II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 50 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain abortion-related 

discrimination in governmental activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2015 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain 

abortion-related discrimination in governmental activities. 

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 ‘‘Abortion Non-Dis5 crimination Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ABORTION NON-DISCRIMINATION. 

7 Section 245 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 238n) is amended— 

9 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND LI10 CENSING OF PHYSICIANS’’ and inserting ‘‘, LICENSVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jan 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50

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1 ING, AND PRACTICE OF PHYSICIANS AND OTHER

2 HEALTH CARE ENTITIES’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (a), by amending paragraph 

4 (1) to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(1) the entity refuses— 

6 ‘‘(A) to undergo training in the perform7 ance of induced abortions; 

8 ‘‘(B) to require or provide such training; 

9 ‘‘(C) to perform, participate in, provide 

10 coverage of, or pay for induced abortions; or 

11 ‘‘(D) to provide referrals for such training 

12 or such abortions;’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘an accred14 itation standards that requires’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

15 accreditation standard that requires’’; 

16 (4) in subsection (c), by amending paragraphs 

17 (1) and (2) to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘financial assistance’, with re19 spect to a government program, means governmental 

20 payments to cover the cost of health care services or 

21 benefits, or other Federal payments, grants, or loans 

22 to promote or otherwise facilitate health-related ac23 tivities. 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘health care entity’ includes an 

25 individual physician or other health professional, a 


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1 postgraduate physician training program, a partici2 pant in a program of training in the health profes3 sions, a hospital, a provider sponsored organization, 

4 a health maintenance organization, an accountable 

5 care organization, a health insurance plan, or any 

6 other kind of health care facility, organization, or 

7 plan.’’; 

8 (5) in subsection (c), by adding a new para9 graph (4) as follows: 

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘State or local government that 

11 receives Federal financial assistance’ includes any 

12 agency or other governmental unit of a State or 

13 local government that receives Federal financial as14 sistance.’’; 

15 (6) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub16 section (e); and 

17 (7) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The courts of the United 

21 States shall have jurisdiction to prevent and redress 

22 actual or threatened violations of this section by 

23 issuing any form of legal or equitable relief, includ24 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) injunctions prohibiting conduct that 

2 violates this section; and 

3 ‘‘(B) orders preventing the disbursement of 

4 all or a portion of Federal financial assistance 

5 to a State or local government, or to a specific 

6 offending agency or program of a State or local 

7 government, until such time as the conduct pro8 hibited by this section has ceased. 

9 ‘‘(2) COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION.—An action 

10 under this section may be instituted by— 

11 ‘‘(A) any health care entity that has stand12 ing to complain of an actual or threatened vio13 lation of this section; or 

14 ‘‘(B) the Attorney General of the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall des17 ignate the Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the 

18 Department of Health and Human Services— 

19 ‘‘(1) to receive complaints alleging a violation of 

20 this section; and 

21 ‘‘(2) to pursue the investigation of such com22 plaints, in coordination with the Attorney General.’’. 

Æ 


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