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S. 242 119th Congress Senate

Dignity for Aborted Children Act

Official title: A bill to protect the dignity of fetal remains, and for other purposes.

Introduced: January 24, 2025 Introduced by: Pete Ricketts Republican · Nebraska See on congress.gov
Health AbortionCemeteries and funeralsCensus and government statisticsCivil actions and liability
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 24, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Jan 24, 2025
Introduced in Senate
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What's happening now January 24, 2025

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

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Dignity for Aborted Children Act

This bill establishes requirements for abortion providers with respect to the disposal of human fetal tissue from an abortion.

Specifically, it requires abortion providers to obtain a patient's informed consent for one of two specified methods of disposition and to retain the corresponding documentation in the patient's file.

First, patients may choose to retain possession of the tissue. A patient may choose to transfer the tissue to an entity that provides interment or cremation services.

Second, patients may choose to release the tissue to the provider. Providers must ensure any tissue released to them is interred or cremated within seven days of the procedure in a manner consistent with state law regarding the disposal of human remains.

Abortion providers must submit reports annually to the Department of Health and Human Services about these requirements and other specified information.

The bill establishes civil penalties for violations of the requirement to retain documentation of informed consent, and it establishes criminal penalties for violations of the requirement regarding the disposal of human fetal tissue.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 798 Identical bill Dignity for Aborted Children Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 6

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

 Cosponsors 12
All 12 Republican 12
R
Cornyn, John
Texas · Aug 1, 2025
 R
Banks, Jim
Indiana · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Daines, Steve
Montana · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Hawley, Josh
Missouri · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Justice, James C.
West Virginia · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Lankford, James
Oklahoma · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Risch, James E.
Idaho · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Rounds, Mike
South Dakota · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Schmitt, Eric
Missouri · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Sheehy, Tim
Montana · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Tillis, Thomas
North Carolina · Jan 24, 2025
 R
Wicker, Roger F.
Mississippi · Jan 24, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 242: Dignity for Aborted Children Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-242/
MLA
"S. 242: Dignity for Aborted Children Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-242/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 242, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-242/.
Markdown link
[S. 242: Dignity for Aborted Children Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-242/)
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