[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 105 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9438-S9439]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ASHCROFT:
  S. 2380. A bill to require the written consent of a parent of an 
unemancipated minor prior to the provision of contraceptive drugs or 
devices to such a minor, or the referral of such minor for abortion 
services, under any Federally funded program; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.


                       putting parents first act

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to 
reaffirm the vital role parents play in the lives of their children. My 
legislation, the Putting Parents First Act, will guarantee that parents 
have the opportunity to be involved in their children's most important 
decisions--whether or not to have an abortion and whether or not to 
receive federally-subsidized contraception.
  The American people have long understood the unique role the family 
plays in our most cherished values. As usual, President Reagan said it 
best. Within the American family, Reagan said, ``the seeds of personal 
character are planted, the roots of public value first nourished. 
Through love and instruction, discipline, guidance and example, we 
learn from our mothers and fathers the values that will shape our 
private lives and public citizenship.''
  The Putting Parents First Act contains two distinct provisions to 
protect the role of parents in the important life decisions of their 
minor children. The first part ensures that parents are given every 
opportunity to be involved in a child's decision whether or not to have 
an abortion. Specifically, the Act prohibits any individual from 
performing an abortion upon a woman under the age of 18 unless that 
individual has secured the informed written consent of the minor and a 
parent or guardian. In accordance with Supreme Court decisions 
concerning state-passed parental consent laws, the Putting Parents 
First Act allows a minor to forego the parental involvement requirement 
where a court has issued a waiver certifying that the process of 
obtaining the consent of a parent or guardian is not in the best 
interests of the minor or that the minor is emancipated.
  For too long, the issue of abortion has polarized the American 
people. To some extent, this is the inevitable result of vastly 
distinct views of what an abortion is. Many, including myself, view 
abortion as the unconscionable taking of innocent human life. Others, 
including a majority of Supreme Court Justices, view abortion as a 
constitutionally-protected alternative for pregnant women.
  There are, however, a few areas of common ground where people on both 
sides of the abortion issue can agree. One such area of agreement is 
that, whenever possible, parents should be involved in helping their 
young daughters to make the critically important decision of whether or 
not to have an abortion. A recent CNN/USA Today survey conducted by the 
Gallup Organization found that 74 percent of Americans support parental 
consent before an abortion is performed on a girl under age 18. Even 
those who do not view an abortion as a taking of human life recognize 
it as a momentous and life-changing decision that a minor should not 
make alone. The fact that nearly 40 states have passed laws requiring 
doctors to notify or seek the consent of a minor's parents before 
performing an abortion also demonstrates the consensus in favor of 
parental involvement.

  The instruction and guidance of which President Reagan spoke are 
needed most when children are forced to make important life decisions. 
It is hard to imagine a decision more fundamental in our culture than 
whether or not to beget a child. Parental involvement in this crucial 
decision is necessary to ensure that the sanctity of human life is 
given appropriate consideration. There are few more issues deserving of 
our attention than promoting parental involvement.
  Only half of the 39 states with parental involvement laws on the 
books currently enforce them. Some states have enacted laws that have 
been struck down in state or federal courts while in other states the 
executive department has chosen not to enforce the legislature's will. 
As a result, just over 20 states have parental laws in effect today. In 
these states, parents do not have the right to be involved in their 
minor children's most fundamental decisions, decisions that can have 
severe physical and emotional health consequences for young women.
  Moreover, in those states where laws requiring consent are on the 
books and being enforced, those laws are frequently circumvented by 
pregnant minors who cross state lines to avoid the laws' requirements. 
Sadly, nowhere is this problem more apparent than in my home state of 
Missouri. I was proud to have successfully defended Missouri's parental 
consent law before the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood versus 
Ashcroft. Unfortunately, the law has not been as effective as I had 
hoped. A study last year in the American Journal of Public Health found 
that the odds of a minor traveling out of state for an abortion 
increased by over 50 percent after Missouri's parental consent law went 
into effect.
  The limited degree of enforcement and the ease with which state laws 
can be evaded demand a national solution. The importance of protecting 
life demands a national solution. It is time for Congress to act. 
Requiring a parent's consent before a minor can receive an abortion is 
one way states have chosen to protect not only the role of parents and 
the health and safety of young women, but also, the lives of the 
unborn. Congress shares with the states the authority--and duty--to 
protect life under the Constitution. Thus, enactment of a federal 
parental consent law will allow Congress to protect the guiding role of 
parents as it protects human life.
  The Putting Parents First Act is based on state statutes that already 
have been determined to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. 
The legislation establishes a minimum level of parental involvement 
that must be honored nationwide. It does not preempt state parental 
involvement laws that provide additional protections to the parents of 
pregnant minors.

[[Page S9439]]

  The second part of the Putting Parents First Act extends the idea of 
parental involvement to the arena of federally-subsidized 
contraception. Currently, the federal government funds many different 
programs through the Department of Health and Human Services and the 
Department of Education that can provide prescription contraceptive 
drugs and devices, as well as abortion referrals, to minors without 
parental consent.
  The case of the little girl from Crystal Lake, IL is just one 
example, but it makes clear everything that is wrong with current law 
in this area. In that case, the young girl was just 14 years old when 
her 37-year-old teacher brought her to the county health department for 
birth control injections. He wanted to continue having sex with her, 
but had grown tired of using condoms. A county health official injected 
the young girl with the controversial birth control drug Depo-Provera 
without notifying the girl's parents. The teacher knew that federal 
Title X rules prohibited clinics from notifying parents when issuing 
birth control drugs to minors. He continued to molest her for 18 months 
until the girl finally broke down and told her parents. The teacher was 
arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. The young girl spent 
five days a week in therapy and is still recovering from effects of 
anorexia nervosa.
  Although the teacher's crime was unspeakable, it was the federal 
government's policy that allowed him to shield his crime for so long. 
This is an outrage. The policy of the Government of the United States 
should be to help parents to help their children. Providing 
contraceptives and abortion referrals to children without involving 
parents undermines, not strengthens the role of parents. Worse yet, it 
jeopardizes the health of children.
  The current law for federally-funded contraceptives puts bureaucrats 
in front of parents when it comes to a child's decision-making process. 
That is intolerable. We must put parents first when it comes to such 
critical decisions. The legislation I am introducing today restores 
common sense to government policy by requiring programs that receive 
federal funds to obtain a parent's consent before dispensing 
contraceptives or referring abortion services to the parent's minor 
child.
  In my view, Mr. President, sound and sensible public policy requires 
that parents be involved in critical, life-shaping decisions involving 
their children. A young person whose life is in crisis may be highly 
anxious, and may want to take a fateful step without their parents' 
knowledge. But it is at these times of crisis that children need their 
parents, not government bureaucrats or uninvolved strangers. This 
legislation will strengthen the family and protect human life by 
ensuring that parents have the primary role in helping their children 
when they are making decisions that will shape the rest of their lives.
                                 ______