Sec. 4. Interference by officers or employees of a State or unit of local government prohibited
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/bill/118/hr/62/ih/section-4A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
No officer or employee of a State or unit of local government may act under color of law in any manner that would have a discriminatory effect on a woman by preventing (including through criminal enforcement), restricting, impeding, or retaliating against— a health care provider who seeks to initiate, provide, or otherwise facilitate the provision of reproductive health care services to a patient or prospective patient; any person or entity that seeks to assist a health care provider who seeks to initiate, provide, or otherwise facilitate the provision of reproductive health care services to a patient or prospective patient; any person who seeks to gain access to— reproductive health care services; or a health care provider for the purpose of accessing reproductive health care services; or any person or entity that seeks to assist another person who seeks to gain access to— reproductive health care services; or a health care provider for the purpose of accessing reproductive health care services.
The Attorney General may bring a civil action for declaratory and injunctive relief in the appropriate United States district court against any person who violates subsection (a). Any person who is harmed by a violation of subsection
(a)may bring a civil action in the appropriate United States district court against the person who violated such subsection for— declaratory and injunctive relief; such compensatory damages as the court determines appropriate, including for economic losses and for emotional pain and suffering; such punitive damages as the court determines appropriate; and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of the action that the court determines appropriate to award to a prevailing plaintiff. Whoever, in violating subsection (a), uses a deadly or dangerous weapon or inflicts bodily injury, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. A State shall not be immune under the eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States from an action in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this section.