[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8251 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8251

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit preventing access to 
 lifesaving medical procedures and treatments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2020

 Mrs. Wagner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit preventing access to 
 lifesaving medical procedures and treatments, 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. PROHIBITION ON PREVENTING ACCESS TO LIFESAVING MEDICAL 
              PROCEDURES AND TREATMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 65 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1370. Access to lifesaving medical procedures and treatments
    ``(a) Prohibited Activities.--Whoever, by force or threat of force 
or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or 
interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any 
person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate 
such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining 
or providing a lifesaving medical procedure or treatment, shall be 
subject to the penalties provided in subsection (b) and the civil 
remedies provided in subsection (c), except that a parent or legal 
guardian of a minor shall not be subject to any penalties or civil 
remedies under this section for such activities insofar as they are 
directed exclusively at that minor.
    ``(b) Penalties.--Whoever violates this section shall--
            ``(1) in the case of a first offense, be fined in 
        accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than one 
        year, or both; and
            ``(2) in the case of a second or subsequent offense after a 
        prior conviction under this section, be fined in accordance 
        with this title, or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both;
except that for an offense involving exclusively a nonviolent physical 
obstruction, the fine shall be not more than $10,000 and the length of 
imprisonment shall be not more than six months, or both, for the first 
offense; and the fine shall, notwithstanding section 3571, be not more 
than $25,000 and the length of imprisonment shall be not more than 18 
months, or both, for a subsequent offense; and except that if bodily 
injury results, the length of imprisonment shall be not more than 10 
years, and if death results, it shall be for any term of years or for 
life.
    ``(c) Civil Remedies.--
            ``(1) Right of action.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any person aggrieved by reason 
                of the conduct prohibited by subsection (a) may 
                commence a civil action for the relief set forth in 
                subparagraph (B), except that such an action may be 
                brought under subsection (a) only by a person involved 
                in providing or seeking to provide, or obtaining or 
                seeking to obtain, a lifesaving medical procedure or 
                treatment.
                    ``(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph 
                (A), the court may award appropriate relief, including 
                temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief 
                and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the 
                costs of suit and reasonable fees for attorneys and 
                expert witnesses. With respect to compensatory damages, 
                the plaintiff may elect, at any time prior to the 
                rendering of final judgment, to recover, in lieu of 
                actual damages, an award of statutory damages in the 
                amount of $5,000 per violation.
            ``(2) Action by attorney general of the united states.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the Attorney General of the 
                United States has reasonable cause to believe that any 
                person or group of persons is being, has been, or may 
                be injured by conduct constituting a violation of this 
                section, the Attorney General may commence a civil 
                action in any appropriate United States District Court.
                    ``(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph 
                (A), the court may award appropriate relief, including 
                temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief, 
                and compensatory damages to persons aggrieved as 
                described in paragraph (1)(B). The court, to vindicate 
                the public interest, may also assess a civil penalty 
                against each respondent--
                            ``(i) in an amount not exceeding $10,000 
                        for a nonviolent physical obstruction and 
                        $15,000 for other first violations; and
                            ``(ii) in an amount not exceeding $15,000 
                        for a nonviolent physical obstruction and 
                        $25,000 for any other subsequent violation.
            ``(3) Actions by state attorneys general.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the Attorney General of a 
                State has reasonable cause to believe that any person 
                or group of persons is being, has been, or may be 
                injured by conduct constituting a violation of this 
                section, such Attorney General may commence a civil 
                action in the name of such State, as parens patriae on 
                behalf of natural persons residing in such State, in 
                any appropriate United States District Court.
                    ``(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph 
                (A), the court may award appropriate relief, including 
                temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief, 
                compensatory damages, and civil penalties as described 
                in paragraph (2)(B).
    ``(d) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed--
            ``(1) to prohibit any expressive conduct (including 
        peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration) protected 
        from legal prohibition by the First Amendment to the 
        Constitution;
            ``(2) to create new remedies for interference with 
        activities protected by the free speech or free exercise 
        clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution, regardless 
        of the point of view expressed, or to limit any existing legal 
        remedies for such interference;
            ``(3) to provide exclusive criminal penalties or civil 
        remedies with respect to the conduct prohibited by this 
        section, or to preempt State or local laws that may provide 
        such penalties or remedies; or
            ``(4) to interfere with the enforcement of State or local 
        laws regulating lifesaving medical procedures or treatments.
    ``(e) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) Interfere with.--The term `interfere with' means to 
        restrict a person's freedom of movement.
            ``(2) Intimidate.--The term `intimidate' means to place a 
        person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm to him- or 
        herself or to another.
            ``(3) Physical obstruction.--The term `physical 
        obstruction' means rendering impassable ingress to or egress 
        from a facility that provides lifesaving medical procedures or 
        treatments, or rendering passage to or from such a facility 
        unreasonably difficult or hazardous.
            ``(4) State.--The term `State' includes a State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, 
        territory, or possession of the United States.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``1370. Access to lifesaving medical procedures and treatments.''.
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