[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 13 (Monday, January 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H477-H478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTRODUCING THE WOMEN'S RIGHT TO KNOW ACT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 1995, the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder] is
recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, today what I wanted to talk about was
the fact that the gentleman from Connecticut, Chris Shays, and I and
any number of bipartisan Members will be introducing today the Women's
Right To Know Act.
We feel that this is a very, very critical bill that unequivocally
asserts that women are adults and that they have the right to receive
information about the full range of their reproductive health choices,
and the Federal Government should do nothing to either gag their
medical professionals that are dealing with them or put cotton in the
ears of the women and say that they are not able to hear it.
[[Page H478]] As Members know, this goes right to the gag rule which
right now is very shaky. President Clinton lifted the gag rule when he
came into office, but this Congress has never lifted it through
legislation, so what this is saying is that no government, be they
Federal, State, or local, can dictate to doctors or to any medical
professional what women can hear nor tell women that they cannot hear
it.
We introduced this bill on this very historic 23d anniversary of Roe
versus Wade, which the Supreme Court upheld and has continued to
uphold. We also know that in the Republican contract for a while the
gag rule repeal was being overridden. They were putting the gag rule
back on. I am very pleased that the Republican contract decided that
was not where they were supposed to be, and that came away, but it
makes us all feel a little uncertain.
We think the time has come for Members to rally around in a
bipartisan manner, stand up very firmly, and say that if women are
going to have responsibility for their lives, we have to treat them
like responsible adults. I am very pleased that many members of the
medical profession obviously agree with us: no more gag rules for women
and no more gag rules for doctors.
We have the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
agreeing with us, we have the American Medical Association agreeing
with us, and I could go on and on with people saying women should be
treated equally at all levels in their doctor-patient relationship.
This is important to move forward on, and I think it is also an
interesting time to pose it, because we saw yesterday the death of Rose
Kennedy. Here is a woman who, when she was born, could not vote, and
just a few days before she died, saw her granddaughter sworn into
office. What a change that woman saw in her life.
I think we have seen women becoming more and more empowered under
this Government, but I think the gag rule goes right at that
empowerment of women and says we are not mature enough to hear what is
out there, or hear what different choices are. If we are going to hold
women accountable, we have to treat them as adults.
Mr. Speaker, I hope many Members of this body will join with the
gentleman from Connecticut and I and the other bipartisan cosponsors
and get on with this, because it is time once and for all that we
legislatively join with the President in saying that the gag rule
should not be there, the Federal Government should not deny the right
to hear information on health to any American citizen, nor should the
Federal Government or any U.S. section of government dictate to the
medical profession what they can say to different people within our
society.
That is wrong, and that is un-American. That certainly is turning
back the clock, not moving the clock forward, as many people have
cheered in seeing it moving forward, whether it was Rose Kennedy or
many of the rest of the women.
Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
Mrs. SCHROEDER. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.
Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank the gentlewoman from
Colorado for moving forward on this important legislation. It is just
absolutely essential that a woman know of her rights, and never be
denied because of a government law from knowing of her rights.
I just want to thank the gentlewoman for introducing this bill. We
will be working on a bipartisan basis to have the will of the Chamber
be recognized.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. I thank the gentleman from Connecticut, and I thank
the gentleman from Connecticut for his courage in standing up on this
issue. There are strong supporters on both sides of the aisle. This
should not be a partisan issue.
This is an American issue. It is about free speech, it is about
responsibility, and it is about the right to know different health
options that are out there. Therefore, I thank the gentleman for
carrying the banner on this. We will aggressively do it on this side,
and let us have a race to see who can get the most cosponsors.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, today Representative Chris Shays and I
are introducing legislation with bipartisan support for the Women's
Right To Know Act, a bill that unequivocally asserts American women's
right to receive information about the full range of their reproductive
health options.
The Women's Right To Know Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
simply says that government, Federal or State, cannot restrict a
doctor's right to give or a woman's right to receive information about
her reproduction health options, including family planning, prenatal
care, adoption, and abortion services.
We introduce this bill on the 23d anniversary of Roe versus Wade, the
case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the right to choose
abortion is protected by the Federal Constitution.
It's also a time when the gag rule stands on shaky ground. The
original Republican contract included a gag rule on information welfare
recipients could receive about abortion. We then heard that was a
mistake. It wasn't supposed to be in there.
I don't want to leave anything to chance. It's time for this Congress
to stand firm and say no more gag rules for women and no more gag rules
for doctors.
That's what this bill says. We say it's a doctor's right to give
information about reproductive health and a woman's right to receive
that information. Very simple.
I would like also to remind my colleagues that the American Medical
Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
strongly condemn Government interference with the freedom of
communication between physicians and patients. That is what this
legislation outlaws: Government interference with the doctor-patient
relationship.
In 1991, the Supreme Court in Rust versus Sullivan maintained that
the Government can censor health information in Federally funded family
planning clinics. That has made it more imperative than ever for
Congress to enact the Women's Right To Know Act. Passage of this act
would make it clear that censoring information about women's
reproductive health options violates a women's right to know accurate
information about her health.
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