Anthony Charles Beilenson (October 26, 1932 – March 5, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. He served ten terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1977 until 1997.

Early life and education

Beilenson was born in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

, and grew up in an upscale suburb of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, where he earned BA (1954) and JD (1957) degrees. Beilenson then relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and became a partner in a

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

law firm which represented the film industry.

Political career

Beilenson was elected to the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The ...

in 1963, serving until 1967, and then served in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. D ...

from 1967 to 1976. Among his accomplishments in the California State Legislature was winning enactment of the "Beilenson Act", which requires public hearings whenever

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

s in California are closed or reduce services. His most noteworthy accomplishment was as author of the 1967 Therapeutic Abortion Act, one of the most liberal abortion laws at that time, which legalized abortion when a woman’s mental or physical health was at risk or if pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. In 1968 Beilenson was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, losing to

Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as a President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to ...

. Beilenson was then elected to and served ten terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Congress, beginning in 1977, until his retirement in 1997. While in Congress, he served on the

House Rules Committee The Committee on Rules, or more commonly, the Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented to the House of Representatives, unlike other commit ...

, and as Chairman of the

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary commit ...

, 1989–1991. Beilenson was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of

Issue One Issue One is an American nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the role of money in politics. It aims to increase public awareness of what it views as problems within the present campaign finance system, and to reduce the influ ...

Tributes

In 1998, in tribute to his long career of community and government service to California, Lake Balboa Park, in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

was renamed the "Anthony C. Beilenson Park". The park, which is located along Balboa Boulevard in Van Nuys, is an water recreation facility, with Balboa Lake at its center, and containing a universally accessible playground. The artificial lake is supplied with

reclaimed water Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include ...

from the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. He and his wife Dolores were also honored by the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subsequ ...

, San Fernando Valley Region, in 1991, for Congressman Beilenson's career of service as a public official, and for Dolores Beilenson's service as co-chair of the Congressional Wives for Soviet Jewry. Beilenson died at his home in the Westwood neighborhood of

on March 5, 2017, after suffering a heart attack. He was 84.

References

External links

. *
Join California Anthony C. Beilenson
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beilenson, Anthony American environmentalists Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Politicians from Los Angeles 1932 births 2017 deaths California lawyers Democratic Party California state senators Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Harvard Law School alumni Politicians from New Rochelle, New York Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Activists from New Rochelle, New York Activists from California People from Westwood, Los Angeles 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American Jews New Rochelle High School alumni

Early life and education

Political career

Tributes

See also

References

External links