Georgia CommonsHB 488: Pregnancy Center Fraud Prevention Act; enact
Last action February 20, 2025 · House Second Readers
House Bill 488 would make it illegal for Georgia's limited services pregnancy centers, often called crisis pregnancy centers, to advertise their services in false or misleading ways, with new state enforcement powers and penalties.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia law currently regulates perinatal facilities but does not specifically address advertising by limited services pregnancy centers, which typically counsel against abortion and do not provide abortions, emergency contraception, or referrals for either. This bill adds definitions for terms like 'advertising,' 'limited services pregnancy center,' and 'pregnancy services center,' then bars these centers from disseminating advertising they know or should know is untrue, deceptive, or misleading about the products or services they actually offer. The bill sets up an enforcement process: the Attorney General or a local district attorney must give a center written notice and ten days to fix false advertising before suing. Courts could order corrective advertising, posted notices about staff credentials and services offered, restitution, and civil penalties of $500 to $5,000 per violation. People harmed by deceptive advertising could also sue directly for damages. The Attorney General would have to create an online complaint portal accessible to people with disabilities and written at a fifth grade reading level.
What the bill does
- Prohibits limited services pregnancy centers from advertising products or services in ways that are untrue, deceptive, or misleading to the public.
- Adds legal definitions for 'advertising,' 'client,' 'emergency contraception,' 'limited services pregnancy center,' and 'pregnancy services center' to Georgia law.
- Requires the Attorney General or a local district attorney to give a center written notice and ten days to correct false advertising before filing a civil lawsuit.
- Authorizes courts to order corrective advertising, posted disclosures about staff and services, restitution, and civil penalties of $500 to $5,000 per violation.
- Creates a private right of action letting anyone harmed by deceptive advertising sue for damages, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees.
- Directs the Attorney General to build an online complaint portal that is accessible and written at a fifth grade reading level.
Who it affects
Limited services pregnancy centers and their staff, pregnant individuals and others seeking pregnancy-related services who may encounter their advertising, the Attorney General's office and local district attorneys who would enforce the law, and the Department of Public Health, which maintains a related public website.
Why it matters
People seeking pregnancy-related help would gain a legal path to challenge centers that advertise services, like abortion referrals or medical staff, they do not actually provide. Centers found in violation could face lawsuits, forced corrective notices, and financial penalties, changing how they can market themselves.
Key provisions
- Section 1 names the bill the 'Pregnancy Center Fraud Prevention Act.'
- Section 2 lists legislative findings on deceptive advertising by limited services pregnancy centers and their effects on marginalized groups.
- Section 3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-51 to add definitions including 'limited services pregnancy center' and 'pregnancy services center,' the latter defined partly by physical appearance factors like exam tables or staff in medical attire.
- Section 4 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-56 to prohibit false or misleading advertising by these centers and to set up a notice-and-cure enforcement process.
- Section 4 authorizes civil penalties of $500 to $5,000 per violation plus attorney's fees, and lets injured individuals sue for compensatory and punitive damages.
- Section 4 requires the Attorney General to create an accessible online complaint portal usable within about ten minutes by someone with a fifth grade reading level.
- Section 5 repeals conflicting laws.
From the bill
“the state shall be entitled to recover civil penalties from each and every party responsible for the violation of not less than $500.00 and not more than $5,000.00 per violation”
“Such portal shall be verified through user testing to be understandable for someone with a fifth grade reading level, accessible to people with disabilities, and take an average user no more than ten minutes to complete the complaint form.”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Anne Westbrook (D, HD-163)
- Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
- Mary Oliver (D, HD-084)
- Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)
- Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
- Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)
Topics
- pregnancy centers
- reproductive healthcare
- consumer protection
- false advertising
- Attorney General enforcement