Davis / 2 Senator Jacobson

S.S._____

A BILL
To eliminate the use of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws seeking to inhibit the practice and
availability of abortion providers in the United States.
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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 (TRAP Laws Elimination) Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) According to a 2011 study, some 87 percent of U.S. counties do not have an abortion provider and 35 percent of
women aged 15-44 live in those counties, resulting in 31 percent of women living in rural areas having to travel more
than 100 miles to access abortion services.
2) Wait times for abortions continue to rise, a University of Texas study finds, and threaten to increase the amount of
second-trimester abortions from about 6,600 to 12,400 in Texas.
3) In Planned Parenthood v. Rounds, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a South Dakota law requiring
doctors to give patients false or misleading information about the suicide risk in women who have abortions was not
unconstitutional.
4) The 2013 Texas House Bill which requires abortion providers to gain admitting privileges to hospitals and
drastically alter their construction provides for only ten of the states previous 42 clinics.
5) In 2013 alone, 22 states enacted 70 anti-abortion measures, including forcing unwarranted doctor and clinic
regulations, limiting the provision of medical abortion, and banning insurance coverage of abortion.
6) Half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and about four in 10 of these end in abortion
7) Two states prohibit any abortion coverage in insurance plans for private and public exchanges.
8) 42 percent of women who have abortions are below the federal poverty level.
9) Eighty-four percent of clinics experienced at least one form of anti-abortion harassment in 2011; fifty-three
percent of clinics were picketed 20 times or more.
10) Half of women who have an abortion have had at least one abortion performed before.
11) Since 2010, a number of states have enacted bills that ban abortion at 22 weeks based on the theory that a fetus
can feel pain at that point, a notion that is not accepted by mainstream medical organizations.
12) In 2011-2012, the average amount paid for a non-hospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks gestation
was 480 dollars, while the average amount paid for an early medication abortion before 10 weeks was 504 dollars.
13) Less than 0.3 percent of early abortion patients in the United States experience a complication which requires
hospitalization.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) All future laws seeking to restrict the availability of abortion providers in the United States to less than fifteen per
state shall henceforth be abolished. Current legislations restricting the availability of abortion providers to less than
fifteen per state shall be amended to secure the aforementioned goal.
B) All states must employ an approved and standardized script intended to provide accurate medical information
about the abortion procedure to patients. These scripts will be written by the State Board of Health and must be
submitted for approval by the Department of Health and Human Services. Once sanctioned, the script will be
implemented immediately in all abortion providers of that state.
C) This law shall be enforced and upheld by the Department of Health and Human Services. Funding for reopened
abortion providers and medical education or research grants shall come directly from the budget already allotted by
Congress for the Department of Health and Human Services.
D) Any abortion provider or institution found violating the protocols and procedures listed above is to be fined a
minimum of 50,000 dollars and undergo a comprehensive investigation by the Department of Health and Human
Services.
E) The TRAP Laws Elimination Act shall go into effect on January 1st, 2016.