Title: Access to Clinics

Summary: Creating the "Clinic Protection Act"; prohibiting a person from committing certain acts against reproductive health services clients, providers, or assistants; providing criminal penalties for first offenses and for second and subsequent offenses; providing civil remedies for those aggrieved by specified violations against reproductive health services clients, providers, or assistants or against certain properties, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to access to clinics; providing a directive to the Division of Law Revision; creating s. 762.01, F.S.; providing a short title; creating s. 762.02, F.S.; defining terms; creating s. 762.03, F.S.; defining the term  minor child or ward ; prohibiting a person from committing certain acts against reproductive health services clients, providers, or assistants; prohibiting a person from damaging certain properties; providing criminal penalties; providing construction; creating s. 762.04, F.S.; providing criminal penalties for first offenses and for second and subsequent offenses; authorizing a court to deviate from the required sentences and fines under certain circumstances; creating s. 762.05, F.S.; providing civil remedies for those aggrieved by specified violations against reproductive health services clients, providers, or assistants or against certain properties; authorizing the Attorney General, a state attorney, or a city attorney to bring a civil action for such violations; creating s. 762.06, F.S.; requiring a court to take actions necessary to safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of specified persons under certain circumstances, including granting restraining orders that may prohibit or restrict the photographing of such persons; authorizing the court to allow specified persons to use pseudonyms in a civil action; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1.  The Division of Law Revision is directed to create chapter 762, Florida Statutes, consisting of ss. 762.01 762.06, Florida Statutes, to be entitled  Protection of the Exercise of Constitutional Rights.  Section 2. Section 762.01, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 762.01   Short title. Sections 762.01-762.06 may be cited as the  Clinic Protection Act.  Section 3. Section 762.02, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 762.02   Definitions. As used in this chapter, the term: (1)    Crime of violence  means an offense that involves the use or attempted or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another. (2)    Interfere with  means to restrict a person s freedom of movement. (3)    Intimidate  means to place a person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm to herself or himself or to another. (4)    Nonviolent  means conduct that would not constitute a crime of violence. (5)    Physical obstruction  means rendering ingress to or egress from a reproductive health services facility impassable to another person or rendering passage to or from a reproductive health services facility unreasonably difficult or hazardous to another person. (6)    Reproductive health services  means health services provided in a hospital, clinic, physician s office, or other facility and includes medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including, but not limited to, services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy. (7)    Reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant  means a person or entity that is or was involved in: (a)   Obtaining or seeking to obtain any services in a reproductive health services facility; (b)   Providing or seeking to provide any services in a reproductive health services facility; (c)   Assisting or seeking to assist another person at that other person s request to obtain or provide any services in a reproductive health services facility; or (d)   Owning or operating, or seeking to own or operate, a reproductive health services facility. (8)    Reproductive health services facility  means a hospital, clinic, physician s office, or other facility that provides or seeks to provide reproductive health services and includes the building or structure in which the facility is located. Section 4. Section 762.03, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 762.03   Prohibited acts.  (1)   As used in this section, the term  minor child or ward  means a person s child or a legal guardian s ward who is years of age or younger. (2)   A person may not commit any of the following acts: (a)   Intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, a person or an entity by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction because that person or entity is a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant, or to do so with the intent to prevent that person or entity from becoming or remaining a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant. (b)   Intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, a person or an entity by nonviolent physical obstruction because that person or entity is a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant, or to do so with the intent to prevent that person or entity from becoming or remaining a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant. (c)   Intentionally damaging or destroying, or attempting to damage or destroy, a facility because it is a reproductive health services facility or intentionally damaging or destroying, or attempting to damage or destroy, the property of a person or entity because the person or entity is a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant. (3)   A person who violates this section is subject to the penalties in s. 762.04. (4)   This section does not prohibit a parent or a legal guardian from restricting a minor child or ward s access to a reproductive health services facility. Section 5. Section 762.04, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 762.04   Penalties.  (1)   A person who violates s. 762.03(2)(b) for the first time commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding months and by a fine not exceeding $2,000. A second or subsequent offense constitutes a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding months and by a fine not exceeding $5,000. (2)   A person who violates s. 762.03(2)(a) or (c) for the first time commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding year and by a fine not exceeding $25,000. A second or subsequent offense constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a period in a county jail not exceeding year and by a fine not exceeding $50,000. (3)   A court may deviate from the sentences and fines established in this section when circumstances or factors in a case reasonably justify the enhancement or mitigation of the sentences and fines, provided the court states in writing the reasons for its sentencing decision.Section 6. Section 762.05, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 762.05   Civil actions.  (1)   A person aggrieved by a violation of s. 762.03 may bring a civil action to enjoin the violation, for compensatory and punitive damages, and for the costs of the action and reasonable fees for attorneys and expert witnesses, except that only a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant may bring an action for a violation of s. 762.03(2). With respect to compensatory damages, the plaintiff may elect, at any time before the rendering of a final judgment, to recover, in lieu of actual damages, an award of statutory damages in the amount of $1,000 for each exclusively nonviolent violation and $5,000 for each violation other than an exclusively nonviolent violation. (2)   The Attorney General, a state attorney, or a city attorney may bring a civil action to enjoin a violation of s. 762.03 for compensatory damages to persons aggrieved, as described in subsection (1), and for the assessment of a civil penalty against each respondent. The civil penalty may not exceed $2,000 for an exclusively nonviolent first violation and $15,000 for any other first violation, and may not exceed $5,000 for a subsequent exclusively nonviolent violation and $25,000 for any other subsequent violation. Section 7. Section 762.06, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 762.06   Safety and privacy.  (1)   A court in which a criminal or civil proceeding is filed for a violation of s. 762.03(2) shall take all action reasonably necessary, including granting restraining orders, to safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of: (a)   A reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant who is a party or witness in the proceeding; and (b)   A person who is a victim of, or is at risk of becoming a victim of, an act prohibited under s. 762.03(2). (2)   A restraining order issued pursuant to this section may include provisions prohibiting or restricting the photographing of a person described in subsection (1) if reasonably necessary to safeguard the person s health, safety, or privacy. (3)   A court may authorize a person described in subsection (1) to use a pseudonym in a civil action described in s. 762.05 if reasonably required to safeguard the person s health, safety, or privacy. Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.