Federal bill criminalizes abortion providers over undocumented water-disposal practice
S. 2172 — Respectful Treatment of Unborn Remains Act of 2025 · Filed by Jim Banks (R-IN) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 25, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits abortion providers from disposing of fetal remains into publicly owned water systems (sewers, treatment plants, municipal water infrastructure). Violations carry criminal penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment and fines. The bill does not hold the pregnant person liable and does not preempt state or local laws that already restrict such disposal.
Why we flagged it
Although framed as water-system protection, the bill's actual mechanism is to criminalize abortion providers under the guise of environmental/public-health regulation. The stated problem (fetal remains in water systems) does not appear to be a documented public-health issue in standard medical practice, suggesting the bill's true purpose is abortion restriction rather than water safety.
What the text implies
- The bill defines 'fetal remains' to include 'any other medical waste associated with an abortion,' which is vague and could be interpreted to criminalize routine abortion care or disposal of standard medical waste.
- Criminal penalties (up to 5 years imprisonment) are disproportionate to the stated harm and may chill abortion provision even in states where abortion is legal, creating a de facto federal restriction.
- The bill does not require evidence that fetal remains are actually being disposed into water systems, suggesting it addresses a hypothetical rather than documented problem.
- By exempting the pregnant person from liability while criminalizing the provider, the bill creates asymmetric legal exposure that may discourage abortion provision in states where abortion remains legal.
Who it affects
The bill criminalizes a disposal practice that does not appear to occur in standard medical care (fetal remains are typically treated as medical waste through regulated pathways, not disposed into water systems). The criminal penalties target abortion providers without addressing any documented public-health harm, effectively using criminal law as a proxy for abortion restriction rather than water-system protection.
Named in the bill
Public Health Service Act, Title 18 USC, abortion providers, publicly owned water systems, federal/state/local government entities
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jun 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 25, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
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.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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