Bill Summary
This bill, also known as the "Prohibiting the Life-Ending Industry of Fetal Organ Exchange Act" or the "Pro-LIFE Act," aims to amend a section of the Public Health Service Act in order to prohibit the sale or transactions of human fetal tissue. This would include any type of payment, gift, or service exchange related to human fetal tissue. The bill also expands the definition of "valuable consideration" to include various forms of compensation and expenses associated with handling human fetal tissue.
Possible Impacts
1. The Prohibiting the Life-Ending Industry of Fetal Organ Exchange Act could impact people involved in the medical and scientific community who use human fetal tissue for research purposes. This legislation would prohibit the sale or transaction of human fetal tissue, making it difficult for researchers to obtain this resource for their studies.
2. The Pro-LIFE Act could have an impact on women seeking abortions, as the sale or transaction of fetal tissue is often associated with abortion procedures. This legislation may limit access to certain abortion services that involve the sale of fetal tissue.
3. The amendments to the Public Health Service Act could have financial implications for healthcare providers and tissue banks that deal with human fetal tissue. The new definition of "valuable consideration" includes various forms of payment, which could potentially increase the cost of providing and obtaining human fetal tissue for medical procedures and research.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4800 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4800
To amend title IV of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit sale or
transactions relating to human fetal tissue.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 22, 2019
Mr. Watkins introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title IV of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit sale or
transactions relating to human fetal tissue.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Prohibiting the Life-Ending Industry
of Fetal Organ Exchange Act'' or the ``Pro-LIFE Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING SALE OR TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO HUMAN FETAL
TISSUE.
Section 498B(e) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 298g-
2(e)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following
new paragraph:
``(3) The term `valuable consideration' includes--
``(A) any payment made or debt incurred;
``(B) any gift, honorarium, or recognition of value
bestowed;
``(C) any price, charge, or fee which is waived,
forgiven, reduced, or indefinitely delayed,
``(D) any loan or debt which is canceled or
otherwise forgiven;
``(E) the transfer of any item from one person to
another or provision of any service or granting of any
opportunity for which a charge is customarily made,
without charge or for a reduced charge; and
``(F) any payments associated with the
transportation, implantation, processing, preservation,
quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue.''.
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