Abortion Control Act
Pennsylvania · Crimes and Offenses · §§ 18-3201 to 18-3220 · 21 sections
Overview
The act governs the performance of abortion, setting the conditions under which the procedure may lawfully be provided and defining the circumstances in which it is prohibited. Its core mechanism is an informed-consent framework — required printed and referral information, disclosure and notification duties before the procedure, posted notice at facilities, and parental consent or judicial authorization where the patient is an unmarried minor — backed by a civil action for damages when an abortion is performed without informed consent. It further bars specified categories of abortion, including sex-selective abortions, abortions sought because of a genetic abnormality, dismemberment procedures, and abortions after a detectable heartbeat in an unborn child or beyond a defined postfertilization age, while imposing reporting, recordkeeping, patient-privacy, born-alive protection, and humane fetal-remains disposal duties enforced through criminal penalties.
Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.
Sections covered
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3201Short title of chapter
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3202Legislative intent
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3203Definitions
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3204Medical consultation and judgment
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3205Informed consent
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3206Parental consent
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3207Abortion facilities
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3208Printed information
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3208.1Commonwealth interference prohibited
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3209Spousal notice
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3210Determination of gestational age
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3211Abortion on unborn child of 24 or more weeks gestational age
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3212Infanticide
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3213Prohibited acts
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3214Reporting
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3215Publicly owned facilities; public officials and public funds
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3216Fetal experimentation
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3217Civil penalties
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3218Criminal penalties
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3219State Board of Medicine; State Board of Osteopathic Medicine
- 18 Pa.C.S. § 3220Construction
Enacted in other states
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