---
kind: "section"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 1841"
title: "18"
title_heading: "Crimes and Criminal Procedure"
number: "1841"
heading: "Protection of unborn children"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/18/1841"
units:
  - "Part I — Crimes"
  - "Chapter 90A — Protection of Unborn Children"
---

# §1841. Protection of unborn children

- (a)
  - (1) [Whoever](/usc/18/921.md?p=a-1) engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law listed in [subsection (b)](#b) and thereby causes the death of, or [bodily injury](/usc/18/1515.md?p=a-5) (as defined in [section 1365](/usc/18/1365.md)) to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section.
  - (2)
    - (A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the punishment for that separate offense is the same as the punishment provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child’s mother.
    - (B) An offense under this section does not require proof that—
      - (i) the [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or
      - (ii) the defendant intended to cause the death of, or [bodily injury](/usc/18/1515.md?p=a-5) to, the unborn child.
    - (C) If the [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) shall instead of being punished under [subparagraph (A)](#a-2-A), be punished as provided under sections [1111](/usc/18/1111.md), [1112](/usc/18/1112.md), and [1113](/usc/18/1113.md) of this title for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.
    - (D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the death penalty shall not be imposed for an offense under this section.
- (b) The provisions referred to in [subsection (a)](#a) are the following:
  - (1) Sections [36](/usc/18/36.md), [37](/usc/18/37.md), [43](/usc/18/43.md), [111](/usc/18/111.md), [112](/usc/18/112.md), [113](/usc/18/113.md), [114](/usc/18/114.md), [115](/usc/18/115.md), [229](/usc/18/229.md), [242](/usc/18/242.md), [245](/usc/18/245.md), [247](/usc/18/247.md), [248](/usc/18/248.md), [351](/usc/18/351.md), [831](/usc/18/831.md), [844(d)](/usc/18/844.md?p=d), (f), (h)(1), and (i), 924(j), 930, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1116, 1118, 1119, 1120, 1121, 1153(a), 1201(a), 1203, 1365(a), 1501, 1503, 1505, 1512, 1513, 1751, 1864, 1951, 1952 (a)(1)(B), (a)(2)(B), and (a)(3)(B), 1958, 1959, 1992, 2113, 2114, 2116, 2118, 2119, 2191, 2231, 2241(a), 2245, 2261, 2261A, 2280, 2281, 2332, 2332a, 2332b, 2340A, and [2441](/usc/18/2441.md) of this title.
  - (2) Section 408(e) of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 ([21 U.S.C. 848(e)](/usc/21/848.md?p=e)).
  - (3) Section 202 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 ([42 U.S.C. 2283](/usc/42/2283.md)).
- (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the prosecution—
  - (1) of any [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law;
  - (2) of any [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) for any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or
  - (3) of any woman with respect to her unborn child.
- (d) As used in this section, the term “unborn child” means a child in utero, and the term “child in utero” or “child, who is in utero” means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 108–212, § 2(a), Apr. 1, 2004, 118 Stat. 568.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Section 202 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2283), referred to in subsec. (b)(3), probably means section 235 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, title I, as added by Pub. L. 96–295, title II, § 202(a), June 30, 1980, 94 Stat. 786, which is classified to section 2283 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. Section 202 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which related to the authority of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, was classified to section 2252 of Title 42 and was repealed by act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, title I, § 302(a), as added Pub. L. 95–110, § 1, Sept. 20, 1977, 91 Stat. 884; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 102–486, title IX, § 902(a)(8), Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2944.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Short Title of 2004 Amendment

Pub. L. 108–212, § 1, Apr. 1, 2004, 118 Stat. 568, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter and section 919a of Title 10, Armed Forces] may be cited as the ‘Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004’ or ‘Laci and Conner’s Law’.”