Shannon+and+Allie

Senator Dillon & Senator Bryan

 * Bill Topic: Abortion**

1. //Be it enacted by the Members of the McG Model Congress// 2. //of the United States of America in Congress assembled//, 3. **Section 1. Title** 4. This act may be cited as the “Protecting a Basic Right Act” 5. **Section 2. Findings** 6. “The United States was founded on core principles, such as liberty, personal 7. privacy, and, equality, which ensure that individuals are free to make their most 8. intimate decisions without govern mental interference and discrimination.” 9. “One of the most private and difficult decisions an individual makes is whether to 10. begin, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy. Those reproductive health 11. decisions are best made by women, in consultation with their loved ones and 12. health care providers.” 13. “In 1965, in //Griswold v. Connecticut// (381 U.S. 479), and in 1973, in //Roe v. Wade// 14. (410 U.S. and //Doe v. Bolton// (410 U.S. 179), the Supreme Court recognized that the 15. right to privacy protected by the Constitution encompasses the right of every 16. woman to weigh the personal, moral, and religious considerations involved in 17. deciding whether to begin, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy.” 19. “The //Roe v. Wade// decision carefully balances the rights of women to make 20. important reproductive decisions with the State's interest in potential life.” 21. “Under //Roe v. Wade// and //Doe v. Bolton//, the right to privacy protects a woman's 22. decision 22. to choose to terminate her pregnancy prior to fetal viability, with the 23. State permitted to ban abortion after fetal viability except when necessary to 24. protect a woman's life or health.” 25. In 1992, //Planned Parenthood v. Casey// decided that it is a woman’s right to decide 26. what she wants to do with her body (her husband can have no say) and that 27. “the ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the 28. Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.” 29. “Even though the //Roe v. Wade// decision has stood for more than 30 years, there 30. are increasing threats to reproductive health and freedom emerging from all 31. branches and levels of government.” 32. “To guarantee the protections of Roe v. Wade, Federal legislation is necessary.” 33. Abortion is the removal of a fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy. 34. Worldwide, approximately 46 million abortions are performed per year and 35. 126,000 10. per day. 36. In the United States, 1.37 million are performed per year and 3,700 per day. 37. 52% of abortions are performed on women 25 or younger. 38. 32% are performed on women ages 20-24. 39. 20% are performed on teenagers. 40. 1.2% are performed on girls under 15. 41. 60% are performed on white women. 42. Black women are three times more likely to have an abortion and Hispanic women 43. are 2 times as likely. 44. 64.4% are performed on never-married women. 45. 18.4% are performed on married women. 46. 9.4% are performed on divorced women. 47. 37.4% are performed on Protestant women. 48. 31.3% are performed on Catholic women. 49. 1.3% are performed on Jewish women. 50. 23.7% are performed on women with no religious affiliation. 51. 18% are performed on women who identify as “Born-again/Evangelical.” 52. 28.7% are performed on women with family incomes below $15,000. 53. 19.5% are performed on women with family incomes between $15,000 and 54. $29,999. 55. 52% occur before the 9th week of pregnancy. 56. 1% are performed after the 20th week. 57. There are two types of abortion: medical and surgical. 58. Medical abortion is one that ends the pregnancy by taking two of three 59. medications: Mifepristone, Methotrexate and Misoprostol. Medical abortions take 60. anywhere from one day to 3-4 weeks. 61. The most common side effects of a medical abortion are cramps and vaginal 62. bleeding, but an also include headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, chills 63. or fatigue. 64. About 95-98% of women have successful medical abortions. 65. Women are required to visit a clinic or medical office for a follow-up visit to make 66. sure that the abortion has been completed. 67. There is no evidence to support the claim that a medical abortion is unsafe for 68. women. 69. Surgical abortion ends a pregnancy by emptying the uterus with special 70. instruments. 71. 88% of women who obtain abortions are less than 13 weeks pregnant. 72. 97% of these women have no complications. 73. 2.5% have minor complications that can be handled at the facility where the 74. abortion was performed. 75. Nearly 1/3 of all abortions after 12 weeks are obtained by teenagers. 76. A major cause of delay is the parental notification or consent rule, which greatly 77. hinders minors with abusive or absent parents. 78. Another major delay is lack of funds, especially for women who depend on the 79. federal government for health insurance. 80. Fewer than 2% of abortions are performed 21 weeks or after. 81. It is extremely rare for abortions to occur after 26 weeks. 82. When abortion was illegal in the United States (1880s-1973), complications from 83. self-induced abortions and abortions performed by untrained practitioners were 84. the leading causes of death among women. 85. “Prior to the Roe V. Wade decision, an estimated 1,200,000 women each year 86. were forced to resort to illegal abortions, despite the risk of unsanitary 87. conditions, incompetent treatment, infection, hemorrhage, disfiguration, and 88. death.” 89. Around 68,000 women worldwide die each year from unsafe abortions in countries 90. where abortion is illegal. 91. “Incremental restrictions on the right to choose imposed by Congress and State 92. legislatures have made access to abortion care extremely difficult, if not 93. impossible, for many women across the country.” 94. 87% of the counties in the United States have no abortion 95. provider. 96. Abortion is one of the most common and safest medical procedures today. 