Right to provide reproductive health care services

(a) Prohibition No individual, entity, or State may prevent, restrict, impede, or disadvantage— (1) a health care provider from providing or assisting with reproductive health care services lawful in the State in which the services are to be provided; (2) any individual or entity from assisting a health care provider in providing or assisting with reproductive health care services lawful in the State in which services are to be provided; or (3) a health care provider or any individual or entity from providing or assisting a health care provider with reproductive health care services for an individual who does not reside in the State in which the services are to be provided. (b) Enforcement (1) Attorney General The Attorney General may commence a civil action on behalf of the United States against any State, or against any government official, individual, or entity that enacts, implements, or enforces a limitation or requirement that violates subsection (a). The court shall hold unlawful and set aside the limitation or requirement if it is in violation of subsection (a). (2) Private right of action Any individual or entity adversely affected by an alleged violation of subsection (a) may commence a civil action against any State that violates this section or against any government official that enacts, implements, or enforces a limitation or requirement that violates subsection (a). The court shall hold unlawful and enjoin the limitation or requirement if it is in violation of subsection (a). (3) Health care provider A health care provider may commence an action for relief on its own behalf, on behalf of the provider’s staff, and on behalf of the provider’s patients who are or may be adversely affected by an alleged violation of subsection (a). (4) Equitable relief In any action under this section, the court may award appropriate equitable relief, including temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief. (5) Costs In any action under this section, the court shall award costs of litigation, as well as reasonable attorney’s fees, to any prevailing plaintiff. A plaintiff shall not be liable to a defendant for costs or attorney’s fees in any nonfrivolous action under this section. (6) Jurisdiction The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction over proceedings under this section and shall exercise the same without regard to whether the party aggrieved shall have exhausted any administrative or other remedies that may be provided for by law. (7) Abrogation of State immunity Neither a State that enforces or maintains, nor a government official who is permitted to implement or enforce, any limitation or requirement that violates subsection (a) shall be immune under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, or any other source of law, from an action in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction challenging that limitation or requirement. (8) Right to remove Any party shall have a right to remove an action brought under this subsection to the district court of the United States for the district and division embracing the place where such action is pending. An order remanding the case to the State court from which it was removed under this paragraph may be immediately reviewable by appeal or otherwise. (c) Rules of construction (1) In general Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify, supersede, or otherwise affect the authority of any executive branch agency to promulgate regulations or otherwise implement laws. (2) Other individuals considered as government officials Any person who, by operation of a provision of Federal or State law, is permitted to implement or enforce a limitation or requirement that violates this section shall be considered a government official for purposes of this Act.