I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1952

To protect women’s reproductive health and constitutional right to choice.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 28, 1995

Mrs. SCHROEDER (for herself, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE, Ms. RIVERS,

Mrs. KENNELLY, Ms. DELAURO, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois, Ms. FURSE, Ms. HARMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. MALONEY,

Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Ms. PELOSI,

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN,

Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.

CARDIN, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELLUMS,

Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FARR, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY,

Mr. HORN, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.

MILLER of California, Mr. MINETA, Mr. NADLER, Mr. OLVER, Mr.

REED, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SABO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. STARK, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WARD, Mr. YATES, and

Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To protect women’s reproductive health and constitutional

right to choice.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Choice and

3 Reproductive Health Protection Act of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) reproductive rights are central to women’s

7 ability to exercise full enjoyment of rights secured to

8 them by Federal and State law;

9 (2) abortion has been a legal and constitu10 tionally protected medical procedure throughout the

11 United States since 1973 and has become part of

12 mainstream medical practice as is evidenced by the

13 positions of medical institutions including the Amer14 ican Medical Association, the American College of

15 Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American

16 Medical Women’s Association;

17 (3) the availability of abortion services is dimin18 ishing throughout the United States: 84 percent of

19 counties have no abortion provider and between

20 1982 and 1992 the number of providers decreased

21 in 45 States; and

22 (4) at a minimum, Congress must retain the

23 following policies, which currently preserve women’s

24 choice and reproductive health:

25 (A) Funding for abortion services for vic26 tims of rape and incest.
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1 (B) Protection from clinic violence.

2 (C) The implementation of breast cancer,

3 cervical cancer and chlamydia screening pro4 grams in all 50 States.

5 (D) Full implementation of legislation to

6 establish contraceptive and infertility research

7 programs.

8 (E) Authorization of family planning pro9 grams.

10 (F) The prohibition of a ‘‘gag’’ rule on in11 formation pertaining to reproductive medical

12 services.

13 (G) The evaluation of RU–486.

14 (H) The fundamental right to choose, as

15 stated by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.

16 (I) Fairness in insurance.

17 (J) The ability of military personnel over18 seas to purchase abortion services at military

19 facilities with private funds.

20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN

21 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ISSUES.

22 (a) RAPE AND INCEST VICTIM PROTECTION.—It is

23 the sense of Congress that the current provisions requiring

24 funding of abortion services in cases of life endangerment,

25 rape or incest for women eligible for medical assistance
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1 are essential to their health and well-being and therefore

2 Federal and State governments must provide funding in

3 these cases.

4 (b) CLINIC VIOLENCE.—It is the sense of Congress

5 that—

6 (1) Federal resources are necessary to ensure

7 that women have safe access to reproductive health

8 facilities and that health professionals can deliver

9 services in a secure environment free from violence

10 and threats of force; and

11 (2) it is necessary and appropriate to use Fed12 eral resources to combat the nationwide campaign of

13 violence and harassment against reproductive health

14 centers.

15 (c) PREVENTIVE HEALTH MEASURES REGARDING

16 BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER.—It is the sense of the

17 Congress that the program of grants under title XV of

18 the Public Health Service Act should receive a level of

19 funding that is adequate for all States to receive grants

20 under such title.

21 (d) PROGRAMS REGARDING CONTRACEPTION AND

22 INFERTILITY.—

23 (1) RESEARCH CENTERS.—It is the sense of the

24 Congress that the program of research centers under

25 section 452A of the Public Health Service Act
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1 should receive a level of funding that is adequate for

2 a reasonable number of research centers to be oper3 ated under the program.

4 (2) LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM REGARDING

5 CONDUCT OF RESEARCH.—It is the sense of the

6 Congress that the program of loan-repayment con7 tracts under section 487B of the Public Health

8 Service Act should receive a level of funding that is

9 adequate for a reasonable number of individuals to

10 conduct research under the program.

11 (3) SCREENINGS FOR INFERTILITY-RELATED

12 SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES.—It is the sense

13 of the Congress that the program of grants under

14 section 318A of the Public Health Service Act

15 should receive a level of funding that is adequate for

16 screenings under such section to be available in all

17 States.

18 SEC. 4. FAMILY PLANNING AMENDMENTS.

19 Section 1001(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42

20 U.S.C. 300(d)) is amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(d) For the purpose of grants and contracts under

22 this section, there are authorized to be appropriated

23 $220,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, $250,000,000 for fis24 cal year 1997, and such sums as may be necessary for

25 each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2000.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. FREEDOM OF FULL DISCLOSURE.

2 Title XI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended

3 by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘SEC. 1107. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision

5 of law, no governmental authority shall, in or through any

6 program or activity that provides health care services or

7 information, administered or assisted by such authority,

8 limit the right of any person to provide, or the right of

9 any person to receive, nonfraudulent information about

10 the availability of reproductive health care services, includ11 ing family planning, prenatal care, adoption, and abortion

12 services.

