# 119-s-242: Dignity for Aborted Children Act

119-s-242, Dignity for Aborted Children Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2025-12-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-242
- As of: 2025-12-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-242
- Congress: 119
- Title: Dignity for Aborted Children Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-01-24
- Sponsor: Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE)
- Cosponsors: 12
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2025-12-21

## Summary

**Creates federal rules for the disposal of human fetal tissue after an abortion.** This bill would require patients to choose in writing whether to keep the tissue or release it to the abortion provider, and it would require providers who accept tissue to ensure final disposition by interment or cremation within seven days. - Patients would sign a form choosing to take possession of fetal tissue or to release it to the provider for disposal. - Providers who accept tissue would have to retain the signed consent in the patient's file and inter or cremate released tissue within seven days, following State law on human remains. - Providers would send annual reports to the Department of Health and Human Services with counts of abortions, gestational ages, and disposal methods, and the Secretary would report to Congress by State and procedure type. Failing to keep consent records could bring civil fines up to $50,000 and improper disposal could carry criminal penalties of up to 5 years in prison.

## Cosponsors (12)

- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schmitt, Eric [R-MO] (R-MO), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Justice, James C. [R-WV] (R-WV), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] (R-MO), 2025-01-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New patient choice and consent: benefit, medium. If enacted, your abortion provider would have to give you a written consent form with two choices for fetal tissue: you could take the tissue or release it to the provider. The provider would need your signature and must keep the form in your file. Providers who fail to keep required consent forms…
- New disposal rules for providers: cost, high. If enacted, an abortion provider who accepts fetal tissue from a patient would have to bury or cremate that tissue no later than seven days after the procedure, consistent with State law. The provider could do a collective interment or cremation for tissue from multiple procedures. Failure to follo…
- Provider reporting and state rules: cost, low. If enacted, each abortion provider covered by the consent rule would have to send an annual report to the Secretary with the total number of abortions they did, the gestational ages, and for non-chemical abortions, how many fetal remains were buried or cremated and how many were returned to patient…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-2296: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-4784: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027
- 119-s-587: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025
- 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

## Sources
- [119-s-242 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/242)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-s-2296: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2296)
- [119-s-4784: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4784)
- [119-s-587: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-587)
- [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186)
- [119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-6)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-242 (as of 2025-12-21).