Federal law criminalizes forced abortion, creates civil liability for victims

What it does

This bill creates a federal crime for administering abortion-inducing drugs to a pregnant woman without her informed consent, with penalties up to 25 years imprisonment. It also creates a civil remedy allowing victims to sue for actual damages, triple damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. The bill applies only when the drug has been shipped in interstate commerce.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a new federal crime (18 USC § 1532) targeting non-consensual administration of abortion-inducing drugs, paired with civil remedies for victims. This is a criminal-law expansion protecting bodily autonomy, not a regulatory or appropriations measure.

What the text implies

• The bill's definition of 'conspires to commit an offense' includes selling or distributing abortion-inducing drugs 'without taking reasonable measures to ensure the individual requesting the drug is a pregnant woman wishing to obtain an abortion.' This may create liability for pharmacists, mail carriers, or online retailers who dispense mifepristone or misoprostol without affirmative verification
• The interstate commerce hook ('in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce') is extremely broad and may capture purely intrastate conduct if any component of the drug supply chain crossed state lines, potentially federalizing what might otherwise be state criminal law.
• The civil remedy includes 'statutory damages equal to 3 times the cost of all injuries' plus punitive damages and attorney's fees, creating a potentially high-stakes private litigation regime that may incentivize frivolous suits despite the frivolous-suit fee-shifting provision in subsection (d)(4).
• The bill redefines Chapter 74 of Title 18 from 'Partial-birth abortions' to 'Abortions,' broadening the chapter's scope and potentially creating interpretive ambiguity about how existing partial-birth abortion law (18 USC § 1531) interacts with the new forced-abortion provision.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill protects pregnant women from a serious bodily harm (forced abortion without consent) by criminalizing the conduct and providing civil remedies. Ordinary citizens gain a federal cause of action and criminal protection against non-consensual medical intervention affecting pregnancy.

Named in the bill

U.S. House of Representatives, House Committee on the Judiciary, Title 18, United States Code, Chapter 74 (Abortions), mifepristone, misoprostol, FDA

Where it stands

76 cosponsors: 76 Republicans.

• Dec 4, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 4, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”

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 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $420,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 51 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.

Mark Messmer, the sponsor, reported $487,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Susan B Anthony List — $420,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.