Bill Summary
This bill aims to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from treating pregnancy as an illness for the purpose of approving abortion drugs. It prohibits the use of pregnancy as a justification for approving any abortion drug or imposing risk evaluation and mitigation strategies for such drugs. Any previous approvals of abortion drugs that relied on the treatment of pregnancy as an illness are nullified, including the approval of mifepristone. This legislation is called the "Pregnancy Is Not an Illness Act of 2023".
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could limit access to abortion drugs for pregnant individuals who may need them for medical or personal reasons, potentially impacting their health and reproductive choices.
2. The legislation could also affect the ability of healthcare providers to offer abortion drugs as a treatment option, potentially limiting their ability to provide comprehensive care to their patients.
3. This legislation could also reinforce harmful and stigmatizing attitudes towards pregnancy, suggesting that it is not a legitimate medical condition and further marginalizing pregnant individuals.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6635 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6635
To prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from treating
pregnancy as an illness for purposes of approving abortion drugs.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 6, 2023
Mrs. Miller of Illinois (for herself, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr.
LaMalfa, and Ms. Boebert) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from treating
pregnancy as an illness for purposes of approving abortion drugs.
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 ``Pregnancy Is Not an Illness Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST TREATING PREGNANCY AS ILLNESS FOR PURPOSES
OF APPROVING ABORTION DRUGS.
(a) Prohibition.--The Department of Health and Human Services,
including the Food and Drug Administration, shall not treat pregnancy
as an illness for purposes of--
(1) approving any abortion drug under section 505 of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355); or
(2) imposing or maintaining any risk evaluation and
mitigation strategy for an abortion drug under section 505-1 of
such Act (21 U.S.C. 355-1).
(b) Nullification of Approvals in Effect.--
(1) In general.--Any prohibited approval of an abortion
drug is hereby nullified.
(2) Prohibited approval defined.--In this subsection, the
term ``prohibited approval of an abortion drug''--
(A) means any approval of an abortion drug under
section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(21 U.S.C. 355) that relied in whole or in part on the
treatment of pregnancy as illness; and
(B) includes the approval of mifepristone in effect
under such section 505 on the day before the date of
enactment of this Act.
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