[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 80 (Thursday, May 31, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H3280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PRENATAL NONDISCRIMINATION ACT

  (Ms. BONAMICI asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Prenatal 
Nondiscrimination Act, which is yet another misleading bill that 
purports to help women, when in reality it takes away their freedom to 
control their own reproductive health. Mr. Speaker, we should be 
talking about jobs, but instead we're spending time on this divisive 
issue.
  We can all agree that women should not choose to terminate a 
pregnancy based solely on gender, but this bill criminalizes a legal 
procedure and puts doctors in the role of legal and moral arbiter, and 
could give almost anyone who asserts an interest an effective veto over 
a woman's intimate personal health care decision.
  This bill is another attempt to limit a woman's ability to make her 
own decisions about her life and her health. It will restrict the 
rights of women to obtain a completely legal and constitutionally 
protected medical procedure. If we want to truly and effectively 
address the issue of gender-selective abortion--a problem much more 
pervasive in other parts of the world--there are much better ways to do 
it than making suspects out of women and criminals out of doctors.

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