[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3611 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3611
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to clarify the
longstanding authority of States to use funds made available under the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to fund life-affirming
services to empower pregnant women to choose life for their babies
instead of abortion, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 18, 2024
Mrs. Hyde-Smith (for herself, Mr. Braun, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Hawley,
Mr. Rubio, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Cramer) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to clarify the
longstanding authority of States to use funds made available under the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to fund life-affirming
services to empower pregnant women to choose life for their babies
instead of abortion, 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 ``Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Pregnancy centers are community-based, nonprofit
organizations that provide compassionate support and resources
to women and couples facing unexpected pregnancy and offer
life-affirming alternatives to abortion.
(2) In 2022 alone, 2,750 pregnancy centers across the
United States met with clients over 16,000,000 times, providing
services and material items that were estimated to be worth
approximately $358,000,000. Pregnancy centers were served by
62,576 workers and 72 percent of these workers (44,930) were
volunteers. 97.4 percent of clients seen by pregnancy centers
reported having a positive experience with pregnancy centers.
(3) Eighteen States have established alternatives to
abortion programs, which fund life-affirming services to
empower pregnant women to choose life for their babies instead
of abortion, typically by supporting pregnancy centers,
adoption agencies, maternity homes, and other relevant social
services partners.
(4) Alternatives to abortion programs offer services and
material assistance to pregnant women and their families,
including parenting classes, training in life skills, sexual
risk avoidance education, promoting responsible paternity,
promoting marriage, care coordination, housing and support
services through maternity homes, assistance with job
searching, reducing dependence on government, and much more.
(5) States have supported these alternatives to abortion
programs with a portion of the funds provided to them under the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program under part A of
title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
(referred to in this Act as ``TANF'') for more than 2 decades,
since 2001. At least 4 States, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri,
and Ohio, currently use TANF funds to support such programs,
together expending millions of dollars each year.
(6) On October 2, 2023, the Biden Administration issued a
proposed rule, ``Strengthening Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) as a Safety Net and Work Program,'' (88 Fed.
Reg. 67697) targeting pregnancy centers and alternatives to
abortion programs and threatening to strip them of millions of
dollars of funding, depriving pregnant women in need of
compassionate assistance for themselves and their unborn
babies.
(7) Contrary to the assertions of the Biden Administration,
alternatives to abortion programs, and the pregnancy centers
they support, fulfill the purpose of TANF specified in section
401(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601(a)) to--
(A) provide assistance to needy families so that
children may be cared for in their own homes or in the
homes of relatives;
(B) end the dependence of needy parents on
government benefits by promoting job preparation, work,
and marriage;
(C) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-
wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical
goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of
these pregnancies; and
(D) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-
parent families.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) clarify the longstanding authority of States to use
TANF funds to fund alternatives to abortion programs and
pregnancy centers, which provide life-affirming services to
empower pregnant women to choose life for their babies instead
of abortion; and
(2) prevent wrongful attempts to target such life-affirming
programs and providers and to strip such assistance from women
and families in need.
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVES TO ABORTION
PROGRAMS TO RECEIVE TANF FUNDS.
Section 404 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 604) is amended
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(l) Clarification of Eligibility of Alternatives to Abortion
Programs.--
``(1) In general.--A State to which a grant is made under
section 403 may use such grant to carry out alternatives to
abortion programs in furtherance of the purpose of this part
specified in section 401(a).
``(2) Alternatives to abortion programs defined.--In this
subsection, the term `alternatives to abortion programs' means
1 or more programs that promote childbirth as an alternative to
abortion, through life-affirming social services providers,
which may include, but are not limited, to pregnancy centers,
adoption assistance providers, and maternity homes. For
purposes of the preceding sentence, the term `life-affirming
social services providers' does not include entities that
provide, facilitate, counsel in favor of, or refer for,
abortions.
``(3) Permitted services.--Services provided through
alternatives to abortion programs that are carried out with any
amount paid to a State under section 403 in furtherance of the
purpose of this part specified in section 401(a), and subject
to section 408(a)(6), may include, but are not limited to--
``(A) counseling and mentoring on pregnancy,
education, parenting skills, adoption services, life
skills, alcohol and drug use, relationships, sexually
transmitted infections, abuse, fetal development,
nutrition, child care, sexual risk avoidance, and
employment readiness topics;
``(B) care coordination for prenatal, perinatal,
and postnatal services, including connecting
participants to health services;
``(C) educational materials and information about
pregnancy, parenting, sexual risk avoidance, and
adoption services;
``(D) referrals to governmental and social service
programs, including child care, transportation,
housing, and Federal and State benefit programs;
``(E) classes on life skills, personal finance,
parenthood, stress management, job training, sexual
risk avoidance, job readiness, job placement, and
educational attainment;
``(F) provision of supplies for infant care,
including car seats, cribs, infant diapers, and
formula; and
``(G) housing services.''.
SEC. 5. DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.
Section 409 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 609) is amended
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) Discrimination Prohibited.--
``(1) Federal government.--The Federal Government shall not
discriminate against--
``(A) a grantee or potential grantee recipient of
funds paid to a State under section 403 or subject them
to disparate treatment because of such grantee or
potential grantee's commitment to offer compassionate
support and resources to women facing unexpected
pregnancy, offer of life-affirming alternatives to
abortion, or unwillingness to counsel in favor of,
suggest, recommend, assist, or in any way participate
in the performance of abortions; or
``(B) against a State that contracts with such a
grantee or potential grantee.
``(2) Civil action for violations.--
``(A) In general.--A qualified party may, in a
civil action, obtain appropriate relief with regard to
a violation of paragraph (1).
``(B) Qualified party.--The term `qualified party'
means--
``(i) the Attorney General of the United
States;
``(ii) any attorney general of a State; or
``(iii) any person or entity adversely
affected by the designated violation.
``(C) Administrative remedies not required.--An
action under this paragraph may be commenced, and
relief may be granted, without regard to whether the
party commencing the action has sought or exhausted any
available administrative remedies.
``(D) Nature of relief.--In an action under this
paragraph, the court shall grant--
``(i) all appropriate relief, including
injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and
compensatory damages to prevent the occurrence,
continuance, or repetition of the designated
violation and to compensate for losses
resulting from the designated violation; and
``(ii) to a prevailing plaintiff,
reasonable attorneys' fees and litigation
costs.
``(E) Money damages.--Relief in an action under
this paragraph may include money damages even if the
defendant is a governmental entity.
``(F) Waiver of federal sovereign immunity.--
``(i) In general.--No Federal governmental
official that commits a designated violation
shall be immune under the Constitution of the
United States, or any other source of law, from
an action under subparagraph (A).
``(ii) Waiver of federal sovereign
immunity.--This clause shall constitute a
waiver of Federal sovereign immunity with
respect to any claim brought under an action
under subparagraph (A).
``(3) Terms defined.--The terms `discriminate against' and
`subject to disparate treatment' include, but are not limited
to, any action or policy by the Federal Government, with
respect to a grantee or potential grantee described in
paragraph (1)(A), that presumes ineligibility or failure to
satisfy the purpose of this part set forth in section 401(a),
or the imposition of any burden, including any administrative
requirement or demonstration of satisfying such purpose, which
is not applicable to other grantees or potential grantees who
are not so described.''.
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