
``(6) Awards against woman.--Except as provided in
paragraph (5), in a civil action under this subsection, no
damages, attorney's fee, or other monetary relief may be
assessed against the woman upon whom the abortion was performed
or attempted.
``(d) Immunity From Prosecution for Woman Upon Whom a Dismemberment
Abortion Is Performed.--A woman upon whom a dismemberment abortion 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.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Abortion.--The term `abortion' means the use or
prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other
substance or device--
``(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child of a
woman known to be pregnant; or
``(B) to intentionally terminate the pregnancy of a
woman known to be pregnant, with an intention other
than--
``(i) after viability, to produce a live
birth and preserve the life and health of the
child born alive; or
``(ii) to remove a dead unborn child.
``(2) Dismemberment abortion.--
``(A) In general.--The term `dismemberment
abortion' means, with the purpose of causing the death
of an unborn child, knowingly dismembering an unborn
child and extracting the unborn child one piece at a
time or intact but crushed from the uterus through the
use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors, or
similar instruments that, through the convergence of 2
rigid levers, slice, crush, or grasp a portion of the
unborn child's body in order to cut or rip it off or
crush it.
``(B) Exclusions.--The term `dismemberment
abortion' does not include--
``(i) an abortion that uses suction to
dismember the body of the unborn child by
sucking fetal parts into a collection container
unless the actions described in subparagraph
(A) are used to cause the death of an unborn
child and suction is subsequently used to
extract fetal parts after the death of the
unborn child; or
``(ii) a procedure to remove a deceased
unborn child--
``(I) whose death was the result of
a miscarriage or a medical emergency;
or
``(II) who otherwise died not as
the result of intervening action by a
physician to cause such death in
preparation for performing the actions
described in subparagraph (A).
``(3) Minor.--The term `minor' means an individual who has
not attained the age of 18 years.
``(4) Physician.--
``(A) In general.--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.
``(B) Liability of non-physicians.--Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), any individual who is not a physician
or not otherwise legally authorized by the State to
perform abortions but nevertheless directly performs an
abortion prohibited under this section shall be subject
to this section in the same manner as a physician.
``(5) Unborn child.--The term `unborn child' means an
individual organism of the species homo sapiens, beginning at
fertilization, until the point of being born alive as defined
in section 8(b) of title 1.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``1532. Dismemberment abortion ban.''.
(c) Chapter Heading Amendments.--
(1) Chapter heading in chapter.--The chapter heading for
chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS'' and inserting
``ABORTIONS''.
(2) Table of chapters for part i.--The item relating to
chapter 74 in the table of chapters at the beginning of part I
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking
``Partial-birth abortions'' and inserting ``Abortions''.
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