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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom of Choice
Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND
PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v.
Wade established constitutionally based limits on the
power of States to restrict the right of a woman to
choose to terminate a pregnancy. Under the strict
scrutiny standard enunciated in Roe v. Wade, States
were required to demonstrate that laws restricting
the right of a woman to choose to terminate a preg-
nancy were the least restrictive means available to
achieve a compelling State interest. Since 1989, the
Supreme Court has no longer applied the strict scru-
tiny standard in reviewing challenges to the constitu-
tionality of State laws restricting such rights.
(2) As a result of the Supreme Court’s recent
modification of the strict scrutiny standard enun-
ciated in Roe v. Wade, certain States have restricted
the right of women to choose to terminate a preg-
nancy or to utilize some forms of contraception, and
these restrictions operate cumulatively to—
(A)(i) increase the number of illegal or
medically less safe abortions, often resulting in
physical impairment, loss of reproductive capac-
ity or death to the women involved;
(ii) burden interstate commerce by forcing
women to travel from States in which legal bar-
riers render contraception or abortion unavail-
able or unsafe to other States or foreign na-
tions;
(iii) interfere with freedom of travel be-
tween and among the various States;
(iv) burden the medical and economic re-
sources of States that continue to provide
women with access to safe and legal abortion;
and
(v) interfere with the ability of medical
professionals to provide health services;
(B) obstruct access to and use of contra-
ceptive and other medical techniques that are
part of interstate and international commerce;
(C) discriminate between women who are
able to afford interstate and international travel
and women who are not, a disproportionate
number of whom belong to racial or ethnic mi-
norities; and
(D) infringe upon women’s ability to exer-
cise full enjoyment of rights secured to them by
Federal and State law, both statutory and con-
stitutional.
(3) Although Congress may not by legislation
create constitutional rights, it may, where authorized
by its enumerated powers and not prohibited by a
constitutional provision, enact legislation to create
and secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate na-
tional concern.
(4) Congress has the affirmative power both
under section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the
United States and under section 5 of the Fourteenth
Amendment of the Constitution to enact legislation
to prohibit State interference with interstate com-
merce, liberty or equal protection of the laws.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab-
lish, as a statutory matter, limitations upon the power of
States to restrict the freedom of a woman to terminate
a pregnancy in order to achieve the same limitations as
provided, as a constitutional matter, under the strict scru-
tiny standard of review enunciated in Roe v. Wade and
applied in subsequent cases from 1973 to 1988.
SEC. 3. FREEDOM TO CHOOSE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State—
(1) may not restrict the freedom of a woman to
choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy be-
fore fetal viability;
(2) may restrict the freedom of a woman to
choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy
after fetal viability unless such a termination is nec-
essary to preserve the life or health of the woman;
and
(3) may impose requirements on the perform-
ance of abortion procedures if such requirements are
medically necessary to protect the health of women
undergoing such procedures.
(b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to—
(1) prevent a State from protecting unwilling
individuals or private health care institutions from
having to participate in the performance of abortions
to which they are conscientiously opposed;
(2) prevent a State from declining to pay for
the performance of abortions; or
(3) prevent a State from requiring a minor to
involve a parent, guardian, or other responsible
adult before terminating a pregnancy.
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF STATE.
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
and each other territory or possession of the United
States.
Æ