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S 314 112th Congress Senate

Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2011

Official title: A bill to ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child.

Introduced: February 10, 2011 See on congress.gov
Health AbortionCivil actions and liabilityHealth information and medical recordsSurgery and anesthesia
This bill died when the 112th Congress ended
It never became law before the 112th Congress (2011–2012) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 10, 2011
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Feb 10, 2011
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action February 10, 2011

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2011 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require an abortion provider who knowingly performs an abortion of a pain-capable unborn child (defined as an unborn child who has reached a probable stage of development of 20 weeks or more after fertilization), to first: (1) inform the woman of the probable age of the child, (2) provide to the woman an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Brochure (unless she waives receipt), (3) provide information that pain medicine administered to the mother may not prevent pain in the child, but in some cases anesthesia or pain-reducing drugs can be administered directly to the child, (4) give the woman the provider's best medical judgment of the risks and costs of such anesthesia or analgesic, and (5) obtain the woman's signature on the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Decision Form and her explicit request for or refusal of the administration of drugs to the child. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Brochure that includes a statement that there is substantial evidence that the process of being killed in an abortion will cause the unborn child pain and that the mother has the option of having pain-reducing drugs administered directly to the child.

Creates an exception to save the life of the mother.

Establishes civil penalties for willfully failing to comply with this Act. Authorizes: (1) the U.S. Attorney General (DOJ) to bring a civil action under this Act, and (2) private rights of action for violations of this Act.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 314: Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2011. 112th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-314/
MLA
"S. 314: Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2011." 112th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-314/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 314, 112th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-314/.
Markdown link
[S. 314: Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2011](https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-314/)
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