HB1274

The amendment fundamentally rewrites the bill from creating a civil wrongful death action for relatives of unborn children to instead establishing criminal penalties (Class felony) and civil penalties (up to ten thousand dollars per violation) against anyone who dispenses, distributes, sells, or advertises items intended to produce an unlawful abortion. This NARROWS the bill's scope by eliminating private lawsuits from family members and replacing them with enforcement solely through the attorney general's criminal and civil authority.

The amendment adds a new section explicitly protecting the existing statute prohibiting abortion-inducing acts (§ 22-17-5.1) while creating criminal and civil penalties specifically for dispensing, distributing, selling, or advertising abortion-related articles or substances. This BROADENS the bill's enforcement scope by targeting not just those who perform abortions but also those who supply the means to do so, including civil penalties up to ten thousand dollars per violation and attorney general enforcement powers.

This change converts the engrossed bill into its enrolled (final) version by removing legislative markup indicators and adding official enactment pages with signature lines for the Governor, legislative leaders, and Secretary of State—a purely procedural step that finalizes the bill without altering any substantive provisions.