I 

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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON PREVENTING ACCESS TO 

4 LIFESAVING MEDICAL PROCEDURES AND 

5 TREATMENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 65 of title 18, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1370. Access to lifesaving medical procedures and 

2 treatments 

3 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—Whoever, by force or 

4 threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally in5 jures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, 

6 intimidate or interfere with any person because that per7 son is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person 

8 or any other person or any class of persons from, obtain9 ing or providing a lifesaving medical procedure or treat10 ment, shall be subject to the penalties provided in sub11 section (b) and the civil remedies provided in subsection 

12 (c), except that a parent or legal guardian of a minor shall 

13 not be subject to any penalties or civil remedies under this 

14 section for such activities insofar as they are directed ex15 clusively at that minor. 

16 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—Whoever violates this section 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) in the case of a first offense, be fined in 

19 accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more 

20 than one year, or both; and 

21 ‘‘(2) in the case of a second or subsequent of22 fense after a prior conviction under this section, be 

23 fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not 

24 more than 3 years, or both; 

25 except that for an offense involving exclusively a non26 violent physical obstruction, the fine shall be not more 


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1 than $10,000 and the length of imprisonment shall be not 

2 more than six months, or both, for the first offense; and 

3 the fine shall, notwithstanding section 3571, be not more 

4 than $25,000 and the length of imprisonment shall be not 

5 more than 18 months, or both, for a subsequent offense; 

6 and except that if bodily injury results, the length of im7 prisonment shall be not more than 10 years, and if death 

8 results, it shall be for any term of years or for life. 

9 ‘‘(c) CIVIL REMEDIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person aggrieved 

12 by reason of the conduct prohibited by sub13 section (a) may commence a civil action for the 

14 relief set forth in subparagraph (B), except that 

15 such an action may be brought under sub16 section (a) only by a person involved in pro17 viding or seeking to provide, or obtaining or 

18 seeking to obtain, a lifesaving medical proce19 dure or treatment. 

20 ‘‘(B) RELIEF.—In any action under sub21 paragraph (A), the court may award appro22 priate relief, including temporary, preliminary 

23 or permanent injunctive relief and compen24 satory and punitive damages, as well as the 

25 costs of suit and reasonable fees for attorneys 


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1 and expert witnesses. With respect to compen2 satory damages, the plaintiff may elect, at any 

3 time prior to the rendering of final judgment, 

4 to recover, in lieu of actual damages, an award 

5 of statutory damages in the amount of $5,000 

6 per violation. 

7 ‘‘(2) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE

8 UNITED STATES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney Gen10 eral of the United States has reasonable cause 

11 to believe that any person or group of persons 

12 is being, has been, or may be injured by con13 duct constituting a violation of this section, the 

14 Attorney General may commence a civil action 

15 in any appropriate United States District 

16 Court. 

17 ‘‘(B) RELIEF.—In any action under sub18 paragraph (A), the court may award appro19 priate relief, including temporary, preliminary 

20 or permanent injunctive relief, and compen21 satory damages to persons aggrieved as de22 scribed in paragraph (1)(B). The court, to vin23 dicate the public interest, may also assess a 

24 civil penalty against each respondent— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in an amount not exceeding 

2 $10,000 for a nonviolent physical obstruc3 tion and $15,000 for other first violations; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) in an amount not exceeding 

6 $15,000 for a nonviolent physical obstruc7 tion and $25,000 for any other subsequent 

8 violation. 

9 ‘‘(3) ACTIONS BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN10 ERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney Gen12 eral of a State has reasonable cause to believe 

13 that any person or group of persons is being, 

14 has been, or may be injured by conduct consti15 tuting a violation of this section, such Attorney 

16 General may commence a civil action in the 

17 name of such State, as parens patriae on behalf 

18 of natural persons residing in such State, in 

19 any appropriate United States District Court. 

20 ‘‘(B) RELIEF.—In any action under sub21 paragraph (A), the court may award appro22 priate relief, including temporary, preliminary 

23 or permanent injunctive relief, compensatory 

24 damages, and civil penalties as described in 

25 paragraph (2)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

2 section shall be construed— 

3 ‘‘(1) to prohibit any expressive conduct (includ4 ing peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstra5 tion) protected from legal prohibition by the First 

6 Amendment to the Constitution; 

7 ‘‘(2) to create new remedies for interference 

8 with activities protected by the free speech or free 

9 exercise clauses of the First Amendment to the Con10 stitution, regardless of the point of view expressed, 

11 or to limit any existing legal remedies for such inter12 ference; 

13 ‘‘(3) to provide exclusive criminal penalties or 

14 civil remedies with respect to the conduct prohibited 

15 by this section, or to preempt State or local laws 

16 that may provide such penalties or remedies; or 

17 ‘‘(4) to interfere with the enforcement of State 

18 or local laws regulating lifesaving medical procedures 

19 or treatments. 

20 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) INTERFERE WITH.—The term ‘interfere 

22 with’ means to restrict a person’s freedom of move23 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INTIMIDATE.—The term ‘intimidate’ 

2 means to place a person in reasonable apprehension 

3 of bodily harm to him- or herself or to another. 

4 ‘‘(3) PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTION.—The term 

5 ‘physical obstruction’ means rendering impassable 

6 ingress to or egress from a facility that provides life7 saving medical procedures or treatments, or ren8 dering passage to or from such a facility unreason9 ably difficult or hazardous. 

10 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes a State 

11 of the United States, the District of Columbia, and 

12 any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

13 United States.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

‘‘1370. Access to lifesaving medical procedures and treatments.’’. 

Æ 


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