This bill protects every individual’s right to make personal medical decisions without coercion, penalty, or forced disclosure. It prohibits government and private entities from tying services, benefits, or access to a person’s medical status and allows only narrow, well-justified exceptions. It further provides both a private and public right to sue for violations.
The Bill
TITLE:
An Act to Affirm the Fundamental Right of Bodily Sovereignty and to Prohibit Infringement of This Right
PURPOSE:
To recognize and protect the inherent right of each individual to make voluntary and informed decisions about medical interventions, free from coercion, adverse action, or interference by government or a private party.
JUSTIFICATION:
The right to bodily sovereignty is foundational to liberty, autonomy, and informed consent. Recent public and private policies have infringed on this right by conditioning access to employment, education, and services on compliance with medical interventions. This Act establishes a clear and enforceable framework to protect individuals from such coercion.
TEXT:
SECTION 1 — RIGHT TO BODILY SOVEREIGNTY
Every individual has the fundamental right to bodily sovereignty, including the right to freely accept, decline, or discontinue a medical intervention. Government action affecting this right is subject to strict scrutiny.
SECTION 2 — PROHIBITED CONDUCT
(a) Except as expressly permitted in Section 3, no Government Entity or Private Party shall, directly or indirectly:
(1) coerce any individual to accept, decline, or discontinue, a medical intervention, or to submit to a Compelled Disclosure;
(2) condition any benefit, opportunity, access, or participation on an individual’s Medical Intervention Status;
(3) collect, require, access, use, maintain, disclose, transmit, or verify an individual’s Medical Intervention Status; or
(4) create, maintain, or use any registry, database, or system, designed to track or enforce Medical Intervention Status.
(b) Circumvention of these protections by indirect means, including but not limited to the use of proxy identifiers, digital credentials, or automated decision tools based on Medical Intervention Status, is prohibited.
SECTION 3 — LIMITED EXCEPTIONS
(a) Binding Federal Law.
The prohibitions in Section 2 apply in this State [or Commonwealth] except to the extent that compliance with Section 2 would require a person to violate binding federal law. A person asserting this exception bears the burden of proving, by written findings with supporting evidence:
(1) the specific provision of binding federal law that would be violated by compliance with Section 2; and
(2) that the exception claimed is limited to the minimum scope necessary to comply with that binding federal law.
For purposes of this subsection, nonbinding guidance, advisory opinions, conditional funding criteria, grant terms, agency policy, or similar nonbinding materials do not constitute binding federal law and are insufficient to support this exception.
(b) High-Risk-Unit Exception for Healthcare Facilities.
A Healthcare Facility may impose a narrowly tailored Medical Intervention requirement only for staff assigned to a documented medically high-risk unit where there is a compelling need to prevent an imminent and material risk of serious bodily harm if the facility makes written, unit-specific findings with supporting evidence that:
(1) the requirement is necessary to prevent a specific and material risk of harm in that unit, that the risk is imminent, and that it would likely result in serious bodily harm absent the requirement;
(2) no less restrictive alternative would adequately address the risk;
(3) the facility provides an individualized accommodation process in which no staff member is denied an accommodation without specific written findings as to why none of the reasonable accommodations considered, including those proposed by the staff member, are feasible;
(4) the requirement is limited to the smallest affected group and shortest duration, subject to Section 4(b); and
(5) any collection or use of Medical Intervention Status is limited to the minimum necessary to administer this subsection and for no other purpose, and once no longer necessary for that administration, the information shall be permanently removed from all records and systems and securely destroyed in any tangible form.
(c) Court Order After Due Process.
Nothing in this Act shall prevent compliance with a court order that is issued only after notice and a hearing at which all affected parties were given a reasonable opportunity to be heard, and that shall include individualized written findings supported by clear and convincing evidence that:
(1) the Medical Intervention requirement or Compelled Disclosure is necessary to prevent an imminent and material risk of serious bodily harm; and
(2) the order is narrowly tailored as to the persons covered and the scope of the requirement or disclosure and uses the least restrictive means, subject to Section 4(b).
Any stay pending appeal shall favor individual liberty and bodily sovereignty unless the court makes written findings that immediate enforcement is necessary to prevent the imminent harm identified.
(d) Individuals in State Custody – Medical Firewall.
