HR 686 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Protecting the Dignity of Unborn Children Act of 2025
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the unlawful disposal of fetal remains.
Summary
This bill creates a new federal criminal offense for recklessly disposing of or abandoning fetal remains in landfills or navigable waters, with penalties of up to three years imprisonment and/or fines. The bill defines fetal remains as any part of a human fetus deceased by abortion, excluding cremated remains. The bill explicitly prohibits prosecution of women for disposal of their own unborn child's remains. The law applies to landfills as defined under the Solid Waste Disposal Act and navigable waters as defined under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
5 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Jan 23, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jan 23, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 23, 2025
Mr. Latta (for himself, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Webster of Florida, Mr. Harris of Maryland, Mr. Weber of Texas, and Mr. Babin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the unlawful disposal of fetal remains.
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 “Protecting the Dignity of Unborn Children Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING UNLAWFUL DISPOSAL OF FETAL REMAINS.
Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“CHAPTER 125—UNLAWFUL DISPOSAL OF FETAL REMAINS
“SEC. 2741. UNLAWFUL DISPOSAL OF FETAL REMAINS.
“(a) In General.—Whoever recklessly disposes of or abandons fetal remains in a landfill or in any of the navigable waters of the United States shall be imprisoned not more than 3 years or fined under this title, or both.
“(b) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the disposal of the remains of her unborn child.
“(c) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) Fetal remains.—The term ‘fetal remains’ means any part of a human fetus that is deceased by reason of an abortion, but does not include any such part that has been cremated.
“(2) Landfill.—The term ‘landfill’ means a sanitary landfill, as such term is defined in section 1004(26) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
“(3) Navigable waters.—The term ‘navigable waters’ has the meaning given such term in section 502(7) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.”. <all>
Comments