Stephen F. Freind (born April 22, 1944) is a retired American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 166th district from 1976 until 1993.^[2] He unsuccessfully challenged Arlen Specter in the 1992 Republican primary election. He was most notable for authoring the Abortion Control Act of 1982, a law that includes, with some exceptions, "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,"^[3][4] as well as another law to prevent suit against doctors for wrongful birth or wrongful life for not giving information about risk of fetal abnormalities.^[5] The Abortion Control Act 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] As of 2012, 44 states allowed adult adoptees equal access to their original birth certificates.^{[citation needed][needs update]}