(1) No officer, employee, contractor, or agent of the State acting in a custodial, supervisory, classification, housing, disciplinary, program, or security capacity may require Compelled Disclosure or require testing or screening to determine Medical Intervention Status as a condition of confinement or any term, privilege, program, work assignment, visitation, or classification decision.
(2) Licensed health personnel (or those acting under their supervision) may access and use medical records, and may request or perform testing or screening, only with the individual’s consent and solely for diagnosis, treatment, medication management, or continuity of care, and only to the minimum extent necessary for those purposes, except in a documented medical emergency where the individual lacks capacity or pursuant to a court order satisfying subsection (c).
(3) Any disclosure of Medical Intervention Status outside health personnel shall be authorized by licensed health personnel, and shall be limited to the minimum information necessary to address a documented medical emergency or documented exposure incident, shall be logged, shall be made only to persons with a direct need to respond to the emergency or exposure incident, and shall not be used for classification, segregation, or disparate treatment. Any record maintained outside clinical systems shall be limited to the log and shall not include Medical Intervention Status.
(e) Continuity-of-Care Patient Records (Provider Exception).
Notwithstanding Section 2(a)(3)-(4), a Healthcare Provider may create, maintain, and use clinical records that include Medical Intervention Status only for diagnosis, treatment, medication management, care coordination, and billing for clinical services, and only to the minimum extent necessary for those purposes, provided that:
(1) the Provider shall not use Medical Intervention Status to deny or delay care, impose differing terms, or take or threaten Adverse Action against a patient, except as medically necessary based on individualized clinical judgment supported by clinical evidence documented in the patient’s clinical record;
(2) the Provider shall not disclose Medical Intervention Status to any Government Entity or Private Party except: (A) with the patient’s Fully Informed Consent; (B) as required by binding federal law that specifically requires the disclosure, and only to the minimum extent necessary to comply or a court order satisfying subsection (c); or (C) to treat a medical emergency where the patient lacks capacity; and
(3) access to such records shall be limited to persons with a clinical or administrative need to know for the permitted purposes, and the Provider shall maintain reasonable safeguards against unauthorized access or disclosure.
This Act does not require a Healthcare Provider to provide, continue, discontinue, or authorize clinical care contrary to an individualized clinical judgment supported by clinical evidence and documented in the patient’s clinical record.
This subsection shall be strictly construed and may not be expanded by policy, contract, handbook, terms of service, or as a condition of receiving care or access.
SECTION 4 — PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSERTING EXCEPTIONS
(a) The burden of proving an exception under Section 3 lies with the party asserting it. Any supporting evidence and any written findings required under Section 3 shall be retained and provided to affected individuals upon request.
(b) Any exception implemented under Section 3, and any authority exercised under Section 3(c), expires no later than 120 days after it takes effect unless renewed prior to its expiration with updated findings in accordance with this Act.
SECTION 5 — ENFORCEMENT
(a) Any individual whose rights under this Act are violated may bring a civil action for legal or equitable relief, including declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and damages.
(b) A prevailing claimant shall be entitled to:
• Compensatory damages;
• Statutory damages of not less than $10,000 per violation;
• Punitive damages where appropriate;
• Additional damages for retaliatory conduct, as set forth in subsection 5(c);
• Attorney’s fees and costs.
(c) Retaliation
It is a violation of this Act to take or threaten any adverse action against an individual for asserting rights, opposing violations, or supporting another person’s rights under this Act. Retaliation constitutes an independent violation and is subject to statutory damages of not less than $25,000 per act, in addition to all other remedies under subsection 5(b).
(d) Public Enforcement
The Attorney General may bring a civil action to enforce this Act, including for patterns or practices of noncompliance or retaliation. Relief may include civil penalties up to $50,000 per violation, and any injunctive or other equitable relief necessary to remedy or prevent violations.
SECTION 6 — GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
(a) Any government employee or official who violates this Act acts outside lawful authority. Sovereign immunity is waived to the extent of liability created by this Act.
(b) Qualified immunity shall not apply to any violation of this Act.
SECTION 7 — CONSTRUCTION
(a) Any ambiguity shall be resolved in favor of individual liberty and bodily sovereignty.
(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish any other protection against compelled medical interventions or compelled disclosures under state or federal law.
