[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8459 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8459
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
May 17, 2024
Mr. Moore of Alabama (for himself, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Babin, Mr. Bacon,
Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Guest, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Mooney, Mr.
Palmer, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, and Mr. Rosendale) 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 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Slavery and involuntary servitude are incompatible with
the society and law of the United States.
(2) The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States 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 people of the
United States 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'' and published in the Annals of Health Law Journal
indicated that 71 percent of women coerced into commercial sex
acts reported at least 1 pregnancy, and 21 percent reported 5
or more pregnancies while being trafficked.
(9) Lederer and Wetzel's research found that almost a third
of trafficked women reported undergoing 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 6 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 to the Constitution of
the United States 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) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Abortion provider.--The term `abortion
provider' means a person who performs an abortion,
including by providing to a pregnant woman a drug that
induces abortion.
``(B) Victim of trafficking.--The term `victim of
trafficking' has the meaning given the term in section
103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(22 U.S.C. 7102).
``(2) 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.--
``(i) Notification to attorney general.--
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 the
notification.
``(ii) Notification to law enforcement
agencies.--Not later than 24 hours after
receipt of a notification from the Secretary of
Health and Human Services under clause (i), 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 for each
violation, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.
``(3) 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.--On an annual basis and not
later than January 30 of each year, each abortion
provider shall--
``(i) require each employee of the abortion
provider to complete the training provided
under subparagraph (A);
``(ii) submit to the Director of the Office
on Trafficking in Persons of the Department of
Health and Human Services a certification of
the completion of the training required under
clause (i); and
``(iii) include in the certification
required under clause (ii) 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 for each day of noncompliance.
``(4) State enforcement.--
``(A) In general.--In any case in which the
attorney general of a State has reason to believe that
an interest of the residents of the State has been or
is threatened or adversely affected by an action of an
abortion provider that violates this subsection, the
attorney general of the State may, as parens patriae,
bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the
State in an appropriate district court of the United
States.
``(B) Jurisdiction.--The attorney general of a
State may bring a civil action under subparagraph (A)
against any abortion provider that violates paragraph
(2)(A) or (3)(B) within that State.
``(C) Relief.--In a civil action under subparagraph
(A), the court may fine an abortion provider--
``(i) in the case of a violation of
paragraph (2)(A), $10,000 for each violation;
and
``(ii) in the case of a violation of
paragraph (3)(B), $1,000 for each day during
which the abortion provider is in violation of
that paragraph.
``(5) 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.''.
<all>