[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 782 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 782
To prohibit the interference, under color of State law, with the
provision of interstate abortion services, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 2, 2023
Mrs. Fletcher (for herself, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Strickland, Ms. Adams, Mr.
Allred, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Balint, Ms. Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr.
Beyer, Mr. Bera, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr.
Bowman, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski, Ms.
Bush, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Casar,
Mr. Casten, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu,
Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Connolly, Mr.
Correa, Ms. Craig, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania,
Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. DeSaulnier,
Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr.
Evans, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr.
Frost, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Robert Garcia of
California, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Green of Texas, Mrs. Hayes,
Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Himes, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Huffman, Mr.
Ivey, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Kildee, Mr.
Kilmer, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Larsen of
Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Leger
Fernandez, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Magaziner,
Ms. Manning, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. McBath, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGarvey, Mr.
McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Morelle, Mr.
Moskowitz, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr.
Neguse, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Mr. Pallone, Mr.
Panetta, Mr. Payne, Mr. Peters, Ms. Pettersen, Mr. Phillips, Ms.
Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Porter, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Ross, Mr. Ruiz, Mr.
Ruppersberger, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms.
Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Scholten, Ms.
Schrier, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Sherrill,
Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stansbury, Ms.
Stevens, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of California, Ms.
Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Tokuda, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr.
Torres of New York, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Trone, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Veasey,
Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Wexton,
Ms. Wild, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Ms.
Perez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the interference, under color of State law, with the
provision of interstate abortion services, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Women's Right to
Reproductive Freedom Act''.
SEC. 2. INTERFERENCE WITH INTERSTATE ABORTION SERVICES PROHIBITED.
(a) Interference Prohibited.--No person acting under color of State
law, including any person who, by operation of a provision of State
law, is permitted to implement or enforce State law, may prevent,
restrict, or impede, or retaliate against, in any manner--
(1) a health care provider's ability to provide, initiate,
or otherwise enable an abortion service that is lawful in the
State in which the service is to be provided to a patient who
does not reside in that State;
(2) any person or entity's ability to assist a health care
provider to provide, initiate, or otherwise enable an abortion
service that is lawful in the State in which the service is to
be provided to a patient who does not reside in that State, if
such assistance does not violate the law of that State;
(3) any person's ability to travel across a State line for
the purpose of obtaining an abortion service that is lawful in
the State in which the service is to be provided;
(4) any person's or entity's ability to assist another
person traveling across a State line for the purpose of
obtaining an abortion service that is lawful in the State in
which the service is to be provided; or
(5) the movement in interstate commerce, in accordance with
Federal law or regulation, of any drug approved or licensed by
the Food and Drug Administration for the termination of a
pregnancy.
(b) Enforcement by Attorney General.--The Attorney General may
bring a civil action in the appropriate United States district court
against any person who violates subsection (a) for declaratory and
injunctive relief.
(c) Private Right of Action.--Any person who is harmed by a
violation of subsection (a) may bring a civil action in the appropriate
United States district court against the person who violated such
subsection for declaratory and injunctive relief, and for such
compensatory damages as the court determines appropriate, including for
economic losses and for emotional pain and suffering. The court may, in
addition, award reasonable attorney's fees and costs of the action to a
prevailing plaintiff.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``abortion service'' means--
(A) an abortion, including the use of any drug
approved or licensed by the Food and Drug
Administration for the termination of a pregnancy; and
(B) any health care service related to or provided
in conjunction with an abortion (whether or not
provided at the same time or on the same day as the
abortion).
(2) The term ``health care provider'' means any entity or
individual (including any physician, certified nurse-midwife,
nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, or pharmacist) that
is--
(A) engaged or seeks to engage in the delivery of
health care services, including abortion services; and
(B) licensed or certified to perform such service
under applicable State law.
(3) The term ``drug'' has the meaning given such term in
section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
U.S.C. 321).
(4) The term ``State'' includes the several States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, each Indian tribe, and each territory
or possession of the United States.
(e) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, or the application
of such provision to any person, entity, government, or circumstance,
is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the
application of such provision to all other persons, entities,
governments, or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.
(f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to limit the fundamental right to travel within the United States,
including the District of Columbia, Tribal lands, and the territories
of the United States, nor to limit any existing enforcement authority
of the Attorney General or any existing remedies available to address a
violation of such right.
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