[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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