Do No Harm Act

Do No Harm Act

This bill prohibits the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to specified federal laws or the implementation of such laws. Currently, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means.

Under the bill, RFRA is inapplicable to laws or the implementation of laws that

• protect against discrimination or require the promotion of equal opportunity (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964);
• require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave;
• protect collective activity in the workplace;
• protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or
• provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for any health care item or service.

The bill prevents RFRA from being used to deny (1) goods or services the government has agreed to provide to a beneficiary of or participant in a program or activity funded by a government contract, grant, agreement, or other award; or (2) a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.

In order for a person to assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.  

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1206 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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. Lujan) 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Do No Harm Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS 
              HARM TO OTHERS.

    Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 
U.S.C. 2000bb-1) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Additional Exception From Application of Act Where Federal 
Law Prevents Harm to Others.--Subsections (a), (b), and (c) do not 
apply to--
            ``(1) any provision of law or its implementation that 
        provides for or requires--
                    ``(A) a protection against discrimination or the 
                promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil 
                Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), the 
                Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
                12101 et seq.), the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
                1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), Executive Order 11246 
                (42 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal employment 
                opportunity), and the Violence Against Women Act of 
                1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 et seq.);
                    ``(B) an employer to provide a wage, other 
                compensation, or a benefit, including leave, or a 
                standard protecting collective activity in the 
                workplace;
                    ``(C) a protection against child labor, child 
                abuse, or child exploitation; or
                    ``(D) access to, information about, a referral for, 
                provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or 
                service;
            ``(2) any term of a government contract, grant, cooperative 
        agreement, or other award, that provides funds directly or 
        indirectly, and that requires a good, service, function, or 
        activity to be performed for or provided to a beneficiary of or 
        a participant in a program or activity funded, directly or 
        indirectly, by a government contract, grant, cooperative 
        agreement, or other award; or
            ``(3) the extent that application would result in denying a 
        person the full and equal enjoyment of a good, service, 
        benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation 
        provided by the government.''.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION BETWEEN PRIVATE 
              PARTIES.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of the amendment made by subsection (b) 
is to clarify the applicability of the Religious Freedom Restoration 
Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.).
    (b) Preclusion.--Section 3(c) of the Religious Freedom Restoration 
Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb-1(c)) is amended, in the first sentence, 
by striking ``judicial proceeding'' and all that follows through the 
first period and inserting ``judicial proceeding to which a government 
is a party and obtain appropriate relief against that government.''.
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