Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act of 2026

[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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