United States S 4748: Protecting National Access to Reproductive Care Act of 2022

Bill Text

II
117TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. 4748
To provide for national uniformity for reproductive health products.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
AUGUST 2, 2022
Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for national uniformity for reproductive health
products.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting National 4
Access to Reproductive Care Act of 2022’’. 5
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6
(a) IN GENERAL.—This section confirms the inten-7
tion of Congress that, with respect to reproductive health 8
products approved, licensed, cleared, or authorized by the 9
Food and Drug Administration for specific uses as de-10
scribed in section 3(c), Federal regulation of such prod-11
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•S 4748 IS
ucts has the effect of preempting any State or local law 1
or regulation, criminal or civil, that has the effect of re-2
stricting the use of or access to any such product. 3
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 4
shall be construed to limit the preemptory effect of the 5
regulation by the Food and Drug Administration of prod-6
ucts that are not reproductive health products. 7
SEC. 3. NATIONAL UNIFORMITY FOR REPRODUCTIVE 8
HEALTH PRODUCTS. 9
(a) IN GENERAL.—No State or unit of local govern-10
ment, or State or local government official or other person 11
acting under color of law may implement or enforce any 12
law, requirement, prohibition, or limitation that restricts 13
use or access, or has the effect of restricting use or access, 14
by any individual to any reproductive health product. 15
(b) ENFORCEMENT.— 16
(1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen-17
eral may commence a civil action in an appropriate 18
district court of the United States on behalf of the 19
United States against any State or unit of local gov-20
ernment, State or local government official, or 21
against any other person acting under color of law 22
that implements or enforces a limitation or require-23
ment that violates subsection (a). The court shall 24
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hold unlawful the limitation or requirement if it is 1
in violation of subsection (a). 2
(2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 3
(A) IN GENERAL.—Any individual or enti-4
ty, including any health care provider or pa-5
tient, adversely affected by an alleged violation 6
of subsection (a), may commence a civil action 7
in an appropriate district court of the United 8
States against any State or unit of local govern-9
ment, or State or local government official, or 10
against any other person acting under color of 11
law who violates subsection (a). The court shall 12
hold unlawful the limitation or requirement if it 13
is in violation of subsection (a). 14
(B) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—A health 15
care provider may commence an action pursu-16
ant to subparagraph (A) in an appropriate dis-17
trict court of the United States for relief on its 18
own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, or 19
on behalf of the provider’s patients who are or 20
may be adversely affected by an alleged viola-21
tion of subsection (a). 22
(3) DECLARATORY AND EQUITABLE RELIEF.— 23
In any action under this subsection, the court may 24
award appropriate declaratory or equitable relief, in-25
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cluding temporary, preliminary, or permanent in-1
junctive relief. 2
(4) COSTS.—In any action under this sub-3
section, the court shall award costs of litigation, as 4
well as reasonable attorney’s fees, to any prevailing 5
plaintiff. A plaintiff shall not be liable to a defend-6
ant for costs or attorney’s fees in any non-frivolous 7
action under this subsection. 8
(5) JURISDICTION.—The district courts of the 9
United States shall have exclusive jurisdiction over 10
proceedings under this Act and shall exercise the 11
same without regard to whether the party aggrieved 12
shall have exhausted any administrative or other 13
remedies that may be provided for by law. 14
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘repro-15
ductive health product’’ means any drug or device that— 16
(1) is approved under section 505 or section 17
515 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 18
(21 U.S.C. 355; 360e), licensed under section 351 of 19
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262), 20
cleared under section 510(k) of the Federal Food, 21
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360(k)), or au-22
thorized under section 513(f)(2) of such Act (21 23
U.S.C. 360c(f)(