[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6536 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6536
To amend the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 to require
abortion providers to notify the national human trafficking hotline of
victims of trafficking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2022
Mr. Budd introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 to require
abortion providers to notify the national human trafficking hotline of
victims of trafficking, and for other purposes.
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 ``Stopping Traffickers and Their
Accomplices Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Slavery and involuntary servitude are incompatible with
American society and law.
(2) The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution
abolished legal slavery and involuntary servitude in the United
States.
(3) Despite slavery being abolished in 1865, modern forms
of slavery still exist throughout the United States.
(4) Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans and
immigrants are coerced into commercial sex acts against their
will.
(5) In addition to sexual exploitation, victims of
trafficking suffer repeated physical, mental, and emotional
abuse at the hands of their traffickers.
(6) Abortion providers and facilities aid sex traffickers
by turning a blind eye to the plight of abused women.
(7) The Department of State's 2017 Trafficking in Persons
Report indicated that sex traffickers coerce women into
receiving abortions against their will.
(8) Research conducted by Laura J. Lederer and Christopher
A. Wetzel, entitled ``The Health Consequences of Sex
Trafficking and Their Implications for Identifying Victims in
Healthcare Facilities'' published in the Annals of Health Law
Journal, indicated that 71 percent of women coerced into
commercial sex acts reported at least one pregnancy and 21
percent reported five or more pregnancies while trafficked (23
Annals Health L. 61 (2014)).
(9) Lederer and Wetzel's research found that almost a third
of women trafficked reported underwent numerous abortions as
victims of trafficking. More than half of respondents answered
that their abortion while a victim of sex trafficking was a
result of coercion. One victim of sex trafficking recounted,
``[in most of my six abortions,] I was under serious pressure
from my pimps to abort the babies''.
(10) A moral obligation exists to report suspected
instances of sex trafficking to authorities.
(11) Section 2 of the 13th Amendment empowers Congress to
enact appropriate legislation to combat all forms of slavery
and involuntary servitude, including forced sex trafficking.
SEC. 3. COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
Section 114 of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015
(34 U.S.C. 20709) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) National Human Trafficking Hotline Notification by Abortion
Providers.--
``(1) Requirement.--
``(A) Notification to national human trafficking
hotline.--Not later than 24 hours after consulting with
a patient, an abortion provider shall notify the
national human trafficking hotline if the provider has
a reasonable suspicion that the patient is a victim of
trafficking.
``(B) Report to attorney general and local law
enforcement.--Not later than 24 hours after an abortion
provider notifies the national human trafficking
hotline under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall notify the Attorney General of
such notification by the abortion provider. Not later
than 24 hours after receipt of a notification from the
Secretary of Health and Human Services under this
subparagraph, the Attorney General shall notify the
appropriate State and local law enforcement agencies.
``(C) Penalty.--An abortion provider who violates
subparagraph (A) shall be fined $10,000, imprisoned not
more than 6 months, or both.
``(2) Training.--
``(A) Availability.--The Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall make available to abortion
providers the training entitled `Foundational (101)
Human Trafficking Trainings--SOAR For Health Care' (or
any substantially similar successor training).
``(B) Requirement.--Each abortion provider shall
complete the training provided under subparagraph (A)
on an annual basis and prior to January 30 of each
calendar year, and certify such completion to the
Director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons of the
Department of Health and Human Services. The
certification under this subparagraph shall include the
protocols that the abortion provider has in place to
identify and assist victims of trafficking.
``(C) Penalty.--An abortion provider who fails to
comply with subparagraph (B) shall be subject to a fine
in an amount of $1,000 per day of noncompliance.
``(3) Rules of construction.--
``(A) No requirement for victims of trafficking to
self-report.--Nothing in this subsection may be
construed to require a victim of trafficking to self-
report.
``(B) No right to abortion.--Nothing in this
subsection may be construed to provide a right to an
abortion.
``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) The term `abortion provider' means a person
who--
``(i) performs an abortion and is licensed
to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic
medicine and surgery; or
``(ii) is otherwise legally authorized to
perform an abortion.
``(B) The term `victim of trafficking' has the
meaning given to such term in section 103 of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7102).''.
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