II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1297 

To ensure the right to provide reproductive health care services, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2023 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED, Mr. BENNET, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

MURPHY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. CANTWELL, and 

Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure the right to provide reproductive health care 

services, 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 ‘‘Let Doctors Provide 

5 Reproductive Health Care Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘health care provider’’ means any entity, employee 

3 of such entity, or individual (including any physi4 cian, certified nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, 

5 physician assistant, and pharmacist) that— 

6 (A) is engaged or seeks to engage in the 

7 delivery of reproductive health care services; 

8 and 

9 (B) if required by State law to be licensed, 

10 certified, or otherwise authorized to engage in 

11 the delivery of such services— 

12 (i) is so licensed, certified, or other13 wise authorized; or 

14 (ii) would be so licensed, certified, or 

15 otherwise authorized, but for their past, 

16 present, or potential provision of abortion 

17 services. 

18 (2) REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES.— 

19 The term ‘‘reproductive health care services’’ means 

20 abortion services, contraception services, in vitro fer21 tilization, or other reproductive care, education, and 

22 counseling that— 

23 (A) is provided in a hospital, clinic, physi24 cian’s office, pharmacy, or other service site, or 

25 provided via telehealth, intended to provide 


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1 medical, procedural, counseling, or referral serv2 ices; 

3 (B) is provided in a medically accurate 

4 manner; and 

5 (C) in any way affects commerce over 

6 which the United States has jurisdiction. 

7 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

8 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

9 each territory and possession of the United States, 

10 and any subdivision of a State, including any unit 

11 of local government, such as a county, city, town, 

12 village, or other general purpose political subdivision 

13 of a State. 

14 SEC. 3. RIGHT TO PROVIDE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE 

15 SERVICES. 

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—No individual, entity, or State 

17 may prevent, restrict, impede, or disadvantage— 

18 (1) a health care provider from providing or as19 sisting with reproductive health care services lawful 

20 in the State in which the services are to be provided; 

21 (2) any individual or entity from assisting a 

22 health care provider in providing or assisting with 

23 reproductive health care services lawful in the State 

24 in which services are to be provided; or 


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1 (3) a health care provider or any individual or 

2 entity from providing or assisting a health care pro3 vider with reproductive health care services for an 

4 individual who does not reside in the State in which 

5 the services are to be provided. 

6 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

7 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen8 eral may commence a civil action on behalf of the 

9 United States against any State, or against any gov10 ernment official, individual, or entity that enacts, 

11 implements, or enforces a limitation or requirement 

12 that violates subsection (a). The court shall hold un13 lawful and set aside the limitation or requirement if 

14 it is in violation of subsection (a). 

15 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any indi16 vidual or entity adversely affected by an alleged vio17 lation of subsection (a) may commence a civil action 

18 against any State that violates this section or 

19 against any government official that enacts, imple20 ments, or enforces a limitation or requirement that 

21 violates subsection (a). The court shall hold unlawful 

22 and enjoin the limitation or requirement if it is in 

23 violation of subsection (a). 

24 (3) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—A health care 

25 provider may commence an action for relief on its 


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1 own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, and on 

2 behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be 

3 adversely affected by an alleged violation of sub4 section (a). 

5 (4) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—In any action under 

6 this section, the court may award appropriate equi7 table relief, including temporary, preliminary, or per8 manent injunctive relief. 

9 (5) COSTS.—In any action under this section, 

10 the court shall award costs of litigation, as well as 

11 reasonable attorney’s fees, to any prevailing plain12 tiff. A plaintiff shall not be liable to a defendant for 

13 costs or attorney’s fees in any nonfrivolous action 

14 under this section. 

15 (6) JURISDICTION.—The district courts of the 

16 United States shall have jurisdiction over pro17 ceedings under this section and shall exercise the 

18 same without regard to whether the party aggrieved 

19 shall have exhausted any administrative or other 

20 remedies that may be provided for by law. 

21 (7) ABROGATION OF STATE IMMUNITY.—Nei22 ther a State that enforces or maintains, nor a gov23 ernment official who is permitted to implement or 

24 enforce, any limitation or requirement that violates 

25 subsection (a) shall be immune under the Tenth 


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1 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

2 States, the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution 

3 of the United States, or any other source of law, 

4 from an action in a Federal or State court of com5 petent jurisdiction challenging that limitation or re6 quirement. 

