H.R. 1525 — Protecting Life from Chemical Abortions Act

This section prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from declaring a public health emergency with respect to abortion under section 319 (i.e., general public health emergency authorities) or section 319F–3 (i.e., strategic national stockpile authorities) of the Public Health Service Act and terminates any such declaration in effect on the date of enactment.

This section prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), from exercising enforcement discretion on any requirement of the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for abortion drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and reinstates, effective on enactment, the REMS requirement that such drugs be dispensed only in clinics, medical offices, or hospitals by or under the supervision of a certified health care provider (i.e., the in-person dispensing requirement). (As background, REMS are FDA-imposed strategies to manage known or potential serious risks from certain drugs, such as mifepristone, an abortion drug previously subject to an in-person dispensing requirement that FDA modified in 2021 and 2023 to allow certified pharmacies and mail-order dispensing.) The section further prohibits HHS from reducing REMS protections for abortion drugs (including via updates) or waiving the in-person dispensing requirement until every state submits aggregate abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) abortion surveillance system using a standardized worksheet that includes specified variables: (1) maternal age in years; (2) gestational age in completed weeks; (3) maternal race; (4) maternal ethnicity; (5) maternal race by ethnicity; (6) abortion method type; (7) maternal marital status; (8) previous pregnancies (number of live births, induced abortions, and spontaneous abortions); (9) maternal residence (state or county); (10) child survival; and (11) congenital anomalies. These variables are mandatory for state reporting under the Medicaid program (42 U.S.C. 1396b(bb)). (Thus, future REMS modifications are conditioned on complete state data reporting.) The section defines "abortion" (intentional termination of pregnancy, excluding post-viability live birth, ectopic pregnancy treatment, or removal of dead fetus); "abortion drug" (any substance used for an abortion); "certified health care provider" (one agreeing to REMS prescriber qualifications, including ability to assess pregnancy duration and ectopic pregnancies and provide or arrange surgical intervention); and "unborn child" (human organism from fertilization to live birth).