20 U.S.C. § 1688
Section 1688 · Neutrality with respect to abortion
This is the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case Board of Education v. United States Department of Education (2016)
Most recently applied in Franciscan Alliance, Inc. v. Burwell (December 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require or prohibit any person, or public or private entity, to provide or pay for any benefit or service, including the use of facilities, related to an abortion. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit a penalty to be imposed on any person or individual because such person or individual is seeking or has received any benefit or service related to a legal abortion.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original “this title”, meaning title IX of Pub. L. 92 318 which enacted this chapter and amended sections 203 and 213 of Title 29, Labor, and sections 2000c, 2000c 6, 2000c 9, and 2000h 2 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of title IX to the Code, see Tables.
Construction
This section not to be construed to extend application of Education Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. 92 318, to ultimate beneficiaries of Federal financial assistance excluded from coverage before Mar. 22, 1988, see section 7 of Pub. L. 100 259, set out as a note under section 1687 of this title.
Abortion Neutrality
Section 8 of Pub. L. 100 259 provided that: “No provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act [see Short Title of 1988 Amendment note under section 1681 of this title] shall be construed to force or require any individual or hospital or any other institution, program, or activity receiving Federal Funds [sic] to perform or pay for an abortion.”