Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 914
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       13-00981-21                                            2021914__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to access to clinics; providing a
    3         directive to the Division of Law Revision; creating s.
    4         762.01, F.S.; providing a short title; creating s.
    5         762.02, F.S.; defining terms; creating s. 762.03,
    6         F.S.; defining the term “minor child or ward”;
    7         prohibiting a person from committing certain acts
    8         against reproductive health services clients,
    9         providers, or assistants; prohibiting a person from
   10         damaging certain properties; providing criminal
   11         penalties; providing construction; creating s. 762.04,
   12         F.S.; providing criminal penalties for first offenses
   13         and for second and subsequent offenses; authorizing a
   14         court to deviate from the required sentences and fines
   15         under certain circumstances; creating s. 762.05, F.S.;
   16         providing civil remedies for those aggrieved by
   17         specified violations against reproductive health
   18         services clients, providers, or assistants or against
   19         certain properties; authorizing the Attorney General,
   20         a state attorney, or a city attorney to bring a civil
   21         action for such violations; creating s. 762.06, F.S.;
   22         requiring a court to take actions necessary to
   23         safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of specified
   24         persons under certain circumstances, including
   25         granting restraining orders that may prohibit or
   26         restrict the photographing of such persons;
   27         authorizing the court to allow specified persons to
   28         use pseudonyms in a civil action; providing an
   29         effective date.
   30          
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
   34  create chapter 762, Florida Statutes, consisting of ss. 762.01
   35  762.06, Florida Statutes, to be entitled “Protection of the
   36  Exercise of Constitutional Rights.”
   37         Section 2. Section 762.01, Florida Statutes, is created to
   38  read:
   39         762.01Short title.—Sections 762.01-762.06 may be cited as
   40  the “Clinic Protection Act.”
   41         Section 3. Section 762.02, Florida Statutes, is created to
   42  read:
   43         762.02Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   44         (1)“Crime of violence” means an offense that involves the
   45  use or attempted or threatened use of physical force against the
   46  person or property of another.
   47         (2)“Interfere with” means to restrict a person’s freedom
   48  of movement.
   49         (3)“Intimidate” means to place a person in reasonable
   50  apprehension of bodily harm to herself or himself or to another.
   51         (4)“Nonviolent” means conduct that would not constitute a
   52  crime of violence.
   53         (5)“Physical obstruction” means rendering ingress to or
   54  egress from a reproductive health services facility impassable
   55  to another person or rendering passage to or from a reproductive
   56  health services facility unreasonably difficult or hazardous to
   57  another person.
   58         (6)“Reproductive health services” means health services
   59  provided in a hospital, clinic, physician’s office, or other
   60  facility and includes medical, surgical, counseling, or referral
   61  services relating to the human reproductive system, including,
   62  but not limited to, services relating to pregnancy or the
   63  termination of a pregnancy.
   64         (7)“Reproductive health services client, provider, or
   65  assistant” means a person or entity that is or was involved in:
   66         (a)Obtaining or seeking to obtain any services in a
   67  reproductive health services facility;
   68         (b)Providing or seeking to provide any services in a
   69  reproductive health services facility;
   70         (c)Assisting or seeking to assist another person at that
   71  other person’s request to obtain or provide any services in a
   72  reproductive health services facility; or
   73         (d)Owning or operating, or seeking to own or operate, a
   74  reproductive health services facility.
   75         (8)“Reproductive health services facility” means a
   76  hospital, clinic, physician’s office, or other facility that
   77  provides or seeks to provide reproductive health services and
   78  includes the building or structure in which the facility is
   79  located.
   80         Section 4. Section 762.03, Florida Statutes, is created to
   81  read:
   82         762.03Prohibited acts.—
   83         (1)As used in this section, the term “minor child or ward”
   84  means a person’s child or a legal guardian’s ward who is 16
   85  years of age or younger.
   86         (2)A person may not commit any of the following acts:
   87         (a)Intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering
   88  with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, a
   89  person or an entity by force, threat of force, or physical
   90  obstruction because that person or entity is a reproductive
   91  health services client, provider, or assistant, or to do so with
   92  the intent to prevent that person or entity from becoming or
   93  remaining a reproductive health services client, provider, or
   94  assistant.
