Family Research Council
Amendment to Stop D.C.’s Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act.
Offered by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), this amendment (H.Amdt. 432) to the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018 (H.R. 3354) would block D.C. from enforcing its harmful law called the Reproductive Health NonDiscrimination Amendment Act, which targets pro-life organizations and employers by forcing them to employ people who disagree with their pro-life principles.
NARAL Pro-Choice America
Anti-Choice Refusal: D.C. Reproductive-Health NonDiscrimination Law.
Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R.3354 (omnibus appropriations bill). Palmer amendment to block a D.C. law that prohibits employers from taking adverse action against employees based on their reproductive-health decisions. Passed.
National Right to Life Committee
To block the D.C. "Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act" (RHNDA).
The U.S. Constitution places the District of Columbia under the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of Congress. In 2015, the District Council (city council), which operates on authority delegated by Congress, enacted a law called the "Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act" (RHNDA), which prohibits employers within the District from engaging in “discrimination” on the basis of “decisions” reached by employees, or potential employees, regarding “reproductive health” matters. During consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives of a bill to fund most government agencies during Fiscal Year 2018, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Al.) offered an amendment to prohibit the District's local government from expending funds to enforce the RHNDA. In a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, this group urged support for the Palmer Amendment, noting, "It would be intolerable for an advocacy organization such as ours to be required to hire, or prohibited from firing, a person who . . . [engages] in advocacy or any other activity that is directly antithetical to our core mission to lawfully advocate for the civil rights of the unborn." The Palmer Amendment was adopted, a pro-life win. [The House subsequently passed H.R. 3354 and sent it to the U.S. Senate for further consideration.]