Ultrasound Informed Consent Act of 2018 (H.R. 4844)

H.R. 4844 would require an abortion provider to perform an ultrasound on a pregnant person prior to the pregnant person giving informed consent for an abortion.

The bill would require the person who is to perform the abortion to:

• perform an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant person;
• provide a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting;
• display the ultrasound images so that the pregnant person may view them; and
• provide a complete medical description of the images, including:
  • dimensions of the embryo or fetus;
  • cardiac activity, if possible; and
  • the presence of external member and internal organs, if present and viewable.

The bill specifies that the pregnant person is not required to view the images, although the pregnant person would still hear the description.

The requirements of this bill would not apply to an abortion necessary to save the life of the pregnant person. If this occurs, the abortion provider would be required to certify the medical condition in the pregnant person’s medical file.

Penalties

An abortion provider who violates this provision would face a $100,000 fine for the first violation, and a $250,000 fine for each subsequent violation.

For each penalty, the Attorney General would notify the state medical licensing authority.

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Related Legislation

Identical to H.R. 492, which failed to pass during the 2015-2016 legislative session.

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