   95         (b)Intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering
   96  with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, a
   97  person or an entity by nonviolent physical obstruction because
   98  that person or entity is a reproductive health services client,
   99  provider, or assistant, or to do so with the intent to prevent
  100  that person or entity from becoming or remaining a reproductive
  101  health services client, provider, or assistant.
  102         (c)Intentionally damaging or destroying, or attempting to
  103  damage or destroy, a facility because it is a reproductive
  104  health services facility or intentionally damaging or
  105  destroying, or attempting to damage or destroy, the property of
  106  a person or entity because the person or entity is a
  107  reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant.
  108         (3)A person who violates this section is subject to the
  109  penalties in s. 762.04.
  110         (4)This section does not prohibit a parent or a legal
  111  guardian from restricting a minor child or ward’s access to a
  112  reproductive health services facility.
  113         Section 5. Section 762.04, Florida Statutes, is created to
  114  read:
  115         762.04Penalties.—
  116         (1)A person who violates s. 762.03(2)(b) for the first
  117  time commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by
  118  imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding 6
  119  months and by a fine not exceeding $2,000. A second or
  120  subsequent offense constitutes a misdemeanor of the second
  121  degree, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period
  122  not exceeding 6 months and by a fine not exceeding $5,000.
  123         (2)A person who violates s. 762.03(2)(a) or (c) for the
  124  first time commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
  125  by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding 1
  126  year and by a fine not exceeding $25,000. A second or subsequent
  127  offense constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree,
  128  punishable by imprisonment for a period in a county jail not
  129  exceeding 1 year and by a fine not exceeding $50,000.
  130         (3)A court may deviate from the sentences and fines
  131  established in this section when circumstances or factors in a
  132  case reasonably justify the enhancement or mitigation of the
  133  sentences and fines, provided the court states in writing the
  134  reasons for its sentencing decision.
  135         Section 6. Section 762.05, Florida Statutes, is created to
  136  read:
  137         762.05Civil actions.—
  138         (1)A person aggrieved by a violation of s. 762.03 may
  139  bring a civil action to enjoin the violation, for compensatory
  140  and punitive damages, and for the costs of the action and
  141  reasonable fees for attorneys and expert witnesses, except that
  142  only a reproductive health services client, provider, or
  143  assistant may bring an action for a violation of s. 762.03(2).
  144  With respect to compensatory damages, the plaintiff may elect,
  145  at any time before the rendering of a final judgment, to
  146  recover, in lieu of actual damages, an award of statutory
  147  damages in the amount of $1,000 for each exclusively nonviolent
  148  violation and $5,000 for each violation other than an
  149  exclusively nonviolent violation.
  150         (2)The Attorney General, a state attorney, or a city
  151  attorney may bring a civil action to enjoin a violation of s.
  152  762.03 for compensatory damages to persons aggrieved, as
  153  described in subsection (1), and for the assessment of a civil
  154  penalty against each respondent. The civil penalty may not
  155  exceed $2,000 for an exclusively nonviolent first violation and
  156  $15,000 for any other first violation, and may not exceed $5,000
  157  for a subsequent exclusively nonviolent violation and $25,000
  158  for any other subsequent violation.
  159         Section 7. Section 762.06, Florida Statutes, is created to
  160  read:
  161         762.06Safety and privacy.—
  162         (1)A court in which a criminal or civil proceeding is
  163  filed for a violation of s. 762.03(2) shall take all action
  164  reasonably necessary, including granting restraining orders, to
  165  safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of:
  166         (a)A reproductive health services client, provider, or
  167  assistant who is a party or witness in the proceeding; and
  168         (b)A person who is a victim of, or is at risk of becoming
  169  a victim of, an act prohibited under s. 762.03(2).
  170         (2)A restraining order issued pursuant to this section may
  171  include provisions prohibiting or restricting the photographing
  172  of a person described in subsection (1) if reasonably necessary
  173  to safeguard the person’s health, safety, or privacy.
  174         (3)A court may authorize a person described in subsection
  175  (1) to use a pseudonym in a civil action described in s. 762.05
  176  if reasonably required to safeguard the person’s health, safety,
  177  or privacy.
  178         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.