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Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act
To amend section 248 of title 18, United States Code, to provide adequate penalties and remedies for attacks on facilities providing counseling about abortion alternatives and attacks on places of religious worship.
Summary
This bill would increase criminal penalties and civil damages for attacks on pregnancy resource centers and places of religious worship. For first-time offenses at these facilities that don't involve exclusively nonviolent disruption, criminal penalties would be capped at 3 years imprisonment, and civil damages would increase to $20,000 per violation. For destruction of such facilities, the bill would impose a minimum 7-year prison sentence. The bill applies similar federal protections to pregnancy resource centers and places of worship as existing law provides to other types of reproductive health facilities.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (2)
- Jan 22, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jan 22, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 2025
Ms. Tenney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend section 248 of title 18, United States Code, to provide adequate penalties and remedies for attacks on facilities providing counseling about abortion alternatives and attacks on places of religious worship.
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 “Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act”.
SEC. 2. ATTACKS ON FACILITIES PROVIDING COUNSELING ABOUT ABORTION ALTERNATIVES AND PLACES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
(a) Criminal Penalties.—Section 248(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting “, except that for a first offense, if the conduct involved a facility described in subsection
(a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion-alternative services or involved a place of religious worship and did not involve exclusively a nonviolent physical obstruction, the length of imprisonment shall be not more than 3 years” after “or both”.
(b) Civil Remedies.—Section 248(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), in the second sentence, by inserting “, or $20,000 per violation for conduct involving a facility described in subsection (a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion-alternative services or involving a place of religious worship” after “per violation”; and
(2) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by inserting “, $25,000 for a first violation, if the violation involved a facility described in subsection (a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion- alternative services or involved a place of religious worship and did not involve exclusively a nonviolent physical obstruction,” after “physical obstruction”.
SEC. 3. DESTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS, VEHICLES, AND PROPERTY.
Section 844(i) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting “or if the building is a facility described in section 248(a)(3) that exclusively provides abortion-alternative services or is a place of religious worship,” before “shall be imprisoned for not less than 7 years”. <all>
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