| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 62 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To protect health care providers and people seeking reproductive health care |
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| 6 | 6 | | services, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY9, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. J |
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| 10 | 10 | | ACKSONLEEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee |
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| 12 | 12 | | on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the |
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| 13 | 13 | | Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within |
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| 14 | 14 | | the jurisdiction of the committee concerned |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
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| 16 | 16 | | To protect health care providers and people seeking |
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| 17 | 17 | | reproductive health care services, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguard Healthcare 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Industry Employees from Litigation and Distress Act’’ or 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 |
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| 25 | 25 | | In this Act: 8 |
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| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 29 | 29 | | (1) The term ‘‘reproductive health care service’’ 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | includes, with respect to a current, potential, or an-2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | ticipated pregnancy— 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (A) a diagnosis; 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (B) an evaluation; 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (C) an assessment; 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (D) a consultation or the provision of ad-7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | vice, including with respect to decision making; 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (E) a treatment; and 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (F) an abortion-related health care service. 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (2) The term ‘‘health care provider’’ means any 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | entity or individual (including any physician, cer-12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | tified nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, nurse, phy-13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | sician’s assistant, pharmacist, or other medical pro-14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | fessional) that is— 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (A) engaged or seeks to engage in decision 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | making related to, or the delivery of, health 17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | care services, including reproductive health care 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | services; and 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (B) licensed or certified to perform such 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | service under applicable State law. 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the several 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Is-25 |
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| 55 | 55 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 56 | 56 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 57 | 57 | | lands, each Indian tribe, and each territory or pos-1 |
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| 58 | 58 | | session of the United States. 2 |
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| 59 | 59 | | SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF JUS-3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | TICE LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNDING. 4 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (a) I |
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| 62 | 62 | | NGENERAL.—The funds that a State would oth-5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | erwise receive under a covered grant program shall be re-6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | duced by 50 percent if the State has in effect a law that 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | authorizes officers or employees of the State or of a unit 8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | of local government to prevent (including through criminal 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | enforcement), restrict, impede, or retaliate against— 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (1) a health care provider who seeks to initiate, 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | provide, or otherwise facilitate the provision of re-12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | productive health care services to a patient or pro-13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | spective patient; 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (2) any person or entity that seeks to assist a 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | health care provider who seeks to initiate, provide, 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | or otherwise facilitate the provision of reproductive 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | health care services to a patient or prospective pa-18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | tient; 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (3) any person who seeks to gain access to— 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (A) reproductive health care services; or 21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (B) a health care provider for the purpose 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | of accessing reproductive health care services; 23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | or 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 85 | 85 | | (4) any person or entity that seeks to assist an-1 |
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| 86 | 86 | | other person who seeks to gain access to— 2 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (A) reproductive health care services; or 3 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (B) a health care provider for the purpose 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | of accessing reproductive health care services. 5 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (b) C |
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| 91 | 91 | | OVEREDGRANTPROGRAM.—In this section, the 6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | term ‘‘covered grant program’’ means grants under— 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (1) part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 13081 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | et seq.); and 10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (2) subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omni-11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE BY OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES OF A 14 |
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| 100 | 100 | | STATE OR UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 15 |
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| 101 | 101 | | PROHIBITED. 16 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (a) I |
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| 103 | 103 | | NGENERAL.—No officer or employee of a State 17 |
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| 104 | 104 | | or unit of local government may act under color of law 18 |
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| 105 | 105 | | in any manner that would have a discriminatory effect on 19 |
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| 106 | 106 | | a woman by preventing (including through criminal en-20 |
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| 107 | 107 | | forcement), restricting, impeding, or retaliating against— 21 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (1) a health care provider who seeks to initiate, 22 |
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| 109 | 109 | | provide, or otherwise facilitate the provision of re-23 |
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| 110 | 110 | | productive health care services to a patient or pro-24 |
