[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 50 (Monday, May 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 636, FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO CLINIC ENTRANCES ACT 
                                OF 1994

  Mr. EDWARDS of California submitted the following conference report 
and statement on the Senate bill (S. 636) to amend the Public Health 
Service Act to permit individuals to have freedom of access to certain 
medical clinics and facilities, and for other purposes:

                  Conference Report (H. Rept. 103-488)

       The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the 
     two Houses on the amendments of the House to the bill (S. 
     636), to amend the Public Health Service Act to permit 
     individuals to have freedom of access to certain medical 
     clinics and facilities, and for other purposes, having met, 
     after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and 
     do recommend to their respective Houses as follows:
       That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the 
     amendment of the House to the text of the bill and agree to 
     the same with an amendment as follows:
       In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the House 
     amendment, insert the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom of Access to Clinic 
     Entrances Act of 1994''.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

       Pursuant to the affirmative power of Congress to enact this 
     legislation under section 8 of article I of the Constitution, 
     as well as under section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the 
     Constitution, it is the purpose of this Act to protect and 
     promote the public safety and health and activities affecting 
     interstate commerce by establishing Federal criminal 
     penalties and civil remedies for certain violent, 
     threatening, obstructive and destructive conduct that is 
     intended to injure, intimidate or interfere with persons 
     seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services.

     SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO CLINIC ENTRANCES.

       Chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end thereof the following new section:

     ``Sec. 248. Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances.

       ``(a) Prohibited Activities.--Whoever--
       ``(1) 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 reproductive health 
     services;
       ``(2) 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 lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First 
     Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious 
     worship; or
       ``(3) intentionally damages or destroys the property of a 
     facility, or attempts to do so, because such facility 
     provides reproductive health services, or intentionally 
     damages or destroys the property of a place of religious 
     worship,

     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 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)(1) 
     only by a person involved in providing or seeking to provide, 
     or obtaining or seeking to obtain, services in a facility 
     that provides reproductive health services, and such an 
     action may be brought under subsection (a)(2) only by a 
     person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First 
     Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious 
     worship or by the entity that owns or operates such place of 
     religious worship.
       ``(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, occurring 
     outside a facility, 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 the performance of abortions or other 
     reproductive health services.
       ``(e) Definitions.--As used in this section:
       ``(1) Facility.--The term `facility' includes a hospital, 
     clinic, physician's office, or other facility that provides 
     reproductive health services, and includes the building or 
     structure in which the facility is located.
       ``(2) Interfere with.--The term `interfere with' means to 
     restrict a person's freedom of movement.
       ``(3) Intimidate.--The term `intimidate' means to place a 
     person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm to him- or 
     herself or to another.
       ``(4) Physical obstruction.--The term `physical 
     obstruction' means rendering impassable ingress to or egress 
     from a facility that provides reproductive health services or 
     to or from a place of religious worship, or rendering passage 
     to or from such a facility or place of religious worship 
     unreasonably difficult or hazardous.
       ``(5) Reproductive health services.--The term `reproductive 
     health services' means reproductive health services provided 
     in a hospital, clinic, physician's office, or other facility, 
     and includes medical, surgical, counselling or referral 
     services relating to the human reproductive system, including 
     services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a 
     pregnancy.
       ``(6) 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.''.

     SEC. 4. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

       The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 13 of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new item:

       ``248. Blocking access to reproductive health services.''.

     SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.

       If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this 
     Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any 
     person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the 
     remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and 
     the application of the provisions of such to any other person 
     or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

     SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act takes effect on the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, and shall apply only with respect to conduct occurring 
     on or after such date.

       And the House agree to the same.
       That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the 
     amendment of the House to the title of the bill, and agree to 
     the same.
     Jack Brooks,
     Charles Schumer,
     Don Edwards,
     John Conyers, Jr.,
     Pat Schroeder,
     John D. Dingell,
     Henry A. Waxman,
     Mike Synar,
                                Managers on the Part of the House.

     Ted Kennedy,
     Claiborne Pell,
     Howard M. Metzenbaum,
     Paul Simon,
     Barbara A. Mikulski,
     Jim Jeffords,
                               Managers on the Part of the Senate.

       JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE

       The managers on the part of the House and the Senate at the 
     conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the 
     amendment of the House to the bill (S. 636) to permit 
     individuals to have freedom of access to certain medical 
     clinics and facilities, and for other purposes, submit the 
     following joint statement to the House and the Senate in 
     explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the 
     managers and recommended in the accompanying Conference 
     Report:


                             1. Short Title

       The short title is modified to update the reference from 
     1993 to 1994.


                        2. Findings and Purpose

       The Senate Bill, but not the House Amendment, contains a 
     Congressional Statement of Findings and Purpose.
       The House recedes with an amendment. The amendment deletes 
     the Findings but incorporates a portion of them in the 
     Purpose section. The Conferees note that Congress has found:
       (1) An interstate campaign of violent, threatening, 
     obstructive and destructive conduct aimed at providers of 
     reproductive health services across the nation has injured 
     providers of such services and their patients, and the extent 
     and interstate nature of this conduct place it beyond the 
     ability of any single state or local jurisdiction to control;
       (2) Such conduct, which has included blockades and 
     invasions of medical facilities, arson and other destruction 
     of property, assaults, death threats, attempted murder and 
     murder, infringes upon the exercise of rights secured by 
     federal and state law, both statutory and constitutional;
       (3) Such conduct also burdens interstate commerce by 
     forcing patients to travel from states where their access to 
     reproductive health services is obstructed to other states, 
     and by interfering with the interstate commercial activities 
     of health care providers, including the purchase and lease of 
     facilities and equipment, sale of goods and services, 
     employment of personnel and generation of income, and 
     purchase of medicine, medical supplies, surgical instruments 
     and other supplies from other states;
       (4) Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Bray v. 
     Alexandria Women's Health Clinic, 113 S. Ct. 753 (1993), the 
     conduct described in paragraphs (1) through (3) above was 
     frequently enjoined by federal courts in actions brought 
     under 42 U.S.C. 1985(3), but in that case the Court denied a 
     remedy under such section to persons injured by the 
     obstruction of access to abortion-related services; and
       (5) violent, threatening, obstructive and destructive 
     conduct aimed at providers of reproductive health services 
     can be prohibited, and the right of injured parties to seek 
     redress in the courts can be established, without abridging 
     the exercise of any rights guaranteed under the First 
     Amendment to the Constitution or under any other law.


                            3. codification

       The Senate Bill amends the Public Health Service Act. The 
     House Amendment amends Chapter 13 of title 18 of the United 
     States Code.
       The Senate recedes.


                             4. terminology

       The Senate Bill refers to ``pregnancy or abortion-related 
     services'' throughout, while the House Amendment refers to 
     ``reproductive health services.''
       The Senate recedes.


                        5. prohibited activities

       The Senate Bill applies to conduct undertaken ``because 
     [the targeted] 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 [certain] services. * * 
     *'' The House Amendment applies to conduct ``because [the 
     targeted] person or any other person or class of persons is 
     obtaining or providing [certain] services.''
       The House recedes. The Conferees note that the Senate 
     language is closely modeled on federal civil rights laws 
     (including 18 U.S.C. 245(b), 42 U.S.C. 3631, and 18 U.S.C. 
     247).
       The Conferees note that both the Senate Bill and the House 
     Amendment contain a narrow exception for activities of a 
     parent or legal guardian of a minor exclusively at that 
     minor. This provision is included only because there is no 
     evidence that state and local laws are inadequate to protect 
     against and punish such conduct; the Conferees do not condone 
     any abuse of minor children in this context or any other. The 
     Conferees also note that because the exception applies only 
     ``insofar as [such activities] are directed exclusively'' at 
     the individual's own minor child, there will be no exemption 
     from any of the penalties or remedies of the Act to the 
     extent that an offender's conduct intentionally injures, 
     intimidates or interferes with parties other than that minor. 
     Finally, the Conferees note that this exception is intended 
     to apply only to parents or legal guardians who are natural 
     persons, not public or private institutions or their 
     employees or agents.


