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Stephen Freind

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Stephen F. Freind
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 166th district
In office
1976[1]–1993
Preceded byFaith Ryan Whittlesey
Succeeded byGreg Vitali
Personal details
Born (1944-04-22) April 22, 1944 (age 80)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican

Stephen F. Freind (born 1944) is a Republican politician who served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly as the state epresentative for Delaware County from 1976 until 1993,[2] when he unsuccessfully challenged Arlen Specter in the 1992 Republican primary election. He was most notable for authoring a law that was presented as a tort reform measure but was actually designed to restrict abortion rights,[3] that included "requirements that a married woman notify her husband, that there be a 24-hour wait before any abortion, and that doctors show patients a pamphlet with pictures of developing fetuses".[4][5] It was mostly upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States except for the spousal notification provision in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.[6]

In 1988, Freind provoked controversy by claiming that it is 'almost impossible' for a woman to become pregnant through rape, as it causes her to 'secrete a certain secretion, which has a tendency to kill sperm'.[7]

In 1984, a bill drafted by Freind was enacted into law that changed the way adults who were adopted as children access their original birth certificates.[8] This became Act 195 of 1984 or Adoption Act of 1984. This act is a lesser-known component of Freind's abortion agenda. Freind was convinced that denying adult adoptees access to their original birth certificates would lower abortion rates.[9] Freind's law made Pennsylvania the last of the 48 states at the time to enact discriminatory birth certificate policies for adults who were born in Pennsylvania and adopted as children. As of 2012, 44 states allow adult adoptees equal access to their original birth certificates.

Run for Senate

In 1992 Freind decided to challenge Arlen Specter in the Republican Senate Primary allegedly because "according to the American Conservative Union" Specter "votes with conservatives only 34 percent of the time".[4] There was widespread speculation at the time, however, that Freind actually ran for the Senate because he was afraid that after narrowly surviving both the Republican primary and the general election in 1990, he would lose his seat in the General Assembly in 1992. The underfunded and anti-abortion Freind lost to Specter by a 2:1 margin.

Republican primary for the United States Senate from Pennsylvania, 1992:[10]

  • Arlen Specter (inc.) - 683,118 (65.08%)
  • Stephen F. Freind - 366,608 (34.92%)

Adoption

Needs updating.

See also

Books by Freind

  • God's Children by Stephen F. Freind (Beech Tree Books 1987) ISBN 0-688-06691-7

References

  1. ^ Cox, Harold (November 3, 2004). "Pennsylvania House of Representatives - 1975–1976" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  2. ^ DiFlaviana, K.; Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania. Dept. of Property and Supplies; Pennsylvania. Bureau of Publications (1991). The Pennsylvania Manual. Vol. 110. Department of Property and Supplies for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  3. ^ Kowitz, Julie F. (2008), "Not Your Garden Variety Tort Reform:Statutes Barring Claims for Wrongful Life and Wrongful Birth Are Unconstitutional Under the Purpose Prong of Planned Parenthood v. Casey", in Ehrenreich, Nancy (ed.), The Reproductive Rights Reader: Law, Medicine, and the Construction of Motherhood, New York University Press, p. 228, ISBN 978-0-8147-2231-2
  4. ^ a b Hinds, Michael deCourcy (1992-02-21). "The 1992 Campaign: Pennsylvania; Trouble Shadows Specter in Senate Race". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  5. ^ "A Place Where the State Does Not Belong - Supreme Court takes up Pennsylvania abortion law". Los Angeles Times. 1992-04-22. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  6. ^ Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 860 (1992).
  7. ^ Baer, John M. (23 March 1988). "Freind's Rape-pregnancy Theory Refuted". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  8. ^ Freind, Stephen (1984). "House Bill 278". 1983-1984 Regular House Session. The General Assembly of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  9. ^ Freind, Stephen (1979). "House Bill 1663" (PDF). House Legislative Journal. The Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  10. ^ PA U.S. Senate, ourcampaigns.com
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