Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit any guideline or regulation issued relating to the coverage of preventive health services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or any other provision of PPACA to: (1) require any individual or entity to offer, provide, or purchase coverage for a contraceptive or sterilization service, or related education or counseling, to which that individual or entity is opposed on the basis of religious belief; or (2) require any individual or entity opposed by reason of religious belief to provide coverage of a contraceptive or sterilization service or to engage in government-mandated speech regarding such a service.
Declares that nothing in PPACA and no regulations or guidelines issued under PPACA shall be construed to authorize the imposition of a sanction or otherwise disadvantage an individual or entity on the basis of a religiously based decision made by that individual or entity to not offer, provide, or purchase coverage or a contraceptive or sterilization service, or to engage in a government-mandated speech regarding such service.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3897 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3897
To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to provide
religious conscience protections for individuals and organizations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 3, 2012
Mr. Chabot introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to provide
religious conscience protections for individuals and organizations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Religious Freedom Restoration Act of
2012''.
SEC. 2. FINDING.
Congress finds that--
(1) religious freedom and liberty of conscience are
inalienable rights protected by the Declaration of Independence
and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
(2) on August 1, 2011, the Department of Health and Human
Services issued a mandate requiring individual and group health
plans to cover free sterilization and all Food and Drug
Administration-approved contraceptives, including drugs that
many believe induce abortions;
(3) the mandate's exemption for ``religious employers''
excludes those religious organizations, including charities,
hospitals, schools, or soup kitchens, that hire or serve
individuals who do not share their religious tenets;
(4) that narrow exemption, unprecedented in Federal law,
excludes thousands of religiously affiliated hospitals,
schools, charities, and businesses; and
(5) despite receiving thousands of comments protesting the
absurdly narrow exemption, the Department of Health and Human
Services nonetheless announced on January 20, 2012, that it
would not broaden the exemption but would instead give
religious institutions an additional year to ``adapt'' their
consciences to the mandate.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.
Section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-13)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Conscience Protections.--
``(1) In general.--No guideline or regulation issued
pursuant to subsection (a)(4), or any other provision of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, or the
amendments made by that Act (Public Law 110-148), shall--
``(A) require any individual or entity to offer,
provide, or purchase coverage for a contraceptive or
sterilization service, or related education or
counseling, to which that individual or entity is
opposed on the basis of religious belief; or
``(B) require any individual or entity opposed by
reason of religious belief to provide coverage of a
contraceptive or sterilization service or to engage in
government-mandated speech regarding such a service.
``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in the Patient
Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, or the amendments
made by that Act (Public Law 110-148), and no regulations or
guidelines issued under such Act (or amendments) shall be
construed to authorize the imposition of a fine, penalty, or
other sanction, or to otherwise disadvantage an individual or
entity on the basis of a religiously based decision made by
that individual or entity to not offer, provide, or purchase
coverage for a contraceptive or sterilization service, or to
engage in government-mandated speech regarding such
services.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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