H.R. 8603

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8603 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8603

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit dismemberment 
abortions, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 30, 2026

Mrs. Cammack (for herself, Mr. Onder, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
Harris of Maryland, Mrs. Fischbach, Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina, Mr. 
Williams of Texas, Mr. Steube, Mr. Bost, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Estes, Mr. 
Stutzman, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Mann) introduced the 
following bill; which was 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.--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. This 
subsection does 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 any provision of this section 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 any provision of 
this section 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 three times the 
cost of the abortion; and
``(C) punitive damages.
``(4) Attorneys 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) Attorneys 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 under 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.--The term `dismemberment 
abortion'--
``(A) means, with the purpose of causing the death 
of an unborn child, knowingly dismembering an unborn 
child and extracting such 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 
two 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; but
``(B) does not include--
``(i) an abortion which 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 but 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.--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 prohibited in this 
section shall be subject to the provisions of this section.
``(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 new item:

``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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