97. “While abortion should remain safe and legal, women should also have more 98. meaningful access to family planning services that prevent unintended 99. pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for abortion.” 100. “A woman should have equal access to contraceptive services to help prevent an 101. unintended pregnancy and to pregnancy-related care if she does become 102. pregnant.” 103. Contraceptive use reduces a woman’s probability of having an abortion by 85%. 104. Publicly funded contraceptive services have been shown to prevent 1,300,000 105. unintended pregnancies each year. 106. Without publicly funded contraceptive services, the United States abortion rate 107. would likely increase by 40%. 108. “Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any cell in the 109. body, and may have the potential to treat medical conditions such as diabetes 110. and Parkinson’s disease.” 111. **Section 2. Purposes** 112. To protect the rights of American women. 113. To uphold the decisions of //Roe v. Wade// 114. To reinstate the 24-hour rule, including informed consent. 115. To maintain public funding in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest and fetal 116. abnormality. 117. To maintain insurance for public employees in cases of life endangerment, rape, 118. incest and fetal abnormality. 119. To maintain the restrictions on 3rd trimester abortions except in cases where the 120. mother’s health is in danger. 121. To increase sexual education that includes safe-sex practices and information 122. about all options. 123. To provide easier access to birth control and emergency contraception. 124. To discontinue parental notification policies. 125. To allow the use of aborted fetuses for stem cell research. //With the Mothers consent (add by the committee)// 126. **Section 3. Eligibility** 127. The American people, especially American women. 128. Women who have an unwanted pregnancy, especially those due to rape or incest. 129. Underage girls, especially those with absent or abusive parents. 130. Citizens suffering from diseases that can benefit from stem cell research. 131. **Section 4: Terms and Benefits** 132. All decisions in this bill will be required of all states, because one abortion can 133. be affected by multiple states. 134. All medical professionals administering abortions must explain to the patient 135. what an abortion consists of, all the side-effects of abortion, and all other 136. options. 137. After informing the patient, medical professionals must send the patient home 138. and refuse to perform an abortion on them for 24-hours. 139. The United States government must continue to give a portion of money gained 140. through taxes to alleviate the costs of abortion in cases of life endangerment, 141. rape, incest and fetal abnormality. 142. The United States government must continue to provide medical insurance to 143. public employees to alleviate the costs of abortion in cases of life //In the case of certain death// //(added by the committee)// 144. endangerment, rape, incest and fetal abnormality. 145. Medical officials can only perform abortions in the 3rd trimester if the mother’s 146. health is in danger and both lives can be lost if the pregnancy continues. 147. Medical officials can and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for 148. performing abortions in the 3rd trimester without being able to prove that the 149. mother’s health was in danger. 150. The United States government will ensure that all public schools provide Sexual 151. Education. 152. Sexual Education teachers are required to teach courses that include safe-sex 153. practices (not abstinence only) and information about all options (abortion, 154. adoption, etc.) 155. Public schools are required to put Sexual Education teachers whose courses are 156. abstinence only on leave. 157. Pharmacists are required to provide birth control, contraceptives and emergency 158. contraception to women, no 159. matter what their religious beliefs or personal views dictate. 160. Pharmacists who refuse to provide emergency contraception can and will be //The Committee would like to know HOW.// 161. prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 162. Medical officials can not require minors to notify a parent that they are getting 163. abortion and/or provide parental consent. 164. Medical officials who deny a minor an abortion because of a lack of parental 165. consent and/or notification can and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the 166. law. 167. Medical officials must offer a percentage of aborted fetuses (at least 50%) to //The committee changed this to the Mother's Consent// 168. stem cell clinics for research. 169. **Section 6: Administration** 170. This bill will be administered by the federal government because: 171. Women and their rights can not be treated differently from state to state. 172. No matter where a woman lives, she should have the same rights as any other 173. woman in any other state. 174. Many women travel to different states to receive abortions. 175. Reproductive health clinics purchase medicine across state lines and have 176. employees who work across sate lines.

http://www.cbrinfo.org/Resources/fastfacts.html

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:yiRGN1L9PwkJ:www.fas.org/spp/civil/crs/RL31015.pdf+Embryonic+stem+cells+have+the+ability+to+develop+into+virtually+any+cell+in+the+109.+body,+and+may+have+the+potential+to+treat+medical+conditions+such+as+diabetes+110.+and+Parkinson%E2%80%99s+disease.%E2%80%9D&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2593

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2916


 * Similar Bills from the Senate and House**

S. 2593: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2593 (click on text) S. 2916: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2916 (click on text)

Public Agenda: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=abortion
 * Resources**