13 ‘‘(b) As used in this section the term ‘governmental

14 authority’ means any authority of the United States.’’.

15 SEC. 6. FAIRNESS IN EVALUATION OF RU–486.

16 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall—

17 (1) assure that the Food and Drug Administra18 tion evaluates the drug called Mifepristone or RU–

19 486 only on the basis provided by law; and

20 (2) assess initiatives by which the Department

21 of Health and Human Services can promote the

22 testing, licensing, and manufacturing in the United

23 States of this drug or other antiprogestins.

24 SEC. 7. FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

25 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v.

2 Wade established constitutionally based limits on the

3 power of States to restrict the right of a woman to

4 choose to terminate a pregnancy. Under the strict

5 scrutiny standard enunciated in Roe v. Wade, States

6 were required to demonstrate that laws restricting

7 the right of a woman to choose to terminate a preg8 nancy were the least restrictive means available to

9 achieve a compelling State interest. Since 1989, the

10 Supreme Court has no longer applied the strict scru11 tiny standard in reviewing challenges to the constitu12 tionality of State laws restricting such rights.

13 (2) As a result of the Supreme Court’s recent

14 modification of the strict scrutiny standard enun15 ciated in Roe v. Wade, certain States have restricted

16 the right of women to choose to terminate a preg17 nancy or to utilize some forms of contraception, and

18 these restrictions operate cumulatively to—

19 (A)(i) increase the number of illegal or

20 medically less safe abortions, often resulting in

21 physical impairment, loss of reproductive capac22 ity or death to the women involved;

23 (ii) burden interstate commerce by forcing

24 women to travel from States in which legal bar25 riers render contraception or abortion unavail-
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1 able or unsafe to other States or foreign na2 tions;

3 (iii) interfere with freedom of travel be4 tween and among the various States;

5 (iv) burden the medical and economic re6 sources of States that continue to provide

7 women with access to safe and legal abortion;

8 and

9 (v) interfere with the ability of medical

10 professionals to provide health services;

11 (B) obstruct access to and use of contra12 ceptive and other medical techniques that are

13 part of interstate and international commerce;

14 (C) discriminate between women who are

15 able to afford interstate and international travel

16 and women who are not, a disproportionate

17 number of whom belong to racial or ethnic mi18 norities; and

19 (D) infringe upon women’s ability to exer20 cise full enjoyment of rights secured to them by

21 Federal and State law, both statutory and con22 stitutional.

23 (3) Although Congress may not by legislation

24 create constitutional rights, it may, where authorized

25 by its enumerated powers and not prohibited by a
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1 constitutional provision, enact legislation to create

2 and secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate na3 tional concern.

4 (4) Congress has the affirmative power both

5 under section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the

6 United States and under section 5 of the Fourteenth

7 Amendment of the Constitution to enact legislation

8 to prohibit State interference with interstate com9 merce, liberty or equal protection of the laws.

10 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

11 establish, as a statutory matter, limitations upon the

12 power of States to restrict the freedom of a woman to ter13 minate a pregnancy in order to achieve the same limita14 tions as provided, as a constitutional matter, under the

15 strict scrutiny standard of review enunciated in Roe v.

16 Wade and applied in subsequent cases from 1973 to 1988.

17 (c) IN GENERAL.—A State—

18 (1) may not restrict the freedom of a woman to

19 choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy be20 fore fetal viability;

21 (2) may restrict the freedom of a woman to

22 choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy

23 after fetal viability unless such a termination is nec24 essary to preserve the life or health of the woman;

25 and
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1 (3) may impose requirements on the perform2 ance of abortion procedures if such requirements are

3 medically necessary to protect the health of women

4 undergoing such procedures.

5 (d) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

6 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common7 wealth of Puerto Rico, and each other territory or posses8 sion of the United States.

9 SEC. 8. FAIRNESS IN INSURANCE.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law no Fed11 eral law shall be construed to prohibit a provider of health

12 insurance from offering coverage for the full range of re13 productive health care, including abortion services.

14 SEC. 9. ABORTIONS IN FACILITIES OF THE UNIFORMED

15 SERVICES NOT PROHIBITED IF NOT FEDER16 ALLY FUNDED.

17 Section 1093 of title 10, United States Code, is

18 amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—’’ before

20 ‘‘Funds’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(b) ABORTIONS IN FACILITIES OVERSEAS.—Sub23 section (a) does not limit the performing of an abortion

24 in a facility of the uniformed services located outside the

25 48 contiguous States of the United States if—
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1 ‘‘(1) the cost of performing the abortion is fully

2 paid from a source or sources other than funds

3 available to the Department of Defense;

4 ‘‘(2) abortions are not prohibited by the laws of

5 the jurisdiction where the facility is located; and

6 ‘‘(3) the abortion would otherwise be permitted

7 under the laws applicable to the provision of health

8 care to members and former members of the uni9 formed services and their dependents in such facil10 ity.’’.

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