[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1682-E1683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ABORTION NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2002

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                               speech of

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 25, 2002

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by clarifying a point of 
debate.
  Nothing in existing law requires hospitals, clinics, or any health 
care provider to perform an abortion against their religious or moral 
beliefs.
  This is true at the Federal level, and this is true in California, 
where additional legislation protects individual doctors and nurses 
from retaliation if they do not wish to participate in an abortion.
  The pending legislation claims to solve a problem that does not 
exist, and it does so by

[[Page E1683]]

restricting women's access to information about abortion.
  Clinics and hospitals are not required to offer abortion services, 
but in certain circumstances, are required to refer women to a doctor 
who will perform an abortion. The legislation we are debating today 
would allow a facility to accept federal funds for family planning, but 
not provide a woman information on what all of her options are. It 
would allow them to care for a Medicaid patient who has been raped, but 
not inform her that Medicaid would pay for an abortion, even if she 
asks for this information.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot have the right to choose without full 
information about our choices.
  I would never advocate forcing an individual or organization to act 
against their conscience. And nothing in current law does so. But 
providing information is not the same thing as providing services. 
Women, particularly women who have been the victim of an attack, 
deserve information about all their choices, no matter where they get 
their health care.
  I strongly oppose this legislation, and urge my colleagues to vote 
against it.

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