7 (8) RIGHT TO REMOVE.—Any party shall have 

8 a right to remove an action brought under this sub9 section to the district court of the United States for 

10 the district and division embracing the place where 

11 such action is pending. An order remanding the case 

12 to the State court from which it was removed under 

13 this paragraph may be immediately reviewable by 

14 appeal or otherwise. 

15 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section shall 

17 be construed to modify, supersede, or otherwise af18 fect the authority of any executive branch agency to 

19 promulgate regulations or otherwise implement laws. 

20 (2) OTHER INDIVIDUALS CONSIDERED AS GOV21 ERNMENT OFFICIALS.—Any person who, by oper22 ation of a provision of Federal or State law, is per23 mitted to implement or enforce a limitation or re24 quirement that violates this section shall be consid25 ered a government official for purposes of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS. 

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Fed3 eral funds may be used by a State, including through a 

4 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, to pursue legal 

5 cases against residents or other individuals or entities, or 

6 to take any other enforcement, disciplinary, or adverse li7 censing proceeding on the basis of such residents or other 

8 individuals or entities providing or assisting with repro9 ductive health care services that are lawful in the State 

10 in which the services are provided. 

11 SEC. 5. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE LEGAL SERVICES 

12 DEFENSE FUND GRANTS. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means an individual, partnership, firm, corpora16 tion, or nonprofit organization that has a specific ex17 pertise in providing legal assistance and is licensed 

18 to practice law. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

20 provider’’ means a health care provider that— 

21 (A) provides or refers for abortion care 

22 services; and 

23 (B) faces legal issues relating to providing 

24 or assisting with reproductive health care serv25 ices. 


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1 (b) FUNDING.—There is appropriated to the Attor2 ney General, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise 

3 appropriated, $40,000,000, to remain available until ex4 pended, for purposes of awarding grants to eligible entities 

5 or consortia of eligible entities to provide legal assistance 

6 to eligible providers. 

7 (c) APPLICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

9 grant under this section shall submit an application 

10 to the Attorney General at such time, in such man11 ner, and containing such information as the Attor12 ney General may require. 

13 (2) JOINT APPLICATIONS.—Multiple eligible en14 tities may submit a joint application that designates 

15 a single eligible entity as the lead entity for the pur16 poses of receiving and disbursing funds received 

17 through a grant under this section. 

18 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use 

19 amounts received under a grant under this section— 

20 (1) to provide advice, legal services, or rep21 resentation to eligible providers, related to providing 

22 or assisting with reproductive health care services 

23 under Federal, State, and local law; 

24 (2) to educate eligible providers about the 

25 rights and obligations of the eligible provider related 


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1 to providing or assisting with reproductive health 

2 care services under Federal, State, and local law; 

3 (3) to monitor compliance by a State with Fed4 eral, State, and local laws related to providing or as5 sisting with reproductive health care services; and 

6 (4) for any other activity the Attorney General 

7 may reasonably prescribe that is related to providing 

8 or assisting with reproductive health care services 

9 under Federal, State, and local law. 

10 SEC. 6. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES SECU11 RITY GRANTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is appropriated to the Sec13 retary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this 

14 section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), out of amounts in the Treas15 ury not otherwise appropriated, $40,000,000, for purposes 

16 of awarding grants to eligible providers (as defined in sec17 tion 5(a)(2)(A)) for enhanced security for staff and pa18 tients of such providers. 

19 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible provider (as defined 

20 in section 5(a)) desiring a grant under this section shall 

21 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

22 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec23 retary may require. 


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1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

2 this section may use such grant funds for any of the fol3 lowing purposes: 

4 (1) Providing physical upgrades to health care 

5 facilities to improve security. 

6 (2) Providing training in security to health care 

7 staff. 

8 (3) Improving capabilities to defend against 

9 cyberattacks. 

10 (4) Ensuring patient and provider data secu11 rity. 

12 (5) Providing protective services to staff and 

13 patients. 

14 (6) Any other activity, as the Secretary deter15 mines appropriate. 

16 SEC. 7. FAIR LIABILITY INSURANCE. 

17 An issuer of professional liability coverage for health 

18 care providers shall not— 

19 (1) deny a health care provider professional li20 ability coverage solely because that provider offers, 

21 supports, provides, or prescribes lawful reproductive 

22 health care services; or 

23 (2) sue a health care provider solely because 

24 that provider provides lawful reproductive health 

25 care services. 


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1 SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

3 provision to any person, entity, government, or cir4 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

5 of this Act, or the application of such provision to all other 

6 persons, entities, governments, or circumstances, shall not 

7 be affected thereby. 

Æ 


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