I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5151 

To protect, consistent with Roe v. Wade, a woman’s freedom to choose 

to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. 

MALONEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. OLVER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. LEE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. FILNER, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 

GEORGE MILLER of California, and Mrs. CAPPS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect, consistent with Roe v. Wade, a woman’s freedom 

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 core 

2 principles, such as liberty, personal privacy, and 

3 equality, which ensure that individuals are free to 

4 make their most intimate decisions without govern5 mental interference and discrimination. 

6 (2) One of the most private and difficult deci7 sions an individual makes is whether to begin, pre8 vent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy. Those re9 productive health decisions are best made by women, 

10 in consultation with their loved ones and health care 

11 providers. 

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

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

14 113) and Doe v. Bolton (410 U.S. 179), the Su15 preme Court recognized that the right to privacy 

16 protected by the Constitution encompasses the right 

17 of every woman to weigh the personal, moral, and 

18 religious considerations involved in deciding whether 

19 to begin, prevent, continue, or terminate a preg20 nancy. 

21 (4) The Roe v. Wade decision carefully balances 

22 the rights of women to make important reproductive 

23 decisions with the State’s interest in potential life. 

24 Under Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the right to 

25 privacy protects a woman’s decision to choose to terVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:59 Apr 18, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5151.IH H5151

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1 minate her pregnancy prior to fetal viability, with 

2 the State permitted to ban abortion after fetal via3 bility except when necessary to protect a woman’s 

4 life or health. 

5 (5) These decisions have protected the health 

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

7 the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, an estimated 

8 1,200,000 women each year were forced to resort to 

9 illegal abortions, despite the risk of unsanitary con10 ditions, incompetent treatment, infection, hemor11 rhage, disfiguration, and death. Before Roe, it is es12 timated that thousands of women died annually in 

13 the United States as a result of illegal abortions. 

14 (6) In countries in which abortion remains ille15 gal, the risk of maternal mortality is high. According 

16 to the World Health Organization, of the approxi17 mately 600,000 pregnancy-related deaths occurring 

18 annually around the world, 80,000 are associated 

19 with unsafe abortions. 

20 (7) The Roe v. Wade decision also expanded the 

21 opportunities for women to participate equally in so22 ciety. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (505 

23 U.S. 833), the Supreme Court observed that, ‘‘[t]he 

24 ability of women to participate equally in the eco25 nomic and social life of the Nation has been faciliVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:59 Apr 18, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5151.IH H5151

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1 tated by their ability to control their reproductive 

2 lives.’’. 

3 (8) Even though the Roe v. Wade decision has 

4 stood for more than 30 years, there are increasing 

5 threats to reproductive health and freedom emerging 

6 from all branches and levels of government. In 2006, 

7 South Dakota became the first State in more than 

8 15 years to enact a ban on abortion in nearly all cir9 cumstances. Supporters of this ban have admitted it 

10 is an attempt to directly challenge Roe in the courts. 

11 Other States are considering similar bans. 

12 (9) Legal and practical barriers to the full 

13 range of reproductive services endanger women’s 

14 health and lives. Incremental restrictions on the 

15 right to choose imposed by Congress and State legis16 latures have made access to abortion care extremely 

17 difficult, if not impossible, for many women across 

18 the country. Currently, 87 percent of the counties in 

19 the United States have no abortion provider. 

20 (10) While abortion should remain safe and 

21 legal, women should also have more meaningful ac22 cess to family planning services that prevent unin23 tended pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for 

24 abortion. 


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1 (11) To guarantee the protections of Roe v. 

2 Wade, Federal legislation is necessary. 

3 (12) Although Congress may not create con4 stitutional rights without amending the Constitution, 

5 Congress may, where authorized by its enumerated 

6 powers and not prohibited by the Constitution, enact 

7 legislation to create and secure statutory rights in 

8 areas of legitimate national concern. 

9 (13) Congress has the affirmative power under 

10 section 8 of article I of the Constitution and section 

11 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution to 

12 enact legislation to facilitate interstate commerce 

13 and to prevent State interference with interstate 

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

15 (14) Federal protection of a woman’s right to 

16 choose to prevent or terminate a pregnancy falls 

17 within this affirmative power of Congress, in part, 

18 because— 

19 (A) many women cross State lines to ob20 tain abortions and many more would be forced 

21 to do so absent a constitutional right or Federal 

22 protection; 

23 (B) reproductive health clinics are com24 mercial actors that regularly purchase medicine, 


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1 medical equipment, and other necessary sup2 plies from out-of-State suppliers; and 

3 (C) reproductive health clinics employ doc4 tors, nurses, and other personnel who travel 

5 across State lines in order to provide reproduc6 tive health services to patients. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

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

10 includes a branch, department, agency, instrumen11 tality, or official (or other individual acting under 

12 color of law) of the United States, a State, or a sub13 division of a State. 

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

15 the States, the District of Columbia, the Common16 wealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory or posses17 sion of the United States. 

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

19 that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical 

20 judgment of the attending physician based on the 

21 particular medical facts of the case before the physi22 cian, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained 

23 survival of the fetus outside of the woman. 


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1 SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH 

2 PROHIBITED. 

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

4 United States that every woman has the fundamental 

5 right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy 

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

7 fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health 

8 of the woman. 

9 (b) PROHIBITION OF INTERFERENCE.—A govern10 ment may not— 

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

12 choose— 

13 (A) to bear a child; 

14 (B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to via15 bility; or 

16 (C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability 

17 where termination is necessary to protect the 

18 life or health of the woman; or 

19 (2) discriminate against the exercise of the 

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

21 or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or infor22 mation. 

23 (c) CIVIL ACTION.—An individual aggrieved by a vio24 lation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (includ25 ing relief against a government) in a civil action. 


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1 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

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

3 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be un4 constitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the applica5 tion of such provision to persons or circumstances other 

6 than those as to which the provision is held to be unconsti7 tutional, shall not be affected thereby. 

8 SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT. 

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

10 statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, deci11 sion, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or 

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

13 of this Act. 

Æ 


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