[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S985-S986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 294

  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, today I rise to ask that the Senate grant 
unanimous consent to pass a bill that restores parents' rights to be 
part of medical decisions for their children.
  More than 70 percent of Americans agree that parents should have the 
legal right to stop an abortion from being performed on their minor 
child. Consequently, more than half of the States have laws on the 
books that require some form of parental notification. Unfortunately, 
the State laws cannot be fully enforced when children travel over State 
lines or abortion providers assist minors in circumventing State laws.

[[Page S986]]

  More troubling, evidence has surfaced in recent years that abortion 
clinic staff deliberately fail to report suspected cases of statutory 
rape as required by Federal law. In some cases, staff even help to hide 
these crimes from parents and law enforcement
  An undercover operation revealed that a disturbing 91 percent of 
Planned Parenthood employees agreed to help conceal an instance of 
statuary rape when a caller posing as a 13-year-old girl indicated she 
wanted to conceal a relationship with a 22-year-old boyfriend by 
getting an abortion. This too often means that children seeking 
abortions are left alone and vulnerable when making a very difficult 
decision.
  My bill, the Parental Notification and Intervention Act, would combat 
the troubling trend that cuts parents out of medical decisionmaking. 
The bill prohibits an abortion provider from performing an abortion on 
an unemancipated child without written notification to parents. This 
creates legal protections for parents and ensures that children are not 
left alone or unsupported when making difficult medical decisions with 
long-lasting consequences.
  Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further 
consideration of S. 294 and the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration. Further, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the 
majority of the minors who become pregnant tell their parents about the 
pregnancy even when they plan to seek an abortion. But it is not always 
possible or even advisable that a parent be informed. For some minors, 
telling their parents that they were sexually active, let alone 
pregnant, can lead to physical abuse. It can lead to those minors being 
thrown out of their homes. One study found that 45 percent of young 
people who did not seek advice from their parents about a pregnancy 
experienced significant negative consequences--such as punishment, 
abuse, being forced out of their home--when their parents found out.
  By requiring that parents of minors seeking an abortion be notified 
and setting the bar for an exception to this rule at a nearly 
insurmountable level, this bill ignores this reality of what might 
happen to these young people. In doing so, it turns an already 
difficult decision for a young person into an almost impossible one. It 
puts minors' health and safety at risk while doing nothing to 
strengthen families.
  This is made clear by the fact that all of the major medical 
organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American 
Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the 
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American 
Public Health Association--all of these groups oppose laws like this 
one that mandate parental involvement in minors' abortion decisions.
  Let's be clear. This is yet another partisan attack on a woman's 
constitutionally-protected right to choose. It is completely 
unnecessary and distracts from the important work the Senate is doing 
right now to deliver urgently needed COVID relief.
  For these reasons, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's objection is heard

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