[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 52 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3896-S3897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-15. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Missouri urging the United 
     States Congress to reject the Freedom of Choice Act; to the 
     Committee on the Judiciary.

                               Resolution

       Whereas, the 111th United States Congress is considering 
     the Freedom of Choice Act, which purports to classify 
     abortion as a ``fundamental right'', equal in stature to the 
     right of free speech and the right to vote--rights that, 
     unlike abortion, are specifically enumerated in the United 
     States Constitution; and
       Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act would invalidate 
     any ``statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, 
     decision, policy, practice, or other action'' of any federal, 
     state, or local government or governmental office, or any 
     person acting under governmental authority that would ``deny 
     or interfere with a woman's right to choose'' abortion, or 
     that would ``discriminate against the exercise of the right . 
     . . in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, 
     services, or information''; and
       Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act would nullify 
     any federal or state law ``enacted, adopted, or implemented 
     before, on, or after the date of its enactment'' and would 
     effectively prevent the State of Missouri from enacting 
     similar protective measures in the future; and
       Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act would invalidate 
     more than 550 federal and state abortion-related laws, laws 
     supported by the majority of the American people; and
       Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act would 
     specifically invalidate the following commonsense protective 
     laws properly enacted by the State of Missouri:
       (1) A parental consent law for minors seeking an abortion;
       (2) A prohibition on government funding or use of public 
     facilities for abortions;
       (3) Health and safety regulation for abortion facilities;
       (4) A twenty-four-hour waiting period and informed consent 
     law that provides an opportunity to consider the gravity of a 
     decision to abort a child;
       (5) A partial birth abortion ban (Infant's Protection Act);
       (6) A requirement that only physicians can perform or 
     induce abortions and that such physicians maintain medical 
     malpractice insurance;
       (7) Conscience protections for doctors and hospitals not 
     wanting to perform or induce abortions;
       (8) A prohibition on performing or inducing abortions in 
     order to use fetal organs or tissue for transplantation or 
     experimentation;
       (9) Licensing of most abortion clinics as ambulatory 
     surgical centers to ensure basic health and safety of 
     patients;
       (10) Alternatives to abortion programs to encourage and 
     support women who do not want abortions; and

[[Page S3897]]

       Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act will not make 
     abortion safe or rare, but will instead actively promote and 
     subsidize abortion with federal and state tax dollars and 
     will do nothing to ensure its safety; and
       Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act will protect and 
     promote the abortion industry, endanger women and their 
     health, promote a political ideology of unregulated abortion-
     on-demand, and silence the voices of Americans who want to 
     engage in a meaningful public discussion and debate over the 
     availability, safety, and even desirability of abortion: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the members of the House of Representatives 
     of the Ninety-fifth General Assembly, hereby strongly oppose 
     the federal Freedom of Choice Act and urge the United States 
     Congress to summarily reject it; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Missouri House of Representatives 
     strongly opposes the federal Freedom of Choice Act because:
       (1) It seeks to circumvent the states' general legislative 
     authority as guaranteed by the 10th Amendment of the United 
     States Constitution;
       (2) It seeks to undermine the right and responsibility of 
     the states and the people to debate, vote on, and determine 
     abortion policy;
       (3) The protection of women's health through state 
     regulation on abortion is a compelling state interest that 
     should not be nullified by Congress; and
       (4) Its enactment would nullify laws in the State of 
     Missouri that the Missouri General Assembly and the people of 
     Missouri strongly support; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of 
     Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed 
     copy of this resolution for Barack Obama, President of the 
     United States; the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the 
     United States Senate; the Majority Leader and Minority Leader 
     of the United States House of Representatives; each member of 
     the Missouri Congressional delegation; and the Clerk of the 
     United States House of Representatives and the Secretary of 
     the United States Senate with a request that the resolution 
     be printed in the Congressional Record.

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