H.R. 846 — SAD Act

This section declares 16 congressional findings concerning abortion access following the Supreme Court's June 24, 2022, decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, including that abortion is unavailable in 14 states (affecting 17.9 million women, transgender individuals, and gender nonconforming individuals ages 15 to 49), travel times to clinics have quadrupled (with over 170,000 people traveling out of state in 2023), such burdens disproportionately affect low-income women and women of color (especially in the South), and crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs)—numbering over 2,500 and outnumbering abortion clinics 3 to 1 nationally (e.g., 9 to 1 in Pennsylvania, 11 to 1 in Minnesota)—employ deceptive tactics such as false claims about abortion risks, lack of licensed medical personnel or abortion/birth control referrals, misleading HIPAA claims, and targeting under-resourced communities.

This section prohibits any person from engaging in deceptive advertising about reproductive health services offered, including misrepresentations that the person offers or provides contraception or abortion services (or referrals for such services) or employs or offers access to licensed medical personnel. It authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate regulations; deems violations unfair or deceptive acts under the FTC Act; and directs the FTC to enforce the prohibition with full FTC Act powers and jurisdiction, notwithstanding statutory limitations on FTC authority over nonprofits (i.e., overriding exemptions in FTC Act §§4, 5(a)(2), and 6). The section further provides the FTC with independent civil litigation authority in federal district court to seek injunctions, compliance, civil penalties, damages, restitution, or other equitable relief (with exclusive FTC authority over such actions, subject to limited exceptions and Attorney General involvement); imposes a civil penalty per violation not exceeding the greater of $100,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) or 50% of the ultimate parent entity's revenue in the prior 12 months; requires biennial FTC reports to Congress beginning one year after enactment; includes a savings clause preserving other FTC authorities; and defines "abortion services" broadly to include any related medical or non-medical service provided in conjunction with an abortion.