Do No Harm Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2725 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 APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. MAT- SUI, Mr. KILMER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Ms. ROSS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BUSH, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WIL- LIAMS of Georgia, Ms. CHU, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CASAR, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MRVAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. PORTER, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BROWN, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. TONKO, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. STANSBURY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. STANTON, Ms. BALINT, Mr. TRONE, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. WILD, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, Mr. PHIL- LIPS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CROW, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Mrs. HAYES, and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2725.IH H2725 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2725 IH 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. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE 5 FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO OTHERS. 6 Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 7 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1) is amended by adding at 8 the end the following: 9 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION 10 OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO 11 OTHERS.—Subsections (a), (b), and (c) do not apply to— 12 ‘‘(1) any provision of law or its implementation 13 that provides for or requires— 14 ‘‘(A) a protection against discrimination or 15 the promotion of equal opportunity, including 16 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a 17 et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 18 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Family 19 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 20 2601 et seq.), Executive Order 11246 (42 21 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal employ- 22 ment opportunity), and the Violence Against 23 Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 et seq.); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2725.IH H2725 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2725 IH ‘‘(B) an employer to provide a wage, other 1 compensation, or a benefit, including leave, or 2 a standard protecting collective activity in the 3 workplace; 4 ‘‘(C) a protection against child labor, child 5 abuse, or child exploitation; or 6 ‘‘(D) access to, information about, a refer- 7 ral for, provision of, or coverage for, any health 8 care item or service; 9 ‘‘(2) any term of a government contract, grant, 10 cooperative agreement, or other award, that provides 11 funds directly or indirectly, and that requires a 12 good, service, function, or activity to be performed 13 for or provided to a beneficiary of or a participant 14 in a program or activity funded, directly or indi- 15 rectly, by a government contract, grant, cooperative 16 agreement, or other award; or 17 ‘‘(3) the extent that application would result in 18 denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of a 19 good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, 20 or accommodation provided by the government.’’. 21 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION 22 BETWEEN PRIVATE PARTIES. 23 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment made 24 by subsection (b) is to clarify the applicability of the Reli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2725.IH H2725 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2725 IH gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1 2000bb et seq.). 2 (b) PRECLUSION.—Section 3(c) of the Religious 3 Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb– 4 1(c)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘judi- 5 cial proceeding’’ and all that follows through the first pe- 6 riod and inserting ‘‘judicial proceeding to which a govern- 7 ment is a party and obtain appropriate relief against that 8 government.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:06 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2725.IH H2725 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS