Do No Harm Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 593 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S593.IS S593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 593 IS (1) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 2 emption from generally applicable law that imposes 3 the religious views, habits, or practices of one party 4 upon another; 5 (2) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 6 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 7 emption from generally applicable law that imposes 8 meaningful harm, including dignitary harm, on a 9 third party; and 10 (3) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 11 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 12 emption for one party that permits discrimination 13 against others, including persons who do not belong 14 to the religion or adhere to the beliefs of that party. 15 SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE 16 FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO OTHERS. 17 Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 18 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1) is amended by adding at 19 the end the following: 20 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION 21 OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO 22 OTHERS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply— 23 ‘‘(1) to any provision of law or its implementa- 24 tion that provides for or requires— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S593.IS S593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 593 IS ‘‘(A) a protection against discrimination or 1 the promotion of equal opportunity, including 2 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a 3 et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 4 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Family 5 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 6 2601 et seq.), Executive Order 11246 (42 7 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal oppor- 8 tunity in Federal employment), the Violence 9 Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 10 et seq.), the final rule of the Department of 11 Housing and Urban Development entitled 12 ‘Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs 13 Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender 14 Identity’ (77 Fed. Reg. 5661 (February 3, 15 2012)) (or any corresponding similar regulation 16 or ruling), or section 5.106 of title 24, Code of 17 Federal Regulations (or any corresponding 18 similar regulation or ruling); 19 ‘‘(B) an employer to provide a wage, other 20 compensation, or a benefit including leave, or a 21 standard protecting collective activity in the 22 workplace; 23 ‘‘(C) protection against child labor, child 24 abuse, or child exploitation; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S593.IS S593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 593 IS ‘‘(D) access to, information about, a refer- 1 ral for, provision of, or coverage for, any health 2 care item or service; 3 ‘‘(2) to any term, requiring a good, service, 4 function, or activity to be performed or provided to 5 a beneficiary, of a government contract, grant, coop- 6 erative agreement, or other instrument for an award; 7 or 8 ‘‘(3) to the extent that application would result 9 in denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of 10 a good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, 11 or accommodation, provided by the government.’’. 12 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION 13 BETWEEN PRIVATE PARTIES. 14 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment made 15 by subsection (b) is to clarify the applicability of the Reli- 16 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, as enacted. 17 (b) PRECLUSION.—Section 3(c) of the Religious 18 Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb– 19 1(c)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘judi- 20 cial proceeding’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘judi- 21 cial proceeding to which the government is a party and 22 obtain appropriate relief against that government.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S593.IS S593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 593 IS SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 1 Section 5 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 2 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–2) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 4 end; 5 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 6 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(5) the term ‘including’ means including, but 9 not limited to, consistent with the term’s standard 10 meaning in Federal law.’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S593.IS S593 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS