II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 877 

To prevent taxpayer-funded elective abortions by applying the longstanding 

policy of the Hyde amendment to the new health care law. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2011 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. COBURN, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. HUTCHISON, 

Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. WICKER, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. VITTER, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BOOZMAN, 

Mr. BURR, Mr. THUNE, Mr. RISCH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. 

GRASSLEY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. JOHANNS, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. 

COATS, Mr. CORKER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin, Mr. 

MCCAIN, Mr. LEE, and Mr. KYL) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To prevent taxpayer-funded elective abortions by applying 

the longstanding policy of the Hyde amendment to the 

new health care law. 

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 ‘‘Protect Life Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFYING SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COV2 ERAGE OF ABORTION SERVICES UNDER THE 

3 PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE 

4 CARE ACT TO CONFORM TO LONG-STANDING 

5 FEDERAL POLICY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1303 of the Patient Pro7 tection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148), 

8 as amended by section 10104(c) of such Act, is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

11 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; 

12 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) of sub13 section (b) as subsection (d) and transferring such 

14 subsection (d) after the subsection (c) inserted by 

15 paragraph (4) of this subsection with appropriate in16 dentation; 

17 (3) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO TRAINING IN

20 AND COVERAGE OF ABORTION SERVICES.—Nothing in 

21 this Act (or any amendment made by this Act) shall be 

22 construed to require any health plan to provide coverage 

23 of or access to abortion services or to allow the Secretary 

24 or any other Federal or non-Federal person or entity in 

25 implementing this Act (or amendment) to require coverage 

26 of, access to, or training in abortion services.’’; 


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1 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON ABORTION FUNDING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No funds authorized or ap5 propriated by this Act (or an amendment made by 

6 this Act), including credits applied toward qualified 

7 health plans under section 36B of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 or cost-sharing reductions under 

9 section 1402 of this Act, may be used to pay for any 

10 abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any 

11 health plan that includes coverage of abortion, ex12 cept— 

13 ‘‘(A) if the pregnancy is the result of an 

14 act of rape or incest; or 

15 ‘‘(B) in the case where a pregnant female 

16 suffers from a physical disorder, physical in17 jury, or physical illness that would, as certified 

18 by a physician, place the female in danger of 

19 death unless an abortion is performed, includ20 ing a life-endangering physical condition caused 

21 by or arising from the pregnancy itself. 

22 ‘‘(2) OPTION TO PURCHASE SEPARATE COV23 ERAGE OR PLAN.—Nothing in this subsection shall 

24 be construed as prohibiting any non-Federal entity 

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1 ment) from purchasing separate coverage for abor2 tions for which funding is prohibited under this sub3 section, or a qualified health plan that includes such 

4 abortions, so long as— 

5 ‘‘(A) such coverage or plan is paid for en6 tirely using only funds not authorized or appro7 priated by this Act; and 

8 ‘‘(B) such coverage or plan is not pur9 chased using— 

10 ‘‘(i) individual premium payments re11 quired for a qualified health plan offered 

12 through an Exchange towards which a 

13 credit is applied under section 36B of the 

14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) other non-Federal funds required 

16 to receive a Federal payment, including a 

17 State’s or locality’s contribution of Med18 icaid matching funds. 

19 ‘‘(3) OPTION TO OFFER COVERAGE OR PLAN.— 

20 Nothing in this subsection or section 

21 1311(d)(2)(B)(i) shall restrict any non-Federal 

22 health insurance issuer offering a qualified health 

23 plan from offering separate coverage for abortions 

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1 section, or a qualified health plan that includes such 

2 abortions, so long as— 

3 ‘‘(A) premiums for such separate coverage 

4 or plan are paid for entirely with funds not au5 thorized or appropriated by this Act; 

6 ‘‘(B) administrative costs and all services 

7 offered through such coverage or plan are paid 

8 for using only premiums collected for such cov9 erage or plan; and 

10 ‘‘(C) any such non-Federal health insur11 ance issuer that offers a qualified health plan 

12 through an Exchange that includes coverage for 

13 abortions for which funding is prohibited under 

14 this subsection also offers a qualified health 

15 plan through the Exchange that is identical in 

16 every respect except that it does not cover abor17 tions for which funding is prohibited under this 

18 subsection.’’; 

19 (5) in subsection (e), as redesignated by para20 graph (1)— 

21 (A) in the heading, strike ‘‘Regarding 

22 Abortion’’; 

23 (B) in the heading of each of paragraphs 

24 (1) and (2), strike each place it appears ‘‘RE25 GARDING ABORTION’’; 


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1 (C) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘regard2 ing the prohibition of (or requirement of) cov3 erage, funding, or’’ and inserting ‘‘protecting 

4 conscience rights, restricting or prohibiting 

5 abortion or coverage or funding of abortion, or 

6 establishing’’; and 

7 (D) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

8 ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection 

9 (g), nothing’’; 

10 (6) in subsection (f), as redesignated by para11 graph (1), by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘Subject to subsection (g), nothing’’; and 

13 (7) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section: 

15 ‘‘(g) NONDISCRIMINATION ON ABORTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) NONDISCRIMINATION.—A Federal agency 

17 or program, and any State or local government that 

18 receives Federal financial assistance under this Act 

19 (or an amendment made by this Act), may not sub20 ject any institutional or individual health care entity 

21 to discrimination, or require any health plan created 

22 or regulated under this Act (or an amendment made 

23 by this Act) to subject any institutional or individual 

24 health care entity to discrimination, on the basis 

25 that the health care entity refuses to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) undergo training in the performance 

2 of induced abortions; 

3 ‘‘(B) require or provide such training; 

4 ‘‘(C) perform, participate in, provide cov5 erage of, or pay for induced abortions; or 

6 ‘‘(D) provide referrals for such training or 

7 such abortions. 

8 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

9 ‘health care entity’ includes an individual physician 

10 or other health care professional, a hospital, a pro11 vider-sponsored organization, a health maintenance 

12 organization, a health insurance plan, or any other 

13 kind of health care facility, organization, or plan. 

14 ‘‘(3) REMEDIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The courts of the 

16 United States shall have jurisdiction to prevent 

17 and redress actual or threatened violations of 

18 this section by issuing any form of legal or eq19 uitable relief, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) injunctions prohibiting conduct 

21 that violates this subsection; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) orders preventing the disburse23 ment of all or a portion of Federal finan24 cial assistance to a State or local govern25 ment, or to a specific offending agency or 


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1 program of a State or local government, 

2 until such time as the conduct prohibited 

3 by this subsection has ceased. 

4 ‘‘(B) COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION.—An 

5 action under this subsection may be instituted 

6 by— 

7 ‘‘(i) any health care entity that has 

8 standing to complain of an actual or 

9 threatened violation of this subsection; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the Attorney General of the 

11 United States. 

12 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall 

13 designate the Director of the Office for Civil Rights 

14 of the Department of Health and Human Services— 

15 ‘‘(A) to receive complaints alleging a viola16 tion of this subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(B) to pursue investigation of such com18 plaints in coordination with the Attorney Gen19 eral.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1334(a)(6) 

21 of such Act is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(6) COVERAGE CONSISTENT WITH FEDERAL

23 POLICY.—In entering into contracts under this sub24 section, the Director shall ensure that no multi-State 

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1 vides coverage for abortions for which funding is 

2 prohibited under subsection 1303(c) of this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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