Heartbeat Protection Act of 2025
The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 682) would amend title 18 of the U.S. Code to prohibit abortions in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable. It requires physicians to determine, using standard medical practice, whether a heartbeat is present and to inform the pregnant person of the results. If a heartbeat is detected, the physician may not perform an abortion, subject to specified life-saving and other narrowly defined exceptions. The bill creates criminal penalties for physicians who perform abortions without checking for a heartbeat, or after a heartbeat has been detected, with potential fines and up to five years in prison. It also imposes documentation and data-retention requirements, restricts certain counseling or treatment arrangements, and provides for a hearing process before a State Medical Board to assess whether the abortion was medically necessary to save the mother’s life. It defines key terms (such as abortion, heartbeat, counseling, medical treatment, and unborn child) and includes severability and rules of construction intended to limit federal preemption and to deny a new right to abortion. In short, the bill seeks to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detectable, while offering limited exceptions and imposing strict procedural, documentation, and enforcement requirements on physicians and abortion providers at the federal level.
Key Points
- 1Offense and penalties: An physician who knowingly performs an abortion without checking for a heartbeat, without informing the patient of the results, or after a heartbeat has been detected can be fined and/or imprisoned for up to 5 years. The life-of-the-mother exception applies, but not for psychological or emotional conditions.
- 2Narrow exceptions:
- 3- Life-saving abortions for a mother endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury (including pregnancy-related conditions).
- 4- Rape involving an adult, with a 48-hour window before the abortion in which the patient has either received counseling or medical treatment for the rape/injury.
- 5- Rape or incest involving a minor, when the rape/incest has been reported to a government agency or law enforcement prior to the abortion.
- 6Documentation requirements: For adult rape exceptions, physicians must place in the patient’s medical file documentation from a licensed hospital/clinic/personal physician/counselor or a law-enforcement–provided victim’s advocate that the rape or related treatment occurred. For minor rape/incest, documentation must show that the rape/incest was reported to a government agency or law enforcement prior to the abortion.
- 7Data retention and records: The bill requires data retention standards drawn from federal regulations to apply to the new documentation requirements.
- 8Counseling/treatment facility limits: Counseling and medical treatment for rape-related exceptions may not be provided by facilities that perform abortions unless the facility is a hospital.
- 9Hearing and trial delay: A defendant may seek a hearing before a State Medical Board to determine if the physician’s conduct was medically necessary to save the mother’s life, with the court able to delay the trial for up to 30 days to allow the hearing.
- 10No liability for the mother: A mother who has an abortion cannot be prosecuted under this section, nor charged with related offenses solely for a violation of this section.
- 11Definitions and scope: The bill defines terms such as abortion, unborn child, heartbeat, counseling, medical treatment, and reasonable medical judgment, and clarifies that nothing creates a right to abortion or pre-empts stricter protections elsewhere.
- 12Structural changes: The bill would add a new Sec. 1532 to chapter 74 of title 18 and modify the chapter heading and table of sections accordingly.