[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 30, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had title consideration the bill (H.R. 2436) to 
     amend title 18, United States Code, and the Uniform Code of 
     Military Justice to protect unborn children from assault and 
     murder, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I wish to express my opposition to H.R. 
2436. Since the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, Congress 
has slowly passed legislation that has eroded women's reproductive 
choices. This is a personal and private decision that should be made by 
a woman, her family, her physician, and her beliefs, not subjected to 
increasing levels of government interference.
  Rather than being merely a good faith effort to protect pregnant 
mothers from violence, the ``Unborn Victims of Violence Act'' is 
actually a back door attempt to interject government into individuals' 
private lives. Harsh penalties already exist in thirty-eight states for 
crimes against pregnant women that result in the injury or death of her 
fetus.
  The overwhelming majority of crimes against pregnant women that cause 
injury to her fetus occur in cases of domestic abuse or drunk driving 
accidents, instances that are prosecutable under currently existing 
state laws. H.R. 2436 would do nothing to add to the existing 
protections against these serious and prevalent crimes. Nearly one in 
every three adult women experience at least one physical assault by 
their partner during adulthood and drunk driving accidents continue to 
result in substantial loss of life in every city across the nation. 
Instead of focusing on purely political measures aimed at the erosion 
of a women's reproductive freedom, we should be enacting more 
appropriate penalties, passing measures to promote protection from 
violence, and increasing assistance to women in life threatening 
domestic situations.
  If the sponsors of this bill truly cared about addressing violence 
against women, particularly pregnant women, they would have voted in 
support of the Lofgren Amendment that enacts strict punishments for 
crimes that result in the injury or death of the fetus without the 
inclusion of constitutionally questionable language. Or we would be 
considering the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that 
has proven to help victims of domestic violence. Clearly H.R. 2436 is 
more about politics and less about the protection of a woman or her 
fetus.

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