                          6. religious worship

       The Senate Bill, in Section 3 (Section 2715(a)), but not 
     the House Amendment, creates criminal penalties and civil 
     remedies against anyone who by force, threat of force or 
     physical obstruction intentionally injures, intimidates or 
     interferes with, or attempts to injure, intimidate or 
     interfere with, a person lawfully exercising or seeking to 
     exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a 
     place of worship, or who intentionally damages or destroys 
     the property of a place of religious worship.
       The House recedes with an amendment that modifies the 
     Senate language in two respects. First, it inserts 
     ``religious'' before ``worship'' in the first reference to 
     ``place of worship.''
       Second, it makes clear, by modifying one of the rules of 
     construction ((d)(6) in the Senate bill, now rule of 
     construction (2) in the Conference Report), that this Act 
     does not create any new remedies for interference with a 
     person engaging, outside a facility that provides 
     reproductive health services, in worship or other activities 
     that are protected by either the free speech or free exercise 
     clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. (Section 
     (d)(6) in the Senate Bill referred only to the free speech 
     clause (``expressive activities'').)
       The second modification described above clarifies the scope 
     of the provision in the Act referring to the exercise of 
     religious freedom at a place of religious worship. This 
     provision, much like the one found at 18 U.S.C. 247, is a 
     reflection of the profound concern of the Congress over 
     private intrusions on religious worship, and the judgment of 
     the Congress that the exercise of the right to religious 
     liberty deserves federal protection. Like 18 U.S.C. 247, it 
     covers only conduct occurring at or in the immediate vicinity 
     of a place of religious worship, such as a church, synagogue 
     or other structure or place used primarily for worship. 
     Examples of conduct that would be prohibited and would give 
     rise to a civil cause of action under this Act would be 
     physically blocking access to a church or pouring glue in the 
     locks of a synagogue.
       Consistent with this intent, the modification to the rule 
     of construction--providing that the Act creates no new 
     remedies for interference with a person exercising the right 
     to worship outside a reproductive health care facility--makes 
     clear that no cause of action is established for a person 
     engaged in activities outside such a facility who uses the 
     occasion to engage in prayer.


                         7. Criminal Penalties

       (a) The Senate Bill, but not the House Amendment, provides 
     that for an offense involving exclusively a non-violent 
     physical obstruction, the maximum fine is $10,000 and the 
     maximum imprisonment is six months, for the first offense; 
     and the maximum fine is $25,000 and the maximum imprisonment 
     is 18 months, for a subsequent offense. The House Amendment 
     does not distinguish between penalties for nonviolent 
     physical obstructions and other offenses; it provides that 
     for all offenses the maximum penalties are $100,000 and one 
     year for the first offense and $250,000 and three years for 
     subsequent offenses.
       The House recedes. The Conferees recognize that the maximum 
     fines provided in this Act may need to be reconsidered at 
     such point in the future that the passage of time has 
     rendered these statutory amounts obsolete.
       (b) The Senate Bill, but not the House Amendment, directs 
     that fines shall be paid into the Treasury. Under the House 
     Amendment, the fines would be deposited in the Crime Victims 
     Fund.
       The Senate recedes.


