Federal law requires medical care for babies born alive after abortion.

What it does

The bill makes it a federal crime for doctors to fail to provide care. Babies born alive after abortion must get the same medical care as any other newborn. Babies must go to a hospital right away. Doctors and nurses must report if they see a baby not getting proper care. A mother can sue a doctor for money damages. Damages include extra punitive damages and lawyer fees. Doctors can go to prison for up to 5 years.

Who it affects

The bill affects doctors, nurses, and medical staff in abortion care. It affects mothers who have abortions. It affects babies born alive after abortion.

One thing to notice

Mothers can sue doctors for money, so doctors face both criminal charges and lawsuits. Mothers themselves cannot be charged with a crime.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

163 cosponsors: 163 Republicans.

• Jan 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 3, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
• Jan 23, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 204, 1 Present (Roll no. 27). (text: CR H335-336)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 7 reports from Mar 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $2,437,329 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 48 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 78% of bills with any report.

Ann Wagner, who sponsored the bill, received $1,224,750 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Academy of Family Physicians — $1,715,904 in 2 reports
• American Psychiatric Association — $391,974 in 1 report
• Service Employees International Union Ctw-clc — $286,000 in 1 report
• Power to Decide — $33,451 in 2 reports
• National Council of Jewish Women — $10,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• born alive — A baby who shows signs of life after coming out of the womb.
• punitive damages — Extra money a court orders someone to pay to punish bad behavior.
• federal crime — A serious illegal act that breaks a law made by the U.S. Congress.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.