On Sept. 18, 1992, the Senate Judiciary Committee and dozens of invited guests gathered to consider, among other things, the link between religious freedom and abortion. The focus of the hearing was the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill designed to restore religious exercise protections that recently had been severely limited by the Supreme Court. The act enjoyed broad support from faith groups, politicians and civil rights organizations like the ACLU, as committee member and bill co-sponsor Sen. Ted Kennedy noted in his opening remarks.