                           8. Civil Remedies

       (a) The Senate Bill provides, in Section 3 (Section 
     2715(c)(1)(A)), that a private civil suit may be brought by a 
     person aggrieved by conduct violating Section 2715(a)(1) only 
     if such person is ``involved in providing or seeking to 
     provide, or obtaining or seeking to obtain, services in a 
     facility'' that provides the specified services. The House 
     Amendment contains no such limitation on the aggrieved 
     persons who may bring a private suit.
       The House recedes with an amendment. The amendment adds 
     language clarifying that a civil suit may be brought by a 
     person aggrieved by conduct violating Section 2715(a)(2) only 
     if such person is ``involved in exercising or seeking to 
     exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a 
     place of religious worship.'' This is intended to parallel 
     the limitation on who may bring suit for violations of 
     Section (a)(1).
       (b) The Senate Bill provides that in a private civil suit, 
     the court may award, among other relief, ``the costs of suit 
     and reasonable fees for attorneys and expert witnesses.'' The 
     House Amendment provides that in any civil suit whether 
     brought by a private party, the Attorney General, or a State 
     Attorney General, ``the court may award to the prevailing 
     party, other than the United States, reasonable fees for 
     attorneys and expert witnesses.''
       The House recedes. The Conferees intend that under this 
     section, in addition to awarding injunctive relief and 
     damages to a plaintiff, the court may require reasonable 
     attorneys' fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other 
     costs of the action to be paid by the defendant. The 
     Conferees intend this provision to be interpreted in the same 
     way that the attorneys' fees provision in Title VII of the 
     Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been interpreted (42 U.S.C. 
     2000e-5(k)), even though the language of the two provisions 
     differs. Specifically, the Conferees intend that under this 
     provision, as under 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(k), attorneys' fees and 
     costs may be awarded to a defendant ``upon a finding that the 
     plaintiff's action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without 
     foundation, even though not brought in subjective bad 
     faith.'' Christiansburg Garment Co. v. E.E.O.C.,  434 U.S. 
     410, 421 (1978).
       The provisions requiring payment of reasonable expert 
     witness fees has been included in direct response to West 
     Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. v. Casey, 499 U.S. 83 
     (1991), in which the Supreme Court made clear that expert 
     witness fees will be awarded only if explicitly authorized by 
     statute.
       (c) The Senate Bill has separate sections on the relief 
     that may be obtained in private suits, suits by the Attorney 
     General, and suits by State Attorneys General. These sections 
     provide that a private party may obtain punitive damages, and 
     the Attorney General and State Attorneys General may obtain 
     civil penalties 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 violations. The House 
     Amendment, in its single section on relief, provides that 
     punitive damages may be awarded, and makes no reference to 
     civil penalties.
       The House recedes.
       (d) The Senate Bill provides that the Attorney General, or 
     a State Attorney General, may bring an action if he or she 
     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, and such conduct 
     raises an issue of general public importance.'' The House 
     Amendment provides that such an action may be brought upon 
     reasonable cause to believe that ``any person, or group of 
     persons, is aggrieved by a violation.''
       The House recedes with an amendment deleting the reference 
     to ``an issue of general public importance.'' The Conferees 
     believe that this clause is not only unnecessary, but could 
     be used by those opposed to S. 636 to cause mischief in its 
     enforcement. The Conferees agree with those courts that have 
     held that what constitutes an issue of general public 
     importance is a matter properly decided by the Attorney 
     General. The Conferees of course expect the Attorney General 
     to exercise proper discretion in the bringing of suits under 
     this provision. In addition, just as in other Departments of 
     the Government, resource constraints in the Department of 
     Justice act as a natural check against lawsuits that are not 
     meritorious and lacking in significance. The same holds true 
     for State Attorneys General.
       (e) The Senate Bill provides that a State 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.'' The 
     House Amendment omits reference to suits ``in parens 
     patriae'' and does not specify that suits may be brought only 
     in federal court.
       The House recedes.


                        9. Rules of construction

       (a) The Senate Bill (rule of construction (d)(5)) and House 
     Amendment (rule of construction (d)(1)) both contain, in 
     slightly different terms, a rule of construction providing 
     that the legislation shall not be construed to prohibit 
     expressive activities protected by the First Amendment.
       The Senate recedes with a minor amendment (referring to the 
     ``First Amendment'' rather than ``the first article of 
     amendment'' to the Constitution). This is rule of 
     construction (1) in the Conference Report.
       (b) The Senate Bill (in rule (d)(6)), but not the House 
     Amendment, provides that it shall not be construed to create 
     new remedies for interference with expressive activities 
     protected by the First Amendment, occurring outside a medical 
     facility, regardless of the point of view expressed. The 
     Senate Bill (in Section 4), but not the House Amendment, 
     further provides that it shall not be construed to interfere 
     with the right guaranteed to an individual under the First 
     Amendment or limit any existing legal remedies against 
     forceful interference with any person's lawful participation 
     in speech or peaceful assembly.
       The House recedes with an amendment. The amendment 
     consolidates these two Senate provisions into one rule, and 
     modifies the Senate Bill's rule (d)(6) as described above 
     (under ``Religious Worship''), to provide that nothing in the 
     Act shall be construed:

     to create new remedies for interference with activities 
     protected by the free speech or free exercise clauses of the 
     First Amendment, occurring outside a facility, regardless of 
     the point of view expressed, or to limit any existing legal 
     remedies for such interference.

     (The Conferees note that the term ``facility'' is defined in 
     the ``Definitions'' section of the Act.)
       This is rule of construction (2) in the Conference Report.
       (c) The Senate Bill contains four separate rules of 
     construction providing that the legislation shall not be 
     construed to preempt or limit State and local law 
     enforcement, or provide exclusive remedies or penalties 
     (rules (d)(1)-(4)). The House Amendment contains one rule of 
     construction on non-preemption (rule (e)).
       The Senate recedes with an amendment that provides that 
     nothing in the Act shall be construed:

     to provide exclusive criminal penalties or civil remedies 
     with respect to the conduct prohibited by this Act, or to 
     preempt State or local laws that may provide such penalties 
     or remedies.