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| 111 | 111 | | spective patient; 25 |
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| 113 | 113 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 114 | 114 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 115 | 115 | | (2) any person or entity that seeks to assist a 1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | health care provider who seeks to initiate, provide, 2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | or otherwise facilitate the provision of reproductive 3 |
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| 118 | 118 | | health care services to a patient or prospective pa-4 |
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| 119 | 119 | | tient; 5 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (3) any person who seeks to gain access to— 6 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (A) reproductive health care services; or 7 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (B) a health care provider for the purpose 8 |
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| 123 | 123 | | of accessing reproductive health care services; 9 |
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| 124 | 124 | | or 10 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (4) any person or entity that seeks to assist an-11 |
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| 126 | 126 | | other person who seeks to gain access to— 12 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (A) reproductive health care services; or 13 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (B) a health care provider for the purpose 14 |
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| 129 | 129 | | of accessing reproductive health care services. 15 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (b) E |
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| 131 | 131 | | NFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEYGENERAL.—The 16 |
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| 132 | 132 | | Attorney General may bring a civil action for declaratory 17 |
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| 133 | 133 | | and injunctive relief in the appropriate United States dis-18 |
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| 134 | 134 | | trict court against any person who violates subsection (a). 19 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (c) P |
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| 136 | 136 | | RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.—Any person who is 20 |
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| 137 | 137 | | harmed by a violation of subsection (a) may bring a civil 21 |
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| 138 | 138 | | action in the appropriate United States district court 22 |
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| 139 | 139 | | against the person who violated such subsection for— 23 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (1) declaratory and injunctive relief; 24 |
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| 142 | 142 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 143 | 143 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 144 | 144 | | (2) such compensatory damages as the court 1 |
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| 145 | 145 | | determines appropriate, including for economic 2 |
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| 146 | 146 | | losses and for emotional pain and suffering; 3 |
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| 147 | 147 | | (3) such punitive damages as the court deter-4 |
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| 148 | 148 | | mines appropriate; and 5 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (4) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of the 6 |
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| 150 | 150 | | action that the court determines appropriate to 7 |
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| 151 | 151 | | award to a prevailing plaintiff. 8 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (d) C |
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| 153 | 153 | | RIMINALPENALTY.—Whoever, in violating sub-9 |
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| 154 | 154 | | section (a), uses a deadly or dangerous weapon or inflicts 10 |
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| 155 | 155 | | bodily injury, shall be fined under title 18, United States 11 |
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| 156 | 156 | | Code, or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. 12 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (e) N |
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| 158 | 158 | | OSTATEIMMUNITY.—A State shall not be im-13 |
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| 159 | 159 | | mune under the eleventh amendment to the Constitution 14 |
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| 160 | 160 | | of the United States from an action in a Federal or State 15 |
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| 161 | 161 | | court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this sec-16 |
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| 162 | 162 | | tion. 17 |
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| 163 | 163 | | SEC. 5. INTERFERENCE BY PERSONS NOT OFFICERS OR 18 |
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| 164 | 164 | | EMPLOYEES OF A STATE OR UNIT OF LOCAL 19 |
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| 165 | 165 | | GOVERNMENT PROHIBITED. 20 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (a) I |
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| 167 | 167 | | NGENERAL.—No person who is not an officer 21 |
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| 168 | 168 | | or employee of a State or of a unit of local government, 22 |
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| 169 | 169 | | who, in a circumstance described in subsection (b), by op-23 |
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| 170 | 170 | | eration of a provision of State law attempts to implement 24 |
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| 172 | 172 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 |
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| 173 | 173 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 174 | 174 | | or enforce State law, may act or threaten to act in any 1 |
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| 175 | 175 | | manner to prevent, restrict, impede, or retaliate against— 2 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (1) a health care provider who seeks to initiate, 3 |
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| 177 | 177 | | provide, or otherwise facilitate the provision of re-4 |
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| 178 | 178 | | productive health care services to a patient or pro-5 |
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| 179 | 179 | | spective patient; 6 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (2) any person or entity that assists a health 7 |
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| 181 | 181 | | care provider who seeks to initiate, provide, or other-8 |
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| 182 | 182 | | wise facilitate the provision of reproductive health 9 |
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| 183 | 183 | | care services to a patient or prospective patient; 10 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (3) any person who seeks to gain access to— 11 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (A) reproductive health care services; or 12 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (B) a health care provider for the purpose 13 |
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| 187 | 187 | | of accessing reproductive health care services; 14 |
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| 188 | 188 | | or 15 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (4) any person or entity that seeks to assist an-16 |
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| 190 | 190 | | other person who seeks to gain access to— 17 |
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| 191 | 191 | | (A) reproductive health care services; or 18 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (B) a health care provider for the purpose 19 |
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| 193 | 193 | | of accessing reproductive health care services. 20 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (b) C |
