[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             PROTECTION ACT

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                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 15, 1998

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Child 
Custody Protection Act. This bill is yet another attack in the ongoing 
attempt by conservative Members of this House to deny reproductive 
choice to women.
  When faced with a difficult choice, teenage girls should be 
encouraged to seek the advice and counsel from their elders and not be 
concerned with criminal consequences.
  If passed in its current form, this bill would criminalize the 
conduct of a grandmother who helps her granddaughter in a time of need. 
This bill will not lead to better family communication where it does 
not already exist. This bill is invasive and intrusive and denies a 
young woman the right to face a difficult choice with safety and 
dignity.
  Furthermore, H.R. 3682 raises important federalism issues. Laws from 
one State do not follow people to another.
  Mr. Speaker, more than 75 percent of young women already involve one 
or both parents in their decision. When a young woman cannot involve a 
parent, she should be encouraged to involve a trusted adult without the 
fear that the adult who accompanies her could face incarceration. One 
study found that half of all young women who did not involve a parent 
did involve an adult, including 15 percent who involved a step parent 
or adult relative. If this bill passes, these individuals could be 
jailed for helping to obtain a legal medical procedure.
  H.R. 3682, if enacted, would put a young woman's life at risk should 
she be unable to involve a parent or guardian. It will increase the 
chance that she will seek an illegal or self-induced abortion or delay 
the procedure, making it more dangerous.
  Instead of increasing the risks involved in abortion, let us support 
measures to make abortion less necessary by reducing teen pregnancy, 
promoting adolescent reproductive health education, and expanding 
access to confidential health services (including family planning).
  Let us not turn our backs on young people and criminalize the 
assistance of a parent or trusted adult. Young women must not be 
isolated from a supportive parent or trusted adult and must be 
encouraged to make open, honest and safe choices.
  We must protect young women from coercion by strangers, but not from 
the support of a caring adult. Mr. Speaker, this bill will put the 
reproductive health of young people at risk and infringe upon an 
individual's constitutional right to privacy and reproductive choice.
  This bill is in need of clarification to differentiate between the 
act of a caring adult and the act of an individual deserving criminal 
persecution.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

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