I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 776

To protect the reproductive rights of women, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 1, 1995

Mr. TORKILDSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To protect the reproductive rights of women, 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 of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND

7 PURPOSE.

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

9 (1) The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v.

10 Wade established constitutionally based limits on the

11 power of States to restrict the right of a woman to
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1 choose to terminate a pregnancy. Under the strict

2 scrutiny standard enunciated in Roe v. Wade, States

3 were required to demonstrate that laws restricting

4 the right of a woman to choose to terminate a preg5 nancy were the least restrictive means available to

6 achieve a compelling State interest. Since 1989, the

7 Supreme Court has no longer applied the strict scru8 tiny standard in reviewing challenges to the constitu9 tionality of State laws restricting such rights.

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

11 modification of the strict scrutiny standard enun12 ciated in Roe v. Wade, certain States have restricted

13 the right of women to choose to terminate a preg14 nancy or to utilize some forms of contraception, and

15 these restrictions operate cumulatively to—

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

17 medically less safe abortions, often resulting in

18 physical impairment, loss of reproductive capac19 ity or death to the women involved;

20 (ii) burden interstate commerce by forcing

21 women to travel from States in which legal bar22 riers render contraception or abortion unavail23 able or unsafe to other States or foreign na24 tions;
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1 (iii) interfere with freedom of travel be2 tween and among the various States;

3 (iv) burden the medical and economic re4 sources of States that continue to provide

5 women with access to safe and legal abortion;

6 and

7 (v) interfere with the ability of medical

8 professionals to provide health services;

9 (B) obstruct access to and use of contra10 ceptive and other medical techniques that are

11 part of interstate and international commerce;

12 (C) discriminate between women who are

13 able to afford interstate and international travel

14 and women who are not, a disproportionate

15 number of whom belong to racial or ethnic mi16 norities; and

17 (D) infringe upon women’s ability to exer18 cise full enjoyment of rights secured to them by

19 Federal and State law, both statutory and con20 stitutional.

21 (3) Although Congress may not by legislation

22 create constitutional rights, it may, where authorized

23 by its enumerated powers and not prohibited by a

24 constitutional provision, enact legislation to create
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1 and secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate na2 tional concern.

3 (4) Congress has the affirmative power both

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

5 United States and under section 5 of the Fourteenth

6 Amendment of the Constitution to enact legislation

7 to prohibit State interference with interstate com8 merce, liberty or equal protection of the laws.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab10 lish, as a statutory matter, limitations upon the power of

11 States to restrict the freedom of a woman to terminate

12 a pregnancy in order to achieve the same limitations as

13 provided, as a constitutional matter, under the strict scru14 tiny standard of review enunciated in Roe v. Wade and

15 applied in subsequent cases from 1973 to 1988.

16 SEC. 3. FREEDOM TO CHOOSE.

17 (a) 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 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act

6 shall be construed to—

7 (1) prevent a State from protecting unwilling

8 individuals or private health care institutions from

9 having to participate in the performance of abortions

10 to which they are conscientiously opposed;

11 (2) prevent a State from declining to pay for

12 the performance of abortions; or

13 (3) prevent a State from requiring a minor to

14 involve a parent, guardian, or other responsible

15 adult before terminating a pregnancy.

16 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF STATE.

17 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the

18 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

19 and each other territory or possession of the United

20 States.

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