Federal law criminalizes forced abortion, creates civil liability for victims
H.R. 6466 — Forced Abortion Prevention and Accountability Act · Filed by Mark Messmer (R-IN) · 67 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 4, 2025 · Referred to committee
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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 full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
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.