Federal abortion-provider criminal law targets practice that doesn't appear to exist
H.R. 4131 — Respectful Treatment of Unborn Remains Act of 2025 · Filed by Brandon Gill (R-TX) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 25, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill makes it a federal crime for abortion providers to dispose of fetal remains by placing them into public water systems (sewers, treatment plants, etc.). Violators face up to 5 years in prison and fines. The bill does not hold the pregnant person liable. It allows states and localities to impose stricter rules.
Why we flagged it
The bill's functional purpose is not to solve a documented water-system or public-health problem, but to create federal criminal penalties for abortion providers. The specific prohibition (fetal remains in sewers) appears to target a non-existent or vanishingly rare practice, suggesting the bill's true aim is symbolic criminalization of abortion rather than environmental or health protection.
What the text implies
- Creates federal criminal liability for abortion providers even where state law permits abortion, potentially conflicting with state-law protections and creating a federal enforcement mechanism against abortion care.
- The definition of 'fetal remains' includes 'any other medical waste associated with an abortion,' which is extremely broad and could encompass routine medical materials, creating prosecutorial discretion and chilling effects on abortion provision.
- Establishes a federal crime with no documented underlying public-health or environmental problem, suggesting the bill's primary function is symbolic criminalization rather than addressing a real harm.
- The exemption for the pregnant person but not the provider creates asymmetric criminal liability, potentially pressuring providers to refuse care or face prosecution.
Who it affects
The bill criminalizes a practice that appears not to occur in standard medical care (fetal remains are typically incinerated or handled as medical waste through licensed disposal, not flushed into sewers). It creates federal criminal liability for abortion providers without addressing any documented public-health problem, effectively using criminal law as a messaging tool against abortion rather than protecting public health or water systems.
Named in the bill
Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Title 18 USC, abortion providers, publicly owned water systems, Federal/State/local government entities
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 5 Republicans.
- Jun 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 25, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $20,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 3 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Brandon Gill, the sponsor, reported $426,850 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Vor - a Voice of Reason — $20,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 14, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 6, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 14, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal abortion-provider criminal law targets practice that doesn't appear to exist” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr4131 Report an error
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