Do No Harm Act 2016-05-18 Introduced in House Do No Harm Act

This bill makes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) inapplicable to federal laws (or implementations of laws) that:

  • protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Executive Order 11246 (concerning equal employment opportunity), the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) rules entitled "Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity";
  • 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.

Under current law, 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.

The bill makes RFRA inapplicable to: (1) terms requiring goods, services, functions, or activities to be performed or provided to beneficiaries of government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or awards; or (2) denials of a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.

To assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.

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