       This is rule of construction (3) in the Conference Report.
       (d) The Senate Bill provides, in Section 2715(a)(1), that 
     the bill shall not be construed ``as expanding or limiting 
     the authority of States to regulate the performance of 
     abortions or the availability of pregnancy or abortion-
     related services.'' The House Amendment provides that it 
     shall not be construed to ``interfere with the enforcement of 
     State or local laws regulating the provision of reproductive 
     health services'' (rule (d)(2)).
       The Senate recedes with an amendment. The amendment is a 
     rule of construction that provides that nothing in the Act 
     shall be construed:

     to interfere with the enforcement of State or local laws 
     regulating the performance of abortions or other reproductive 
     health services.

       This is rule of construction (4) in the Conference Report.
       The Conferees intend this rule of construction to affirm 
     that State or local laws governing the licensing and 
     regulation of abortion and reproductive health care 
     facilities, providers and procedures are unaffected by this 
     Act.


                            10. definitions

       (a) The Senate Bill defines ``pregnancy or abortion-related 
     services''; the House Amendment defines ``reproductive health 
     services.''
       The Senate recedes with an amendment. As set forth above 
     (``Terminology''), the Conference Report adopts the term 
     ``reproductive health services.'' As amended, the term 
     ``reproductive health services'' is defined to mean:

     reproductive health services provided in a hospital, clinic, 
     physician's office, or other facility, and includes medical, 
     surgical, counselling or referral services relating to the 
     human reproductive system, including services relating to 
     pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.

       This is intended to make clear that facilities that do not 
     offer abortions or other reproductive health care, but offer 
     only counselling about alternatives to abortion, are 
     included.
       (b) The Senate Bill uses and defines the term ``medical 
     facility''; the House Amendment uses and defines the term 
     ``facility.''
       The Senate recedes with an amendment. As amended, the term 
     ``facility'' is used, defined as follows:

       The term ``facility'' includes a hospital, clinic, 
     physician's office, or other facility that provides 
     reproductive health services, and includes the building or 
     structure in which such facility is located.

       (c) The Senate Bill, but not the House Amendment, contains 
     a definition of ``interfere with.'' The Senate bill and the 
     House Amendment contain the same definition of 
     ``intimidate,'' with only a minor difference (the Senate bill 
     says ``him- or herself''; the House Amendment says ``himself 
     or herself'').
       The House recedes. The Conferees note that the requirement 
     that the prohibited conduct be intended to ``injure, 
     intimidate or interfere with'' another person is taken 
     directly from the federal civil rights laws on which this Act 
     is modeled, including 18 U.S.C. 245(b) and 42 U.S.C. 3631. 
     The Conferees do not intend, by including these definitions, 
     that these words be given any meaning different from their 
     meaning under these laws.
       (d) The Senate Bill's definition of ``physical 
     obstruction,'' but not the House Amendment's definition of 
     this term, includes rendering ingress or egress 
     ``hazardous.'' The Senate bill's definition of ``physical 
     obstruction,'' but not the House Amendment's, also refers to 
     ingress to or egress from a place of religious workship.
       The House recedes. The Conferees note that the definition 
     of ``physical obstruction'' in the Senate Bill is drawn from 
     a Texas penal statute that has been upheld under the First 
     Amendment. Examples of conduct making ingress or egress 
     ``hazardous'' would include strewing nails on roads or 
     parking lots outside the building or injecting toxic 
     chemicals into it.


                    11. Effective Date; Severability

       The Senate Bill and House Amendment contain minor wording 
     differences with respect to the effective date.
       The Senate recedes with an amendment adding a severability 
     clause, providing that if any provision of the Act is held 
     invalid, the remaining provisions are unaffected, and if any 
     application of the Act (or of any provision of it) is held 
     invalid, the application of the Act (or of any provision of 
     it) in other circumstances is unaffected.
     Jack Brooks,
     Charles Schumer,
     Don Edwards,
     John Conyers, Jr.,
     Pat Schroeder,
     John D. Dingell,
     Henry A. Waxman,
     Mike Synar,
                                Managers on the Part of the House.

     Ted Kennedy,
     Claiborne Pell,
     Howard M. Metzenbaum,
     Paul Simon,
     Barbara A. Mikulski,
     Jim Jeffords,
     Managers on the Part of the Senate.

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