I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3719

To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government 

with a woman’s right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2004

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. GREENWOOD, Ms. SLAUGHTER, and Ms. 

DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference 

by the government with a woman’s right to choose to 

bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other 

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom of Choice 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) The United States was founded on the prin2 ciples of individual liberty, personal privacy, and 

3 equality. Such principles ensure that each individual 

4 is free to make the most intimate decisions free from 

5 governmental interference and discrimination. 

6 (2) A woman’s decision to commence, prevent, 

7 continue, or terminate a pregnancy is one of the 

8 most intimate decisions an individual ever faces. As 

9 such, reproductive health decisions are best made by 

10 the woman, in consultation with her medical pro11 vider or loved ones, without governmental inter12 ference. 

13 (3) In 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut (381 

14 U.S. 479), and in 1973, in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 

15 113) and Doe v. Bolton (410 U.S. 179), the Su16 preme Court recognized the right to privacy pro17 tected by the Constitution and that such right en18 compassed the right of every woman to weigh the 

19 personal, moral, and religious considerations in20 volved in deciding whether to commence, prevent, 

21 continue, or terminate a pregnancy. 

22 (4) The Roe v. Wade decision carefully bal23 anced the rights of women to make important repro24 ductive decisions with the state’s interest in poten25 tial life. Under Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, a 
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1 woman’s right to choose to terminate her pregnancy 

2 is absolute only prior to fetal viability, with the state 

3 permitted to ban abortion after fetal viability except 

4 when necessary to protect the life or health of a 

5 woman. 

6 (5) These decisions have protected the health 

7 and lives of women in the United States. Prior to 

8 the Roe v. Wade decision, an estimated 1,200,000 

9 women each year were forced to resort to illegal 

10 abortions, despite the known hazards that included 

11 unsanitary conditions, incompetent treatment, infec12 tion, hemorrhage, disfiguration, and death. 

13 (6) According to one estimate, prior to 1973, as 

14 many as 5,000 women died each year in the United 

15 States as a result of having an illegal abortion. 

16 (7) In countries where abortion remains illegal, 

17 the risk of complications and maternal mortality is 

18 high. According to the World Health Organization, 

19 of the approximately 600,000 pregnancy-related 

20 deaths occurring annually around the world, 80,000 

21 are associated with unsafe abortions. 

22 (8) The Roe v. Wade decision expanded the op23 portunities for women to participate equally in soci24 ety. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (505 

25 U.S. 833), the Supreme Court observed that, ‘‘[t]he 
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1 ability of women to participate equally in the eco2 nomic and social life of the Nation has been facili3 tated by their ability to control their reproductive 

4 lives.’’. 

5 (9) Even though the Roe v. Wade decision 

6 guaranteed a constitutional right to choose whether 

7 to terminate or continue a pregnancy, threats to 

8 that right remain, including possible reversal or fur9 ther erosion by the Supreme Court of the right, and 

10 legislative and administrative policies at all levels of 

11 government that make abortion more difficult and 

12 dangerous to obtain. 

13 (10) 87 percent of the counties in the United 

14 States have no abortion provider. 

15 (11) Legal barriers to the full range of repro16 ductive services endanger the health and lives of 

17 women. 

18 (12) Women should have meaningful access to 

19 reproductive health services to prevent unintended 

20 pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for abor21 tions. 

22 (13) To ensure that a woman’s right to choose 

23 whether to terminate a pregnancy is available to all 

24 women in the United States, Federal protection for 

25 that right is necessary. 
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1 (14) Although Congress may not create con2 stitutional rights without amending the Constitution, 

3 Congress may, where authorized by its enumerated 

4 powers and not prohibited by the Constitution, enact 

5 legislation to create and secure statutory rights in 

6 areas of legitimate national concern. 

7 (15) Congress has the affirmative power under 

8 section 8 of article I of the Constitution and section 

9 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution to 

10 enact legislation to facilitate interstate commerce 

11 and to prevent State interference with interstate 

12 commerce, liberty, or equal protection of the laws. 

13 (16) Federal protection of a woman’s right to 

14 choose to prevent or terminate a pregnancy falls 

15 within this affirmative power of Congress, in part, 

16 because—

17 (A) many women cross State lines to ob18 tain abortions and many more would be forced 

19 to do so absent a constitutional right or Federal 

20 protection; 

21 (B) reproductive health clinics are com22 mercial actors that regularly purchase medicine, 

23 medical equipment, and other necessary sup24 plies from out-of-State suppliers; and 
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1 (C) reproductive health clinics employ doc2 tors, nurses, and other personnel who travel 

3 across State lines in order to provide reproduc4 tive health services to patients. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘government’’ 

8 includes a branch, department, agency, instrumen9 tality, or official (or other individual acting under 

10 color of law) of the United States, a State, or a sub11 division of a State. 

12 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

13 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com14 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory or pos15 session of the United States. 

16 (3) VIABILITY.—The term ‘‘viability’’ means 

17 that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical 

18 judgment of the attending physician based on the 

19 particular medical facts of the case before the physi20 cian, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained 

21 survival of the fetus outside of the woman. 

22 SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH 

23 PROHIBITED. 

24 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

25 United States that every woman has the fundamental 
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1 right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy 

2 prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after 

3 fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health 

4 of the woman. 

5 (b) PROHIBITION OF INTERFERENCE.—A govern6 ment may not—

7 (1) deny or interfere with a woman’s right to 

8 choose—

9 (A) to bear a child; 

10 (B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to via11 bility; or 

12 (C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability 

13 where termination is necessary to protect the 

14 life or health of the woman; or 

15 (2) discriminate against the exercise of the 

16 rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation 

17 or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or infor18 mation. 

19 (c) CIVIL ACTION.—An individual aggrieved by a vio20 lation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (includ21 ing relief against a government) in a civil action. 

22 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

23 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

24 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be un25 constitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the applica-
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1 tion of such provision to persons or circumstances other 

2 than those as to which the provision is held to be unconsti3 tutional, shall not be affected thereby. 

4 SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT. 

5 This Act applies to every Federal, State, and local 

6 statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, deci7 sion, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or 

8 implemented before, on, or after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act.

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