Do No Harm Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1206 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 APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. REED, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. PADILLA, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CARPER, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. LUJA´N) 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1206.IS S1206 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1206 IS SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE 1 FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO OTHERS. 2 Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 3 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1) is amended by adding at 4 the end the following: 5 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION 6 OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO 7 OTHERS.—Subsections (a), (b), and (c) do not apply to— 8 ‘‘(1) any provision of law or its implementation 9 that provides for or requires— 10 ‘‘(A) a protection against discrimination or 11 the promotion of equal opportunity, including 12 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a 13 et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 14 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Family 15 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 16 2601 et seq.), Executive Order 11246 (42 17 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal employ- 18 ment opportunity), and the Violence Against 19 Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 et seq.); 20 ‘‘(B) an employer to provide a wage, other 21 compensation, or a benefit, including leave, or 22 a standard protecting collective activity in the 23 workplace; 24 ‘‘(C) a protection against child labor, child 25 abuse, or child exploitation; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1206.IS S1206 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1206 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) any term of a government contract, grant, 4 cooperative agreement, or other award, that provides 5 funds directly or indirectly, and that requires a 6 good, service, function, or activity to be performed 7 for or provided to a beneficiary of or a participant 8 in a program or activity funded, directly or indi- 9 rectly, by a government contract, grant, cooperative 10 agreement, or other award; or 11 ‘‘(3) the extent that application would result in 12 denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of a 13 good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, 14 or accommodation provided by the government.’’. 15 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION 16 BETWEEN PRIVATE PARTIES. 17 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment made 18 by subsection (b) is to clarify the applicability of the Reli- 19 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 20 2000bb et seq.). 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 through the first pe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1206.IS S1206 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1206 IS riod and inserting ‘‘judicial proceeding to which a govern- 1 ment is a party and obtain appropriate relief against that 2 government.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1206.IS S1206 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS