A Unique Opportunity to Uphold Parental Love and Care
On May 21, 1998, the Constitution Subcommittee of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on the Child Custody Protection Act (HR 3682). This bill would make it a federal offense to transport a minor girl across a state line to obtain an abortion, if this circumvents a state law requiring parental or judicial involvement in the minor's abortion decision.
Pro-life Congressman James Oberstar (D-Mn.) presented the testimony that appears below, which provides one more compelling illustration of why the legislation is needed. Mr. Oberstar's testimony has been slightly edited for publication here.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I would like to share with you the story of a family I know that illustrates in horrific detail why I am an original co-sponsor of the legislation that we are discussing today. The husband and wife were unable to testify today because of the deep trauma their family has experienced and their desire to protect their daughter from further distress, but they have asked me to share their story in the hope that it may help to spare others from the anguish they have endured.
On April 15, my friends found out that their 14-year-old daughter was pregnant. As a family, they were devastated. Although they had always believed that life is sacred and rejected abortion as an option, they were suddenly faced with the very real impact that an unwanted pregnancy for a child has on a family. They agonized over deciding whether their daughter could mentally withstand the stress of carrying the baby to term versus the horrible guilt for their daughter and themselves associated with aborting the baby solely for their own convenience.
My friends decided to take time to carefully study the options. They took their daughter for an ultrasound so she could see the fetus growing within her and think about what that developing life might mean. They scheduled a visit to a nearby residential community and school established for young, unwed, pregnant teens. They also scheduled a visit to a nearby crisis pregnancy center so their daughter could better understand abortion procedures, risks, and psychological consequences. They arranged for discussions with adoption agencies so they could understand how a baby might bring joy to some deserving couple out of the pain that they as a family would endure during their daughter's pregnancy. And they prayed frequently with their family, friends, and church community for guidance.
My friends' daughter was swamped with confusing and conflicting feelings about the pregnancy. Initially, she wanted an abortion to avoid the terrible impact on her life of an unwanted baby. Then, as she reflected on her family and her own religious belief she decided that she would have to see the pregnancy through and give up the baby for adoption since she knew she had no resources to raise and care for a baby. Then she thought briefly about her responsibility to this new life and considered the possibility of keeping the baby and trying to provide the love and care that an infant and developing child would need.
While my friends were struggling with trying to find the right answer for their family, and their daughter was experiencing a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, their daughter's friends, some of whom were over 20 years old, were pressuring her to have an abortion and end the pregnancy. Without any concern for the potential risks to this young girl, without consideration of the consequences to the family, and with no thought of the long-term psychological consequences to this child, they continued to "turn up the heat" on her to have an abortion.
Finally, on May 1, my friend's daughter ran away from home, helped by these older so-called friends. The girl left before my friends were even able to help her finish looking at her options. Before she could see what support might be available to her, and before the procedures and consequences of the abortion could be explained.
For sixteen days, my friends' daughter was missing and they heard nothing from her. In their anguish, my friends imagined every conceivable terrible thing that could happen to their daughter. The combined efforts of the police department and the sheriff's department were unable to locate this missing girl. In the case of the police department, they told my friends that they processed almost 2,000 runaway cases a year and had only 2 detectives assigned to follow up on current cases. When the police learned that my friends' daughter might be seeking an abortion, they showed even less concern for trying to find this missing teenager. Empty nights of loneliness and regret gave way to dreary dawns of increasing hopelessness as time passed, and no word came back on the location of their daughter.
Finally, completely unexpectedly, my friends' daughter showed up at home, pale as a ghost, weak,distraught, and emotionally nearly destroyed. Her so-called friends had helped her obtain an abortion outside of her home state using a false name, and probably false medical information. Then they dumped her back near her parents' house and disappeared. This broken girl is now hospitalized for severe depression and faces a long and difficult recovery. Her family has been torn and denied the opportunity to provide the love, support, and advice that she needed to make a well-thought-out decision on the best possible course of action for herself. Bullied by thoughtless and self-centered outsiders, my friends' daughter succumbed to coercion and was drawn away from the family that loved her at the time she needed them most.
These vile so-called friends of this young girl are criminals in every sense of the word, except the one that is most important. By luring my friends' daughter away from her family and taking her out of state to have an abortion, they have wrought untold destruction on a young girl, her parents, and her brother. Their despicable actions should make them criminally liable and the proposed legislation will provide the necessary basis for prosecution of similar acts in the future.
There are no circumstances where a child should be stolen from her family and have an invasive medical procedure with dire psychological consequences performed out of state. We owe it to families across the country to protect their right and responsibility to reach their own informed decisions on the best way to handle their children's pregnancies. We owe it to parents to punish those people who contemptuously intervene in the family's deliberations, snatch children from their parents, hustle them out of state, and coerce them into potentially very destructive decisions that will have lifelong consequences.
Much is said these days about family values. Here is a chance to speak out for the real value of a family. Through enacting this legislation, we have a unique opportunity to uphold the love and care that parents feel for their daughters during the most difficult decisions that they may ever face. Let's protect families from outside interference and affirm the responsibility of families to make decisions in the best interests of their children.