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| 195 | 195 | | IRCUMSTANCESDESCRIBED.—For the purposes 21 |
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| 196 | 196 | | of subsection (a), the circumstances described in this sub-22 |
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| 197 | 197 | | section are that— 23 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (1) any travel in interstate or foreign com-24 |
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| 199 | 199 | | merce, or travel enabled by a means, channel, facil-25 |
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| 201 | 201 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 |
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| 202 | 202 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 203 | 203 | | ity, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign com-1 |
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| 204 | 204 | | merce, occurred in furtherance of or in connection 2 |
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| 205 | 205 | | with the conduct described in subsection (a); 3 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (2) a means, channel, facility, or instrumen-4 |
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| 207 | 207 | | tality of interstate or foreign commerce was used in 5 |
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| 208 | 208 | | furtherance of or in connection with the conduct de-6 |
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| 209 | 209 | | scribed in subsection (a); 7 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (3) any payment of any kind was made, directly 8 |
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| 211 | 211 | | or indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with 9 |
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| 212 | 212 | | the conduct described in subsection (a) using any 10 |
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| 213 | 213 | | means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of inter-11 |
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| 214 | 214 | | state or foreign commerce or in or affecting inter-12 |
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| 215 | 215 | | state or foreign commerce; 13 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (4) any communication was transmitted in 14 |
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| 217 | 217 | | interstate or foreign commerce, relating to or in fur-15 |
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| 218 | 218 | | therance of the conduct described in subsection (a) 16 |
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| 219 | 219 | | using any means, channel, facility, or instrumen-17 |
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| 220 | 220 | | tality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or af-18 |
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| 221 | 221 | | fecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means 19 |
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| 222 | 222 | | or in manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or 20 |
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| 223 | 223 | | electromagnetic transmission; 21 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (5) any instrument, item, substance, or other 22 |
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| 225 | 225 | | object that has traveled in interstate or foreign com-23 |
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| 226 | 226 | | merce was used to perform the conduct described in 24 |
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| 227 | 227 | | subsection (a); 25 |
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| 229 | 229 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 |
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| 230 | 230 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 231 | 231 | | (6) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc-1 |
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| 232 | 232 | | curred within the special maritime and territorial ju-2 |
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| 233 | 233 | | risdiction of the United States, or any territory or 3 |
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| 234 | 234 | | possession of the United States; or 4 |
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| 235 | 235 | | (7) the conduct described in subsection (a) oth-5 |
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| 236 | 236 | | erwise occurred in or affected interstate or foreign 6 |
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| 237 | 237 | | commerce. 7 |
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| 238 | 238 | | (c) E |
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| 239 | 239 | | NFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEYGENERAL.—The 8 |
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| 240 | 240 | | Attorney General may bring a civil action for declaratory 9 |
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| 241 | 241 | | and injunctive relief in the appropriate United States dis-10 |
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| 242 | 242 | | trict court against any person who violates subsection (a). 11 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (d) P |
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| 244 | 244 | | RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.—Any person who is 12 |
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| 245 | 245 | | harmed by a violation of subsection (a) may bring a civil 13 |
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| 246 | 246 | | action in the appropriate United States district court 14 |
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| 247 | 247 | | against the person who violated such subsection for— 15 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (1) declaratory and injunctive relief; 16 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (2) such compensatory damages as the court 17 |
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| 250 | 250 | | determines appropriate, including for economic 18 |
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| 251 | 251 | | losses and for emotional pain and suffering; 19 |
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| 252 | 252 | | (3) such punitive damages as the court deter-20 |
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| 253 | 253 | | mines appropriate; and 21 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (4) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of the 22 |
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| 255 | 255 | | action that the court determines appropriate to 23 |
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| 256 | 256 | | award to a prevailing plaintiff. 24 |
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| 258 | 258 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 |
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| 259 | 259 | | •HR 62 IH |
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| 260 | 260 | | (e) CRIMINALPENALTY.—Whoever, in violating sub-1 |
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| 261 | 261 | | section (a), uses a deadly or dangerous weapon or inflicts 2 |
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| 262 | 262 | | bodily injury, shall be fined under title 18, United States 3 |
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| 263 | 263 | | Code, or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. 4 |
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| 264 | 264 | | SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 5 |
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| 265 | 265 | | If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 6 |
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| 266 | 266 | | provision to any person, entity, government, or cir-7 |
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| 267 | 267 | | cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 8 |
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| 268 | 268 | | of this Act, or the application of such provision to all other 9 |
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| 269 | 269 | | persons, entities, governments, or circumstances, shall not 10 |
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| 270 | 270 | | be affected thereby. 11 |
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| 271 | 271 | | Æ |
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| 273 | 273 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
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