Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act
CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2005)
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this legislation. The bill before us is so ludicrous it would be laughable if it were not so dangerous. The bill is blatantly unconstitutional. It is unrealistic, and it is cruel.
Not since the Fugitive Slave Act has there been a law designed to extend individual State laws beyond their boundaries to intrude into the jurisdiction of other States.
The debate on this bill so far has centered on what young women should do, how families ought to be. And there is not any disagreement among us about how much we all love our kids. We all want the best for our kids, no matter what. And when it comes to making big decisions, I think we would all want our kids to come to us for advice. Certainly I would want my 15-year-old daughter to come to me first, and I think she would.
And, in fact, the majority of young women do involve one or more parents when considering an abortion. But, sadly, this is not the case for all young people in this country. For myriad reasons, many adolescents and young adults cannot turn to their parents with a problem like this. And in many situations, they have a very good reason. For example, what about the victims of incest?
Of course teenagers should seek out their parents' advice, but we also need to face reality. We need to do what will help these desperate kids from making a bad situation worse, even to take their own lives.
The government cannot, my friends, mandate healthy, open family communication when it does not exist. The bill here will not make families stronger, and will put more young women at risk.
Not everybody talks to their parents, because they cannot. And so it is these young people who most need the advice and assistance of a trusted family friend, a minister, or a sympathetic grandmother. When a young woman cannot involve her parents, public policies and medical professionals need to encourage her to involve a trusted adult. And if you look at this bill, it does just the opposite of that. If it is passed into law, these young women will have to face this life-altering decision themselves, alone and without any medical help.
So why do so many major medical associations, including the AMA, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, and the American Public Health Association, all have longstanding policies against parental notification laws?
Because they are dangerous to these young women and they take away the need for confidential access to physicians. And so I think the harm to adolescents alone, by denying access to appropriate medical care, is cruel, it is against family values, and it makes this legislation so dangerous, it so ill serves our youth. We need to vote against this bill to preserve our families.
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