Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act

Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act

This bill increases criminal penalties (and authorizes additional civil remedies) for intentionally damaging or destroying the property of a facility that exclusively provides abortion-alternative services or that is a place of religious worship. It also establishes a mandatory minimum sentence for certain conduct involving fire or explosives used against such a facility or place of religious worship.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8584 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8584

   To amend section 248 of title 18, United States Code, to provide 
  adequate penalties and remedies for attacks on facilities providing 
    counseling about abortion alternatives and attacks on places of 
                           religious worship.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2022

  Ms. Tenney (for herself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Mann, and Mr. 
  Cawthorn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend section 248 of title 18, United States Code, to provide 
  adequate penalties and remedies for attacks on facilities providing 
    counseling about abortion alternatives and attacks on places of 
                           religious worship.

    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 ``Pregnancy Resource Center Defense 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ATTACKS ON FACILITIES PROVIDING COUNSELING ABOUT ABORTION 
              ALTERNATIVES AND PLACES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

    (a) Criminal Penalties.--Section 248(b)(1) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ``, except that for a first 
offense, if the conduct involved a facility described in subsection 
(a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion-alternative services or 
involved a place of religious worship and did not involve exclusively a 
nonviolent physical obstruction, the length of imprisonment shall be 
not more than 3 years'' after ``or both''.
    (b) Civil Remedies.--Section 248(c) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B), in the second sentence, by 
        inserting ``, or $20,000 per violation for conduct involving a 
        facility described in subsection (a)(3) that exclusively 
        provides abortion-alternative services or involving a place of 
        religious worship'' after ``per violation''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by inserting ``, $25,000 for a 
        first violation, if the violation involved a facility described 
        in subsection (a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion-
        alternative services or involved a place of religious worship 
        and did not involve exclusively a nonviolent physical 
        obstruction,'' after ``physical obstruction''.

SEC. 3. DESTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS, VEHICLES, AND PROPERTY.

    Section 844(i) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``or if the building is a facility described in section 
248(a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion-alternative services or is 
a place of religious worship,'' before ``shall be imprisoned for not 
less than 7 years''.
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