(c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create, expand, alter, or imply any right to terminate a pregnancy, nor shall it limit or impair the state’s authority to regulate or protect the life of unborn persons as otherwise provided in state law.
(d) The rights and prohibitions in this Act apply at all times. No emergency declaration, executive order, agency directive, public health order, or similar instrument may suspend, modify, override, or circumvent this Act, nor shall it create or enforce a Medical Intervention requirement or Compelled Disclosure. Any claimed federal requirement must satisfy Section 3(a), and any exception must satisfy Sections 3 and 4.
SECTION 8 — SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Act is held invalid, the remainder shall remain in effect.
SECTION 9 — DEFINITIONS
As used in this Act:
“Adverse Action” means any penalty, sanction, discipline, denial, restriction, discrimination, segregation, reduction of benefit, or other unfavorable differential term, condition, or treatment imposed on an individual.
“Bodily Sovereignty” means the fundamental right of an individual to exclusive control over the individual’s own body, including the right to accept, decline, or discontinue any Medical Intervention free from Coercion, Adverse Action, Compelled Disclosure, or interference by a Government Entity or Private Party.
“Coercion” means any requirement, threat, pressure, or Adverse Action intended or reasonably likely to compel an individual to accept, decline, or discontinue a Medical Intervention, or to submit to a Compelled Disclosure. “Coerce” has a corresponding meaning. Coercion does not include a Healthcare Provider’s decision about whether to provide, continue, discontinue, or authorize clinical care for a patient when the Provider documents, in the patient’s clinical record, an individualized clinical judgment supported by clinical evidence that the decision is medically appropriate for that patient.
“Compelled Disclosure” means requiring an individual to provide, share, or to authorize access to information relating to an individual’s Medical Intervention Status, or requiring an individual to submit to testing, screening, examination, measurement, or other assessment for the purpose of determining the individual’s Medical Intervention Status.
“Fully Informed Consent” means a voluntary, specific, stand-alone written authorization signed and dated by the individual (or, for a minor, the parent or legal guardian), written in plain language, that:
(1) for a Medical Intervention, identifies the intervention and its purpose, discloses material risks and clinically reasonable alternatives that a reasonable person would consider material, and states the individual may refuse or discontinue without Adverse Action except as expressly permitted by this Act; and
(2) for access to or disclosure of Medical Intervention Status, describes the information to be accessed or disclosed, identifies the persons authorized to disclose and the persons authorized to receive, states each purpose of the access or disclosure, and states a specific expiration date or expiration event.
The written authorization must state the individual’s right to revoke and how to do so, and must state whether any benefit, service, or care is conditioned on the authorization. General, bundled, or implied consent—including but not limited to consent embedded in intake forms, employment handbooks, or terms of service—does not constitute Fully Informed Consent.
“Government Entity” means this State, any political subdivision of this State, and any department, agency, board, commission, instrumentality, or officer, employee, contractor, or agent thereof acting under color of state law.
“Healthcare Facility” means any entity licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized under the laws of this State to provide clinical health care services to patients.
“Healthcare Provider” means an individual licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized under the laws of this State to provide clinical diagnosis, treatment, prescribing, or other health care services to a patient within the scope of that authorization; and includes a Healthcare Facility to the extent it provides clinical care. The term includes persons acting under the supervision of such individual or facility within the scope of delegated clinical duties. The term does not include a person acting solely for non-clinical purposes.
“Medical Intervention” means any action, requirement, system, procedure, device, or measure directed at an individual for the primary purpose of diagnosing, preventing, monitoring, treating, modifying, or managing that individual’s health status, bodily function, or physiological processes, including any test, screening, examination, measurement, or collection of health-related information for that primary purpose. A general environmental, administrative, or security condition—such as lighting and temperature level, scheduling shifts, queuing systems, metal detectors and ID badges—that is not directed at an individual for that primary purpose is not a Medical Intervention.
“Medical Intervention Status” means any information—whether direct, indirect, inferred, or proxy-based—that indicates, reflects, or is used to determine whether an individual has accepted, declined, discontinued, is exempt from, or is being required to undergo a Medical Intervention, including any record, credential, attestation, certificate, code, physical or digital artifact, or test output used to assess, represent, or verify such status.
“Private Party” means any individual, business, employer, institution, school, insurer, organization, or other nongovernmental entity operating or conducting activities in the state.