[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1624 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 1624

   To modify the jurisdiction of the Federal courts with respect to 
                               abortion.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 1995

  Mr. Dornan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To modify the jurisdiction of the Federal courts with respect to 
                               abortion.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The judiciary has the sole right to place an 
        authoritative interpretation on the Constitution, an 
        interpretation that is binding on the executive and legislative 
        branches of government, as well as the American people.
            (2) The question of when life begins is beyond not only the 
        competency of the judiciary to answer but also the authority of 
        the court as defined in Article III of the United States 
        Constitution.
            (3) Roe v. Wade took from the States the authority to 
        prohibit abortion.
            (4) Article III, section 2 of the Constitution stipulates 
        that ``the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, 
        both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such 
        regulations as the Congress shall make''.
            (5) This exceptions clause gives the Congress power to 
        withdraw specific categories of cases from the Supreme Court's 
        review.
            (6) The Supreme Court's position in Ex Parte McCardle 
        recognized that the exceptions clause gives the Congress some 
        meaningful power to control the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. 
        In McCardle, the Court upheld the constitutionality of a 
        congressional statute which withdrew the Supreme Court's 
        jurisdiction to hear cases arising under an 1867 habeas corpus 
        statute.
            (7) Withdrawing the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction 
        over abortion, and the jurisdiction over abortion of the 
        inferior Federal courts created by the Congress, would take the 
        abortion matter back to the States and allow the people, 
        through a republican and representative form of government, to 
        decide this issue.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS.

    (a) Restriction on Jurisdiction.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 
inferior courts established by the Congress under Article III of the 
Constitution of the United States, shall not have jurisdiction to hear, 
or to review by appeal or otherwise, any case arising out of any 
statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of a State which relates to 
abortion, or arising out of any act interpreting, applying, or 
enforcing such a State statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation.
    (b) Definition.--As used in this section, the term ``State'' means 
each of the several States and the District of Columbia.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

    Section 2 applies to any case pending on or commenced on or after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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