I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 279
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit governmental discrimina-
tion against certain health care providers with certain objections to
abortion.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY11, 2023
Mr. C
ARTERof Georgia (for himself, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. MOOREof
Utah, Mr. A
DERHOLT, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. CLYDE, Mr.
E
LLZEY, Mr. WEBSTERof Florida, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. WILLIAMSof
Texas, and Mr. F
EENSTRA) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit govern-
mental discrimination against certain health care pro-
viders with certain objections to abortion.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pharmacist Conscience 4
Protection Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CERTAIN 1
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WITH CERTAIN 2
OBJECTIONS TO ABORTION. 3
Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 4
202 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 245 the 5
following: 6
‘‘SEC. 245A. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CER-7
TAIN HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WITH CER-8
TAIN OBJECTIONS TO ABORTION. 9
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-10
vision of law, the Federal Government, and any person 11
or entity that receives Federal grants, contracts, or finan-12
cial assistance, including any State or local government, 13
may not penalize, treat adversely, retaliate against, or oth-14
erwise discriminate against a specified health care pro-15
vider, or take any action that has such effect, on the basis 16
that the specified health care provider does not or declines 17
to store or fill a prescription, or make a referral, for a 18
drug that is approved by the Food and Drug Administra-19
tion to cause an abortion or that the specified health care 20
provider in good faith believes may be used to cause an 21
abortion. 22
‘‘(b) P
RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.— 23
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—A qualified party may, in a 24
civil action, obtain appropriate relief, including dam-25
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•HR 279 IH
ages, with regard to a violation of subsection (a) or 1
threat made in violation of subsection (a). 2
‘‘(2) Q
UALIFIED PARTY.—The term ‘qualified 3
party’ means, with respect to a violation of sub-4
section (a) or threat made in violation of such sub-5
section— 6
‘‘(A) the Attorney General of the United 7
States; or 8
‘‘(B) any person or entity adversely af-9
fected by such violation or threat without re-10
gard to whether such person or entity is a 11
health care provider. 12
‘‘(c) D
EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 13
‘‘(1) S
PECIFIED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER .— 14
The term ‘specified health care provider’ includes a 15
pharmacist, pharmacy technician, pharmacy, or 16
owner of a pharmacy that has an objection to any 17
abortion or all abortions on moral, religious, con-18
science, or medical judgment grounds. 19
‘‘(2) S
TATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT .—The 20
term ‘State or local government’ includes every 21
agency and other governmental unit and subdivision 22
of a State or local government. 23
‘‘(3) S
TATE.—The term ‘State’ means any of 24
the 50 States and the District of Columbia and in-25
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cludes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, 1
American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Is-2
lands. 3
‘‘(d) R
ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 4
section shall be construed to— 5
‘‘(1) require a specified health care provider to 6
prescribe, fill, refer, or stock any drugs or devices; 7
or 8
‘‘(2) limit any State or Federal laws equally or 9
more protective of conscience or religious freedom.’’. 10
Æ
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