I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 644 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit governmental discrimina-
tion against providers of health services that are not involved in abortion. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 24, 2017 
Mrs. BLACK
(for herself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. 
HUIZENGA, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. DUNCAN of South Caro-
lina, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. BANKS 
of Indiana, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. MOONEY of West 
Virginia, Mr. LATTA, Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 
ROTHFUS, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. STEW-
ART, Ms. FOXX, Mr. JONES, Mr. HULTGREN, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. SMITH of 
New Jersey, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. 
DUNCAN
of Tennessee, Mr. YODER, Mr. ROE
of Tennessee, Mr. 
WALBERG, Mr. BABIN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. 
LAMBORN, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Mr. 
LUETKEMEYER, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. THOMAS J. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. 
BRADY of Texas, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GUTHRIE, 
Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
ROKITA, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. OLSON, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. CHABOT, 
Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. 
YOHO, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. BRAT, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. 
LOUDERMILK, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. 
PEARCE, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. PERRY, Mr. HILL, 
Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit govern-
mental discrimination against providers of health services 
that are not involved in abortion. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conscience Protection 
Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Thomas Jefferson stated a conviction com-
mon to our Nation’s founders when he declared in 
1809 that ‘‘[n]o provision in our Constitution ought 
to be dearer to man than that which protects the 
rights of conscience against the enterprises of the 
civil authority’’. 
(2) In 1973, the Supreme Court concluded that 
the government must leave the abortion decision ‘‘to 
the medical judgment of the pregnant woman’s at-
tending physician’’, recognizing that a physician may 
choose not to participate in abortion. Roe v. Wade, 
410 U.S. 113, 164 (1973). The Court cited with ap-
proval a policy that ‘‘neither physician, hospital, nor 
hospital personnel shall be required to perform any 
act violative of personally-held moral principles’’, 
410 U.S. at 143 n. 38, and cited State laws uphold-
ing this principle. Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 
197–8 (1973). 
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(3) Congress’s enactments to protect this right 
of conscience in health care include the Church 
amendment of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 300a–7), the Coats/ 
Snowe amendment of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 238n), and 
the Weldon amendment approved by Congresses and 
Presidents of both parties every year since 2004. 
(4) None of these laws explicitly provides a 
‘‘private right of action’’ so victims of discrimination 
can defend their conscience rights in court, and ad-
ministrative enforcement by the Department of 
Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights 
has been lax, at times allowing cases to languish for 
years without resolution. 
(5) Defying the Federal Weldon amendment, 
California’s Department of Managed Health Care 
has mandated coverage for all elective abortions in 
all health plans under its jurisdiction. Other States 
such as New York and Washington have taken or 
considered similar action, and some States may go 
farther to require all physicians and hospitals to pro-
vide or facilitate abortions. On June 21, 2016, the 
Obama Administration concluded a nearly two-year 
investigation of this matter by determining that 
California’s decision to require insurance plans 
under the California Department for Managed 
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Health Care authority to cover all legal abortion 
services did not violate the Weldon amendment. 
Until the new Administration is able to reverse this 
finding, individuals will have to choose between ig-
noring their conscience or forgoing health care cov-
erage. 
(6) The vast majority of medical professionals 
do not perform abortions, with 86 percent of ob/gyns 
unwilling to provide them in a recent study (Obstet-
rics & Gynecology, Sept. 2011) and the great major-
ity of hospitals choosing to do so in rare cases or not 
at all. 
(7) A health care provider’s decision not to par-
ticipate in an abortion, like Congress’s decision not 
to fund most abortions, erects no new barrier to 
those seeking to perform or undergo abortions but 
leaves each party free to act as he or she wishes. 
(8) Such protection poses no conflict with other 
Federal laws, such as the law requiring emergency 
stabilizing treatment for a pregnant woman and her 
unborn child when either is in distress (Emergency 
Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act). As the 
previous Administration has said, these areas of law 
have operated side by side for many years and both 
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should be fully enforced (76 Fed. Reg. 9968–77 
(2011) at 9973). 
(9) Reaffirming longstanding Federal policy on 
conscience rights and providing a right of action in 
cases where it is violated allows longstanding and 
widely supported Federal laws to work as intended. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING GOVERNMENTAL DISCRIMINATION 
AGAINST PROVIDERS OF HEALTH SERVICES 
THAT ARE NOT INVOLVED IN ABORTION. 
Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
202 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 245 the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 245A. PROHIBITING GOVERNMENTAL DISCRIMINA-
TION AGAINST PROVIDERS OF HEALTH SERV-
ICES THAT ARE NOT INVOLVED IN ABORTION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other law, 
the Federal Government, and any State or local govern-
ment that receives Federal financial assistance, may not 
penalize, retaliate against, or otherwise discriminate 
against a health care provider on the basis that the pro-
vider does not— 
‘‘(1) perform, refer for, pay for, or otherwise 
participate in abortion; 
‘‘(2) provide or sponsor abortion coverage; or 
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‘‘(3) facilitate or make arrangements for any of 
the activities specified in this subsection. 
‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed— 
‘‘(1) to prevent any health care provider from 
voluntarily electing to participate in abortions or 
abortion referrals; 
‘‘(2) to prevent any health care provider from 
voluntarily electing to provide or sponsor abortion 
coverage or health benefits coverage that includes 
abortion; 
‘‘(3) to prevent an accrediting agency, the Fed-
eral Government, or a State or local government 
from establishing standards of medical competency 
applicable only to those who have knowingly, volun-
tarily, and specifically elected to perform abortions, 
or from enforcing contractual obligations applicable 
only to those who, as part of such contract, know-
ingly, voluntarily, and specifically elect to provide 
abortions; 
‘‘(4) to affect, or be affected by, section 1867 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395dd, com-
monly referred to as the ‘Emergency Medical Treat-
ment and Active Labor Act’); or 
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‘‘(5) to supersede any law enacted by any State 
for the purpose of regulating insurance, except as 
specified in subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall des-
ignate the Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the 
Department of Health and Human Services— 
‘‘(1) to receive complaints alleging a violation of 
this section, section 245 of this Act, or any of sub-
sections (b) through (e) of section 401 of the Health 
Programs Extension Act of 1973; and 
‘‘(2) to pursue the investigation of such com-
plaints in coordination with the Attorney General. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) FEDERAL
FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.—The 
term ‘Federal financial assistance’ means Federal 
payments to cover the cost of health care services or 
benefits, or other Federal payments, grants, or loans 
to promote or otherwise facilitate health-related ac-
tivities. 
‘‘(2) HEALTH
CARE
PROVIDER.—The term 
‘health care provider’ means— 
‘‘(A) an individual physician, nurse, or 
other health care professional; 
‘‘(B) a hospital, health system, or other 
health care facility or organization (including a 
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party to a proposed merger or other collabo-
rative arrangement relating to health services, 
and an entity resulting therefrom); 
‘‘(C) a provider-sponsored organization, an 
accountable care organization, or a health 
maintenance organization; 
‘‘(D) a social services provider that pro-
vides or authorizes referrals for health care 
services; 
‘‘(E) a program of training in the health 
professions or an applicant to or participant in 
such a program; 
‘‘(F) an issuer of health insurance cov-
erage; or 
‘‘(G) a group health plan or student health 
plan, or a sponsor or administrator thereof. 
‘‘(3) STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT THAT RE-
CEIVES
FEDERAL
FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.—The 
term ‘State or local government that receives Fed-
eral financial assistance’ includes every agency and 
other governmental unit and subdivision of a State 
or local government, if such State or local govern-
ment, or any agency or governmental unit or sub-
division thereof, receives Federal financial assist-
ance. 
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‘‘SEC. 245B. CIVIL ACTION FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A qualified party may, in a civil 
action, obtain appropriate relief with regard to a des-
ignated violation. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED PARTY.—The term ‘qualified 
party’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Attorney General of the United 
States; or 
‘‘(B) any person or entity adversely af-
fected by the designated violation. 
‘‘(2) DESIGNATED VIOLATION.—The term ‘des-
ignated violation’ means an actual or threatened vio-
lation of— 
‘‘(A) section 245 or 245A of this Act; or 
‘‘(B) any of subsections (b) through (e) of 
section 401 of the Health Programs Extension 
Act of 1973 regarding an objection to abortion. 
‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.— 
An action under this section may be commenced, and relief 
may be granted, without regard to whether the party com-
mencing the action has sought or exhausted available ad-
ministrative remedies. 
‘‘(d) DEFENDANTS IN ACTIONS UNDER THIS SEC-
TION MAY INCLUDE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES AS WELL 
AS OTHERS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An action under this sec-
tion may be maintained against, among others, a 
party that is a Federal or State governmental entity. 
Relief in an action under this section may include 
money damages even if the defendant is such a gov-
ernmental entity. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘State governmental entity’ 
means a State, a local government within a State, 
and any agency or other governmental unit or sub-
division of a State or of such a local government. 
‘‘(e) NATURE OF RELIEF.—In an action under this 
section, the court shall grant— 
‘‘(1) all necessary equitable and legal relief, in-
cluding, where appropriate, declaratory relief and 
compensatory damages, to prevent the occurrence, 
continuance, or repetition of the designated violation 
and to compensate for losses resulting from the des-
ignated violation; and 
‘‘(2) to a prevailing plaintiff, reasonable attor-
neys’ fees and litigation expenses as part of the 
costs.’’. 
Æ 
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