Reproductive Coercion Prevention and Protection Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- H.R. 6883
- Origin Chamber
- House
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-12-18: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- Last Updated
- 2026-01-22T14:08:01Z
AI-Generated Summary
Reproductive Coercion Prevention and Protection Act of 2025
Purpose This legislation aims to recognize reproductive coercion as a form of domestic violence, expand federal court involvement in certain domestic violence cases, and allow victims to file civil lawsuits in federal court under specific conditions involving interstate or foreign commerce.
Key Provisions
- Adds a definition of reproductive coercion to existing federal law on violence against women. This term covers actions by an intimate partner or similar individual that use force, threats, or intimidation to control another person's reproductive decisions, including pressuring someone to become pregnant or end a pregnancy, sabotaging birth control, or manipulating access to reproductive health information.
- Creates a new federal civil cause of action allowing victims to sue in court for damages when the alleged conduct meets one of several interstate commerce triggers, such as travel across state lines, use of mail or electronic communications, or involvement of items that moved in commerce.
- Permits courts to award actual damages, punitive damages, and other remedies like injunctions.
- Defines domestic violence broadly to include physical or sexual abuse, reproductive coercion, and coercive behaviors for power and control.
- Specifies covered defendants as current or former spouses, intimate partners, dating partners, cohabitants, those sharing a child, or certain family members.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 by expanding the definition of coercive behavior in domestic violence to explicitly include reproductive coercion.
- Introduces a new federal private right of action for victims, which did not previously exist in this form for these specific circumstances.
- Establishes jurisdictional hooks based on interstate or foreign commerce to allow federal court intervention while preserving state court authority over custody, property, and state-specific definitions.
Potential Impacts
- On citizens: Provides victims with an additional avenue for seeking financial compensation and court orders in qualifying cases, potentially deterring abusive behaviors involving reproductive control.
- On government agencies: Increases workload for federal courts handling these civil cases when commerce elements are present; does not directly alter state law enforcement or agency operations.
- On international relations: Limited, though foreign commerce provisions could apply in rare cross-border scenarios.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Victims of domestic violence and reproductive coercion.
- Individuals accused as covered defendants (partners or family members).
- Federal and state courts.
- Health care providers and insurers, due to references in the findings about mail-order contraception and interstate travel for care.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Relies on the Commerce Clause to extend federal jurisdiction into traditionally state-regulated family matters.
- Includes explicit rules of construction to avoid preempting state laws on domestic violence definitions or remedies.
- Creates a civil (not criminal) federal remedy, allowing private lawsuits rather than government prosecution.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (17)
Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2], Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6], Rep. Pou, Nellie [D-NJ-9], Rep. McDonald Rivet, Kristen [D-MI-8], Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large], Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32], Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3], Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-25], Rep. Walkinshaw, James R. [D-VA-11], Rep. Garcia, Sylvia R. [D-TX-29], Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12], Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3], Rep. Sykes, Emilia Strong [D-OH-13], Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large], Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17], Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10], Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2]
Recent Actions
- 2025-12-18: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- 2025-12-18: Introduced in House
- 2025-12-18: Introduced in House
Bill Versions
- Reproductive Coercion Prevention and Protection Act of 2025 — issued 2025-12-18 — PDF (9 pages)