[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 24, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2500) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and 
     State, and Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes:

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the DeGette amendment, 
and I thank my colleague for her strong leadership on this issue.
  A woman's right to make a private decision to terminate a pregnancy 
is the law of the land. The prohibition on prisoners' access to 
abortion services in federal prison facilities contained in this bill 
does not make it impossible for women in prison to obtain an abortion--
but it deliberately makes it more expensive, more difficult and less 
private.
  In my view, the only reason the ban does not go further--ban abortion 
outright--is because Americans support a woman's right to choose. I 
know that many of my colleagues do not, and I respect their views on 
this issue. I know that these colleagues would vote to overturn the Roe 
v. Wade decision immediately, if they thought they could get away with 
it.
  But they don't go that far, because Americans wouldn't let them get 
away with it.
  Instead, those who oppose a women's right to choose take every 
opportunity to make the decision ever more difficult, dangerous, and 
expensive.
  I support the DeGette amendment because I believe that's the wrong 
approach. If we agree that there should be less abortion, we can and 
should work together to make the decision to terminate a pregnancy less 
necessary. The policy we are debating in this amendment--which allows 
women in federal prison to pay for an abortion outside but not obtain 
one inside the prison system--only makes the decision to terminate 
harder.
  What could we do to make the need for terminating a pregnancy less 
necessary? We could do more to promote contraceptive access and use. We 
could work harder to educate people about taking responsibility for 
protecting themselves from unintended pregnancy. We could do more to 
prevent sexual assault, rape and incest. We could work together--as our 
constituents clearly would like us to do--to ensure that most women 
never need to make the personal decision about terminating their 
pregnancy.
  Less necessary--not more harassing and less private.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the DeGette motion to 
strike.