Do No Harm Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1378 To amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to protect civil rights and otherwise prevent meaningful harm to third parties, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. ROSS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. MANNING, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. TITUS, Mr. EVANS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. DELGADO, Mrs. WAT- SON COLEMAN, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. CARSON, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. CROW, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. ROY- BAL-ALLARD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. TONKO, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. CRIST, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. OMAR, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. PETERS, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. TRONE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. SIRES, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. WEXTON, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. JONES, Mr. YAR- MUTH, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. DEAN, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. BASS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. PAS- CRELL, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. BOURDEAUX, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. VELA, Mr. RUSH, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. HIMES, Mr. STANTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. BERA, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. SCHRADER, and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:53 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1378 IH A BILL To amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to protect civil rights and otherwise prevent meaningful harm to third parties, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Do No Harm Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 It is the sense of Congress that— 6 (1) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 7 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 8 emption from generally applicable law if the exemp- 9 tion would impose the religious views, habits, or 10 practices of one party upon another; 11 (2) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 12 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 13 emption from generally applicable law if the exemp- 14 tion would impose meaningful harm, including dig- 15 nitary harm, on a third party; and 16 (3) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 17 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 18 emption from generally applicable law if the exemp- 19 tion would permit discrimination against other per- 20 sons, including persons who do not belong to the re- 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:53 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1378 IH ligion or adhere to the beliefs of those to whom the 1 exemption is given. 2 SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE 3 FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO OTHERS. 4 Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 5 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1) is amended by adding at 6 the end the following: 7 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION 8 OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO 9 OTHERS.—This section does not apply— 10 ‘‘(1) to any provision of law or its implementa- 11 tion that provides for or requires— 12 ‘‘(A) protections against discrimination or 13 the promotion of equal opportunity including 14 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans 15 with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave 16 Act, Executive Order 11246, the Violence 17 Against Women Act, and Equal Access to 18 Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sex- 19 ual Orientation or Gender Identity (77 FR 20 5662); 21 ‘‘(B) employers to provide wages, other 22 compensation, or benefits including leave, or 23 standards protecting collective activity in the 24 workplace; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:53 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1378 IH ‘‘(C) protections against child labor, abuse, 1 or exploitation; or 2 ‘‘(D) access to, information about, refer- 3 rals for, provision of, or coverage for, any 4 health care item or service; 5 ‘‘(2) to any term of a government contract, 6 grant, cooperative agreement, or other award, that 7 requires goods, services, functions, or activities to be 8 performed for or provided to beneficiaries of or par- 9 ticipants in a program or activity funded by such a 10 government contract, grant, cooperative agreement, 11 or other award; or 12 ‘‘(3) to the extent that application would result 13 in denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of 14 a good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, 15 or accommodation provided by the government.’’. 16 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION 17 BETWEEN PRIVATE PARTIES. 18 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment made 19 by subsection (b) is to clarify the applicability of the Reli- 20 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, as enacted. 21 (b) PRECLUSION.—Section 3(c) of the Religious 22 Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb– 23 1(c)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘judi- 24 cial proceeding’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘judi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:53 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1378 IH cial proceeding to which the government is a party and 1 obtain appropriate relief against that government.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:53 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS