In United States politics, the Freedom of Choice Act was a
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
which sought to codify into law for women a "fundamental right to choose to bear a child; terminate a pregnancy prior to
fetal viability
Fetal viability is the ability of a human fetus to survive outside the uterus. Medical viability is generally considered to be between 23 and 24 weeks gestational age. Viability depends upon factors such as birth weight, gestational age, and the av ...
; or terminate a pregnancy after viability when necessary to protect her life or her health". It sought to prohibit a federal, state, or local governmental entity from denying or interfering with a woman's right to exercise such choices; or discriminating against the exercise of those rights in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information. Provides that such prohibition shall apply retroactively. It also authorizes an individual aggrieved by a violation of this Act to obtain appropriate relief, including relief against a governmental entity, in a civil action".
The bill was introduced to the
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in 1989, 1993,
[ 2004][ and 2007 (/).
]
Findings sections
The bill asserts in its findings section that Congress has the affirmative power to legislate abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
based, in part, on the crossing of state lines by abortion providers, women seeking abortions, and medical supplies used in abortions.
Status and sponsorship
The bill was first introduced to the Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in 1989 and again in 1993.
/ref> It was reintroduced in 2004 in the 108th Congress
The 108th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during ...
,["Catholics wary of possible bill on abortion"]
. on January 21 in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
and on January 22 in the Senate.
The 2004 version was sponsored in the House of Representatives by Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...
, and originally co-sponsored by James Greenwood, Louise Slaughter
Dorothy Louise Slaughter (née McIntosh, August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States Representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. She served as the Dean of the ...
, and Diana Degette
Diana Louise DeGette (; born July 29, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, her district is based in Denver. DeGette was a Chief Deputy Whip from 2005 ...
. In the Senate, it was sponsored by Barbara Boxer, and originally co-sponsored by Senators Jon Corzine
Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...
, Patty Murray
Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...
, Frank Lautenberg
Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was ori ...
, Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, Maria Cantwell
Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Washingto ...
, Jim Jeffords, Joseph Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for V ...
, Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...
, Paul Sarbanes
Paul Spyros Sarbanes (; February 3, 1933 – December 6, 2020) was an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party from Maryland, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 ...
, and Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she also served in the United States House of Repr ...
.
The bills were referred to the Judiciary Committees of the respective Houses. Neither bill received further action in the 108th Congress
The 108th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during ...
. The bills were reintroduced on April 19 2007 in the 110th Congress
The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...
(/), but, like their predecessors, were referred to committee without further action.
During his tenure in the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
, Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
co-sponsored the 2007 Senate version of the Freedom of Choice Act (). Responding to a question regarding how he would preserve reproductive rights in a speech given to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund on July 17, 2007, Obama declared, "The first thing I'd do, as president, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do."
In a press conference on April 29, 2009, President Obama said that although he supports a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, passage of the Freedom of Choice Act was not his "highest legislative priority". Although Democrats controlled both the House and Senate during the 111th Congress
The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...
, protecting abortion rights was not prioritized since six of the nine sitting Supreme Court Justices supported upholding ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
''. Instead, Democrats focused on passing the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. It would not be until the 113th Congress
The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...
in 2013 that another abortion rights bill would be introduced, the Women's Health Protection Act.
Description and criticism
The bill is described by NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...
president Nancy Keenan
Nancy Keenan (born February 14, 1952) is an American politician, and since 2015 the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. Prior to that, she was elected to several terms in the Montana House of Representatives (1983–1989) and a ...
as a bill to "codify Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
" which would "repeal the Bush-backed Federal Abortion Ban", referring to the , and "other federal restrictions". Opponents of FOCA assert that it would, if passed, invalidate every restriction on abortion nationwide, including parental notification laws, informed consent laws, and bans on partial birth abortion. However, the bill would still prohibit partial birth abortions due to the wording of the bill and the stated definition of viability, the stage of pregnancy when there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman.[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.1173:]
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been strongly opposed to the Freedom of Choice Act. According to the USCCB's Secretariat for Pro-Life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respon ...
Activities, FOCA would not only "codify the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
''" but "in allowing and promoting abortion, FOCA goes far beyond even ''Roe''".
Opponents of FOCA assert that the bill would force taxpayers to subsidize abortion and would jeopardize existing laws prohibiting abortions in public hospitals and barring non-physicians from performing abortions. Others estimate that the passage of FOCA would result in approximately 125,000 more abortions being performed annually in the United States. Some opponents argue that FOCA would effectively repeal the Hyde Amendment
In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in ...
, a federal law which bars the use of federal funding for abortions in some cases. Legal scholar Douglas Kmiec
Douglas William Kmiec (; born September 24, 1951) is an American legal scholar, author, and former U.S. ambassador. He is the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law. Kmiec came to prominence ...
, a pro-life Republican, disagrees with the latter assertion, noting that the Hyde Amendment is renewed annually by Congress; Kmiec argues that this legislation would not supersede it.
Those who oppose the Act interpret it as an attempt to obligate religious hospitals to either "do abortions or close", while FOCA supporters argue that existing conscience clause laws would protect religious hospitals. In early 2009, Catholic News Service asserted that in its interpretation of the legislation, FOCA neither poses any such risk to Catholic hospitals, nor would require religious hospitals to participate in abortion. Opponents, however, assert that conscience clauses are weak and easily reinterpreted, and do not explicitly allow religious hospitals to ban the abortion procedure within the hospital.
The election of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, an advocate of the Freedom of Choice Act, to the presidency caused pro-life organizations to organize against the bill in early 2009. Notable campaigns that were organized include Americans United for Life
Americans United for Life (AUL) is an American anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the group opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and certain contraceptiv ...
's petition to Congress calle
Fight FOCA
and the "What the FOCA?!" campaign created by Students for Life of Illinois. Although he promised Planned Parenthood in 2007 that “the first thing I’d do as president” would be to sign it, by May 2009 he said the bill is “not my highest legislative priority”.
References
External links
''Freedom of Choice Act (Introduced in Senate)''
- Text of Senate bill S 2020 IS (2004)
''Freedom of Choice Act (Introduced in House)''
- Text of House bill HR 3719 IH (2004)
''Freedom of Choice Act (Introduced in Senate)''
- Text of Senate bill S 1173 IS (2007)
''Freedom of Choice Act (Introduced in House)''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125172018/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:H.R.1964: , date=2016-01-25 - Text of House bill HR 1964 IH (2007)
Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress
Proposed legislation of the 110th United States Congress
United States proposed federal abortion legislation
United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes