In another sign of the measure’s new support, Democratic Rep. William Clay of Missouri, who staunchly favors abortion rights and voted against the measure in the past, voted for it on Wednesday. Clay said he switched in response to an outpouring of support for the bill from constituents in his St. Louis district.
”This bill simply says that a parent has a right to know if their child is having surgery,” Clay said.
Voting for it were 216 Republicans and 54 Democrats.
Democrats complained that their efforts to soften the bill, for example, by exempting from prosecution adult siblings and grandparents who help pregnant minors, were described in the GOP-authored committee report as efforts to protect ”sexual predators.”
The measure provides certain exceptions to a mandatory waiting period and punishments, such as when the abortion would save the life of the mother. Also excepted are any physician presented with documentation showing that a court in the minor’s home state waived any parental notification requirements. In addition the bill makes an exception for minors who have signed a written statement saying that she is a victim of sexual abuse by a parent and can back it up with documentation of having reported that abuse to a state authority.
The House rejected two Democratic amendments that would have added immunity from prosecution and civil suits confidants of the minor who help transport her — such as grandparents and clergy — and others involved in the violation, such as taxicab and bus drivers.
Bebe J. Anderson, a lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said it would produce ”a confusing maze of requirements … designed to isolate some teens and leave others with no safe options.” link
It is probably not necessary to comment too much on this here, but for the benefit of lurkers who may be unaware, young girls who find themselves in the unfortunate position of confronting an unwanted pregnancy who have loving, understanding and supportive parents do not need any laws in order to be able to talk to mom or dad about this or any other problem.
The children who will suffer, many of whom will die, if the US passes this legislation, are victims of sexual abuse and rape, usually at the hands of a family member or “family friend,” who are too frightened to tell anyone about their situation, much less walk into the police station or the courthouse and start signing denunciations of their abuser, and then walk back to the house where the abuser lives.
There is more chance that a counselor at a reproductive clinic will be able to gain enough of the girl’s confidence to be able to help her, and more likely that the counselor will have the resources, and the will, to help her here and now, where do I sleep tonight, please not in the prison, issues than “law enforcement” personnel or judicial bureaucrats.
And if she’s a girl in a small community where everybody down at the courthouse knows Dad, or Uncle Secret, or in cases where Dad or Uncle Secret are exactly whom she will see if she walks in there, well, you figure it out.
There is also the reality that the US is a very diverse society, with some very wide differences regarding cultural values and practices. In some cultures, for example, and no, it has nothing to do with Islam, rape victims are seen as having brought shame to the family.
These girls are minors, and they do need protection – they need the protection of a society that puts a higher value on their lives than this.
Very well-written diary. So doctors are severely restricted too?
That is the net result. Like to have a little fun with your nubile pre-teen stepdaughter?
No need to worry that she’ll get spooked by a bun in the oven and start mouthing off about things you have made very clear are private.
Pride yourself on keeping up the good old customs of Uttar Pradesh right there in River City? The government is on your side.
Apologies to the ladies for the vulgarity. Anyone who has ever known a young girl in a situation that might be a no-brainer for an adult, but to a child, makes death look good, will understand.
And so goes the beginning of the end to legal abortions…imho. Now all they need is a good ol’ boy on the bench and they can continue their fight to make abortion illegal again. Disgusting pigs. Is it any wonder either that the majority of our reps are men? Sorry guys, don’t mean to lump you all together. I know there are plenty here that are pro-choice. As one who gave birth at 18 and then chose to have an abortion a few years later, I wonder often how different my life would have been had I not had that choice.
My suggestion when confronted with increasing restrictions based on assumptions, would be to counter with more enforcement of sexual crimes against children and young girls.
It does not help to simply say well there are plenty of girls abused by step-dad, and not want to provide a safety net for those girls.
A girls seeking an abortion who is the victim of a sex crime should be encouraged to seek recourse in the courts.
They should be encouraged to press charges, encouraged to seek shelter if needed, and this problem needs to see the light of day. Child sexual abusers never see the light of day because the obvious. If they have broke the law by having sex with a minor is an invisible line between state borders going to stop them from trying to cover it up?
This law will effect good decent people, not criminals, but we need to step up the pressure. Let them put there money where their mouth is and do something to really protect young girls from predators. Rather than confront the issue here everyone seems to ACCEPT that girls will be victimized. Sorry that isn’t good enough for me.
The law as written is simply ridiculous, and not very well-thought out. They throw up these obsolescent state borders they cling to and claim some rights are more right than others depending what side you are on, then do not seek justice for true victims within their own border.
What a farce. I suspect the (R) would run scared because they will be reluctant to provide any support options. (It might cut down on their constituency).
Democrats have the opportunity to put some real meaning to provide a safe haven for girls who have been victimized, and they should call out Republicans on this. Counter with an amendment that provides a girl with resources if she has been victimized.
One, they do not have value except as a commodity. Only very affluent kids have their own purchasing power.
Two, mental health care in the US sucks. And so do cultural attitudes toward it. If the adult who is abusing her has never sought help for his problem, likely does not know where to seek such help if he wanted to, why not start by working on that? Why not set up a structure for Uncle Secret, and encourage him to get help?
He is, after all, the responsible one, the adult. Why should the burden be on the minor child?
We are not talking about adult women here. We are talking about young girls. Minors. Children. It is accepted, and codified in the law that they cannot give an informed consent to sexual activity.
There’s a reason for that. Kids are not ready, emotionally or intellectually to deal with all the vagaries and consequences of sexual activity, even within the context of a consensual relationship with someone who is not a relative, or an authority figure.
You can pass all the laws against sexual predators that you want to, but the fact remains that most abused minors are abused by adults close to them.
And there you run into all kinds of complications, the impact on other family members. Seek shelter? The only shelter a little girl knows is her home.
It’s a toss-up – leave your home and go sleep in a prison, or stay home and be sexually abused. Maybe you don’t see it like that, but you are not a little girl!
And then what? Go back home to the abuser? Go into foster care? Hit the streets and put the special skills Uncle Secret taught her to entrepreneurial use?
I cannot tell you, nobody can tell you, the crazy mixed up hell these kids live in. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, and for fans of sad irony, the womens’ clinic is the place most likely to have counselors and access to resources who can help them, who have the training and the skills to do it.
The police and the court just does not have that. The schools do not have that.
She actually has a better chance of getting out of her situation, and getting a chance at recovery, if she does get pregnant.
That is, unless the politicians decide to take that one away from her, too.
And we have not even touched on the plight of girls who are not abused, per se, but are pregnant as a result of sexual experimentation with another minor, who come from family backgrounds where Mom and Dad are NOT going to hug her and reassure her that everything will be OK and they love her and we will get through this.
Not all homes are inhabited by enlightened, sensitive and modern parents. They may be religious extremists, they may be from a culture that views sexuality, and females in general, very differently than you do. They may be just plain nuts.
How likely would you, an adult, be to go to them with a sensitive and personal problem?
I am not sure what you are arguing-that we should NOT encourage girls to report?
I do know girls exploited, I am familiar with sexual exploitation, and child rape. So yes the reasons are various, but many girls would report if given the opportunity and shelter.
Quite frankly I don’t care if predators “get help”. Expecting them to go willingly prior to abusing a child is wishful thinking. I want them in jail. Then, we can talk about “help”. I want help for the girls.
I want them to be able to continue school if they decide to have a kid, I want them to be able to report a crime in safety, I want them to have access to counseling and shelter if they need it. And if the teen decides to have an abortion, that’s okay too.
So the problem as I see it is that on one side Republicans are cloaking an abortion restriction based upon UPROVEN ASSUMPTIONS about abuse, abortion, to basically fulfill their desire to restrict abortion without actually helping girls to report abuse, and on the other a perfect opportunity to provide a counter to that.
I do not accept your arguments that a child would rather see the abuse continue hidden. I am not arguing against abortion here, I am just in support of giving the girls resources if they choose to report a crime. Abortion clinics are the place that may see that kind of thing, and be in a position to offer help.
I understand that there are girls who are abused neglected, but simply saying well, that’s too bad, lets just get them an abortion and forget about them is not an option for me. If they want an abortion fine, if they also want to report a statutory rape, or an abuse case, then we need to fascilitate that.
A large number of unwanted teen pregnancies are by men much older than the girls. Very few are by other teens. Why should we just accept that? If a step-father is abusing a teen, then why not offer to mediate on behalf of the girl to get the mother on her side?
There are solutions, and compassion will get you there.
I think it would be terrific if the US taxpayers decided to set up a nationwide infrastructure with counselors, medical professionals, psychologists, group homes, safe houses, and a nationwide toll free number that any girl could call any time and within minutes, an unmarked vehicle would pull up, say the pass phrase, and whisk her out of harm’s way and on to a better future.
I also think it would be terrific if the US were to cease aggression and disarm, and if Hugo Chavez pulled a coup in Washington and set up a literacy and universal health care campaign.
Until we get all that, though, the army we have are womens clinics and reproductive health centers.
It pains me to say this, but getting pregnant and getting to one of those clinics is the best chance a lot of girls have of escaping from the hell they live in.
Should it be that waay? Hell, no. Is it that way? Hell, yes.
And I will repeat my assertion while we are on the shoulda oughta train, that if there were that kind of infrastructure, not to mention the underlying cultural values and will to support it, that you develop one for Uncle Secret. Give him a toll free number to a counselor, too.
As long as society is ok with tolerating Uncle Secret as long as he keeps his activities confined to the family and doesn’t go snatching prey off the street and triggering Amber Alerts, the burden will stay on the child to “fix” things.
Hugo Chavez is crazy,practically illiterate and his ego is bigger than his sense. The romanticising of Chavez needs to stop.
So that is fine that you can uphold covering up uncle secret, I am not. I know grown women who would have rather have had the choice, rather than no other choice.
My position is that no alternatives or meaningful discourse on this issue is going to quietly erode whatever rights women do have in seeking abortions.
Sarcasm doesn’t help, and the infrastructure does exist , from the RAIN hotline, to many STOP Domestic violence shelters, required reporting laws, (same girl seeks counseling, a psychiatrist is MANDATED TO REPORT ABUSE, as are teachers, school counselors, Scout Leaders, and social welfare providers. So many of the adults they pass on the way to the abortion clinic are required upon penalty of losing their license, to report to the police. It is one small measure to ask one more question on any questionaire at the clinic.
IS THIS PREGNANCY THE RESULT OF A RAPE, or UNWANTED SEX? See? No big deal. Ask the question, if it is checked yes, then you can still get the abortion, but also maybe some resources, a ride to a shelter, or mediation between mom and boyfriend.
Doing nothing leaves it unchecked, and allows the guy to pick on little sister.
I am not in favor of protecting Uncle Secret. This proposed law is very cleverly designed to do just that, as an added bonus as it establishes the state as the owner of women’s bodies.
While I can certainly understand that there is a great profit potential for savvy investors if women can be legislated into breeding chattel, I am of the opinion that women own their own bodies, and I am opposed on general principle to human ownership of other humans.
I will grant you that Chavez’ supporters are poor people who put their own selfish concerns about food and medical care for their kids above the interests of key US corporations.
I am not sure where the charge of “barely illiterate” comes from, but it gives me the opportunity to mention that he has just begun a campaign to make the nation, and the region, an “illiteracy-free” zone, a chilling development which imperialists are quite right to fear.
Ducty, check your e-mail immediately.