86R9561 JSC-D
 
  By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 1870
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to prohibiting certain conduct intended to intimidate or
  interfere with a person seeking or providing health care services
  or attending an established place of religious worship; increasing
  a criminal penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 42.01(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (d)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor,
  except that the offense is a Class B misdemeanor if the offense was
  [unless] committed:
               (1)  under Subsection (a)(7) or (a)(8); or
               (2)  under Subsection (a)(4), if the actor engaged in
  the prohibited conduct with the intent to intimidate or interfere
  with a person seeking or providing health care services or
  attending an established place of religious worship[, in which
  event it is a Class B misdemeanor].
         SECTION 2.  Section 42.04, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read
  as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), if [If] conduct
  that would otherwise violate Section 42.01(a)(5) (Unreasonable
  Noise), 42.03 (Obstructing Passageway), or 42.055 (Funeral Service
  Disruptions) consists of speech or other communication, of
  gathering with others to hear or observe such speech or
  communication, or of gathering with others to picket or otherwise
  express in a nonviolent manner a position on social, economic,
  political, or religious questions, the actor must be ordered to
  move, disperse, or otherwise remedy the violation prior to his
  arrest if he has not yet intentionally harmed the interests of
  others which those sections seek to protect.
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), it [It] is a
  defense to prosecution under Section 42.01(a)(5), 42.03, or 42.055:
               (1)  that in circumstances in which this section
  requires an order no order was given;
               (2)  that an order, if given, was manifestly
  unreasonable in scope; or
               (3)  that an order, if given, was promptly obeyed.
         (d)  An order under Subsection (a) is not required, and the
  defense provided under Subsection (c) does not apply, in the
  prosecution of an offense under Section 42.03 if the actor engaged
  in the prohibited conduct with respect to the entry of a health care
  facility or established place of religious worship and with the
  intent to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking or
  providing health care services at the facility or attending the
  place of worship, as applicable.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only to
  an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
  offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
  by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
  this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
  this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.