S. 242 — Dignity for Aborted Children Act

This section declares Congress's constitutional authority to enact the bill under (1) the Interstate Commerce Clause (Art. I, § 8, cl. 3), (2) section 5 of the 14th Amendment—including the power to enforce the prohibition on government action denying equal protection of the laws—and (3) the Necessary and Proper Clause (Art. I, § 8, cl. 18).

This section establishes requirements under a new section 498F of the Public Health Service Act for abortion providers to obtain informed patient consent after an abortion for disposal of human fetal tissue, offering the patient the options to (1) take possession and transfer it to an interment or cremation entity or (2) release it to the provider, who must then dispose of it via interment or cremation consistent with state law on human remains within 7 days (allowing collective disposition). Abortion providers must obtain and retain signed consent forms in patient files, with civil penalties up to $50,000 for documentation failures and criminal penalties (fine, imprisonment up to 5 years, or both) for disposal violations; patients are immune from prosecution for provider violations. This section further requires abortion providers to submit annual reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on aggregate abortions performed (including gestational ages) and non-chemical abortion fetal remains transferred for interment/cremation or released to patients; directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress on abortions by state, procedure type, and disposal method; and specifies that it does not preempt stricter state interment or cremation requirements. Definitions include "abortion" (intentional termination of known pregnancy, excluding post-viability live birth preservation or removal of dead fetus), "abortion provider," and "human fetal tissue" (as in section 498A(g)).