II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 593 

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 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HIRONO, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. 

SMITH, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Do No Harm Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 593 IS

1 (1) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 

2 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex3 emption from generally applicable law that imposes 

4 the religious views, habits, or practices of one party 

5 upon another; 

6 (2) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 

7 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex8 emption from generally applicable law that imposes 

9 meaningful harm, including dignitary harm, on a 

10 third party; and 

11 (3) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 

12 1993 should not be interpreted to authorize an ex13 emption for one party that permits discrimination 

14 against others, including persons who do not belong 

15 to the religion or adhere to the beliefs of that party. 

16 SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION OF ACT WHERE 

17 FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO OTHERS. 

18 Section 3 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 

19 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–1) is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION FROM APPLICATION

22 OF ACT WHERE FEDERAL LAW PREVENTS HARM TO

23 OTHERS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply— 

24 ‘‘(1) to any provision of law or its implementa25 tion that provides for or requires— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 593 IS

1 ‘‘(A) a protection against discrimination or 

2 the promotion of equal opportunity, including 

3 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a 

4 et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

5 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Family 

6 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 

7 2601 et seq.), Executive Order 11246 (42 

8 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal oppor9 tunity in Federal employment), the Violence 

10 Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 

11 et seq.), the final rule of the Department of 

12 Housing and Urban Development entitled 

13 ‘Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs 

14 Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender 

15 Identity’ (77 Fed. Reg. 5661 (February 3, 

16 2012)) (or any corresponding similar regulation 

17 or ruling), or section 5.106 of title 24, Code of 

18 Federal Regulations (or any corresponding 

19 similar regulation or ruling); 

20 ‘‘(B) an employer to provide a wage, other 

21 compensation, or a benefit including leave, or a 

22 standard protecting collective activity in the 

23 workplace; 

24 ‘‘(C) protection against child labor, child 

25 abuse, or child exploitation; or 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 593 IS

1 ‘‘(D) access to, information about, a refer2 ral for, provision of, or coverage for, any health 

3 care item or service; 

4 ‘‘(2) to any term, requiring a good, service, 

5 function, or activity to be performed or provided to 

6 a beneficiary, of a government contract, grant, coop7 erative agreement, or other instrument for an award; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(3) to the extent that application would result 

10 in denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of 

11 a good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, 

12 or accommodation, provided by the government.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF PRECLUSION OF LITIGATION 

14 BETWEEN PRIVATE PARTIES. 

15 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment made 

16 by subsection (b) is to clarify the applicability of the Reli17 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, as enacted. 

18 (b) PRECLUSION.—Section 3(c) of the Religious 

19 Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb– 

20 1(c)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘judi21 cial proceeding’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘judi22 cial proceeding to which the government is a party and 

23 obtain appropriate relief against that government.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 593 IS

1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 5 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 

3 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–2) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 

7 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) the term ‘including’ means including, but 

10 not limited to, consistent with the term’s standard 

11 meaning in Federal law.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS