119-hr846

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 846 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 846

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

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 31, 2025

 Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mrs. Sykes, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. 
 Adams, Ms. Titus, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms. Crockett, Mr. 
 Swalwell, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Connolly, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
 Smith of Washington, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. 
 Gottheimer, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Cohen, Ms. 
 Brownley, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Balint, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Casar, Ms. 
McClellan, Mrs. Trahan, Ms. Chu, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Goldman of New York, 
 Ms. Matsui, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mrs. 
 McIver, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. 
Pettersen, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. 
 Krishnamoorthi, Mrs. Fletcher, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. 
 Bynum, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Craig, Ms. Castor of 
 Florida, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Dexter, Ms. Morrison, and Ms. Lee of 
Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 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) After decades of escalating attacks on abortion rights, 
 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 and permitting decimation of an already 
 precarious landscape of access to abortion.

    (3) The effects were immediate and disastrous. As of 
 January 2025, abortion is unavailable in 14 States, leaving 
 17.9 million women, as well as transgender and gender 
 nonconforming individuals, of reproductive age (ages 15 to 49), 
 without access to abortion in the home State of such 
 individuals.

    (4) Travel time to an abortion clinic, already burdensome 
 under Roe, has quadrupled since Dobbs, as scores of clinics in 
 already underserved areas have been forced to close and more 
 patients have been forced to travel to other States (with over 
 170,000 people traveling out of State for care in 2023 alone). 
 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) These burdens do not fall equally. Since Dobbs and 
 additional State bans and restrictions on abortion care have 
 taken effect, data shows that women with low incomes and women 
 of color have experienced the largest increase in travel times 
 to abortion clinics. This is particularly burdensome for women 
 and pregnant people of color in the South, the area of the 
 country that has seen the highest increases in travel time.

    (6) 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.

    (7) Unfortunately, rampant misinformation and 
 disinformation have affected the ability of people to access 
 needed abortion care. Crisis pregnancy centers

    (CPCs) often 
 disseminate and promote inaccurate information about abortion 
 and contraception.

    (8) CPCs are antiabortion organizations that present 
 themselves as comprehensive reproductive health care providers 
 with the intent of shaming, deceiving, or discouraging pregnant 
 people from having abortions.

    (9) 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.

    (10) According to 2020 data from JMIR Public Health and 
 Surveillance, 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.

    (11) CPCs routinely engage in a variety of deceptive 
 tactics, including--
        (A) making false claims about reproductive health 
 care and providers;
        (B) disseminating inaccurate, misleading, and 
 stigmatizing information about the risks of abortion 
 and contraception; and
            (C) using illegitimate or false citations to imply 
 that deceptive claims are supported by legitimate 
 medical sources.

    (12) 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.

    (13) Most CPCs are not Health Insurance Portability and 
 Accountability Act

    (HIPAA) -covered entities, but many 
 deceptively claim to be compliant with HIPAA in order to 
 collect sensitive information and mislead pregnant people about 
 the privacy practices and obligations of CPCs. CPCs have been 
 found to disclose the health data of pregnant people, including 
 to law enforcement.

    (14) By using these deceptive tactics, CPCs prevent people 
 from accessing reproductive health care, intentionally delay 
 access to time-sensitive abortion services, and can subject 
 people to harmful interactions with law enforcement. The 
 consequences of these tactics and delays are far greater in the 
 wake of Dobbs.

    (15) CPCs target under-resourced neighborhoods and 
 communities of color, including Black, Latino, Indigenous, 
 Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities, by 
 locating CPCs 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.

    (16) People are entitled to honest, accurate, and timely 
 information when seeking reproductive health care.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DISINFORMATION RELATING TO ABORTION SERVICES.

    (a) 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 misrepresents that the person--

    (1) offers or provides contraception or abortion services 
 (or referrals for such contraception or abortion services); or

    (2) employs or offers access to licensed medical personnel.

    (b) Rulemaking.--The Commission may promulgate, under 

section 553 
of title 5, United States Code, any regulations the Commission 
determines necessary to carry out this section.
            (c) Enforcement by Commission.--

    (1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of 
 this section or a regulation promulgated pursuant to 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.

    (2) Powers of commission.--Except as otherwise provided in 
 paragraph

    (3) , the Commission shall enforce this section and 
 any regulation promulgated pursuant to 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, and any 
 person who violates this section or a regulation promulgated 
 pursuant to this section shall be subject to the penalties and 
 entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the 
 Federal Trade Commission Act.

    (3) 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 and 
 any regulation promulgated pursuant to this section in the same 
 manner provided in paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) with respect to 
 organizations not organized to carry on business for their own 
 profit or that of their members.

    (4) 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 pursuant to 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 pursuant to 
 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.--
            (i) Exclusive authority.--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.
            (ii) Relation to attorney general.--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.
            (d) Civil Penalty.--In addition to any other penalty as may be 
prescribed by law, any person who violates this section or a regulation 
promulgated pursuant this section shall be punishable by a civil 
penalty for each such violation that shall not exceed the greater of--

    (1) $100,000 (to be adjusted annually for inflation based 
 on the change in the Consumer Price Index); or

    (2) 50 percent of the revenue earned by the ultimate parent 
 entity of a person during the preceding 12-month period.

    (e) 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--

    (1) any enforcement action by the Commission under this 
 Act;

    (2) the outcome of any such action; and

    (3) any regulation promulgated pursuant to this Act.

    (f) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to limit 
the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law.

    (g) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this Act:

    (1) Abortion services.--The term ``abortion services'' 
 means an abortion or any medical or non-medical service 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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