Do No Harm Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1450 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 28, 2019 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Miss RICE of New York, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. COHEN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. MENG, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. KILMER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs. BEATTY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILD, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. PORTER, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. LAMB, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. KIND, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the following bill; which was 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1450.IH H1450 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1450 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Do No Harm Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that— 4 (1) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 5 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 6 emption from generally applicable law that imposes 7 the religious views, habits, or practices of one party 8 upon another; 9 (2) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 10 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 11 emption from generally applicable law that imposes 12 meaningful harm, including dignitary harm, on a 13 third party; and 14 (3) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 15 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex- 16 emption that permits discrimination against other 17 persons, including persons who do not belong to the 18 religion or adhere to the beliefs of those to whom the 19 exemption is given. 20 SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE 21 FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO OTHERS. 22 Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 23 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1) is amended by adding at 24 the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1450.IH H1450 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1450 IH ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION 1 OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO 2 OTHERS.—This section does not apply— 3 ‘‘(1) to any provision of law or its implementa- 4 tion that provides for or requires— 5 ‘‘(A) protections against discrimination or 6 the promotion of equal opportunity including 7 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans 8 with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave 9 Act, Executive Order 11246, the Violence 10 Against Women Act, and Equal Access to 11 Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sex- 12 ual Orientation or Gender Identity (77 FR 13 5662); 14 ‘‘(B) employers to provide wages, other 15 compensation, or benefits including leave, or 16 standards protecting collective activity in the 17 workplace; 18 ‘‘(C) protections against child labor, abuse, 19 or exploitation; or 20 ‘‘(D) access to, information about, refer- 21 rals for, provision of, or coverage for, any 22 health care item or service; 23 ‘‘(2) to any term requiring goods, services, 24 functions, or activities to be performed or provided 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1450.IH H1450 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1450 IH to beneficiaries of a government contract, grant, co- 1 operative agreement, or other award; or 2 ‘‘(3) to the extent that application would result 3 in denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of 4 a good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, 5 or accommodation, provided by the government.’’. 6 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION 7 BETWEEN PRIVATE PARTIES. 8 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment made 9 by subsection (b) is to clarify the applicability of the Reli- 10 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, as enacted. 11 (b) PRECLUSION.—Section 3(c) of the Religious 12 Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb– 13 1(c)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘judi- 14 cial proceeding’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘judi- 15 cial proceeding to which the government is a party and 16 obtain appropriate relief against that government.’’. 17 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 18 Section 5 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 19 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–2) is amended— 20 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 21 end; 22 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 23 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1450.IH H1450 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1450 IH ‘‘(5) the term ‘including’ means including, but 1 not limited to, consistent with the term’s standard 2 meaning in Federal law.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1450.IH H1450 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS