CANDIDATE:

• I support laws that would protect women from being pressured into unwanted abortions.

• I support laws that would hold abortion businesses accountable for failing to protect the rights of women who are being coerced into unwanted abortions.

• I support laws that would hold abortion businesses accountable for making sure that women are given truthful and accurate information about fetal development, the risks of abortion, and the resources and support available to them.

If my opponent truly cares more about protecting women’s interests than protecting abortion industry interests, I hope he/she will promise to work with me in seeking legislation to protect the rights of women who are facing unwanted, coerced and forced abortions.

MEDIA: Aren’t your proposals really intended to make it more difficult for women to get abortions?

CANDIDATE: My proposals would simply codify the high professional standards which the Supreme Court itself has already described in Roe v. Wade and the other abortion cases. It is the obligation of the physician to ensure that a patient is not being coerced, forced or deceptively informed and that those making the decision are fully informed of risks and available alternatives. Abortion businesses should have a legal responsibility to protect their patients from coerced, unwanted, unnecessary, or dangerous abortions.

MEDIA: How would you propose to heal the divisions in our country over the abortion issue?
 

CANDIDATE: First, we need to protect the rights of women who are being pressured to abort or facing unwanted, coerced, or forced abortions. Women deserve accurate information, meaningful support and better alternatives. We need to acknowledge the significant pregnancy- and abortion-related injustices that many American women face. We need to acknowledge those who have suffered trauma or other negative aftereffects from abortion — women, men and families — and the need for resources to help facilitate healing.
 

Second, I think all people of good will can agree that we need to learn more about the pervasiveness of unwanted abortions in America and the serious physical and psychological risks of abortion. In 1989, then Surgeon General C. Everett Koop reported that there had not yet been adequate research on the aftereffects of abortion. Dr. Koop recommended a $100 million research project to study the effects of abortion.

What was the response from Congress? They ignored the Surgeon General’s recommendation. Why? Abortion advocates argued against doing more research because they are afraid that more proof of abortion’s risks would further increase abortionists’ liability for the damages women suffer.

At least one pro-choice researcher has pointed out that it is scandalous that such a commonly performed procedure is being carried out with little adequate research into the risks and the long-term effects. Women should not be treated as guinea pigs or coerced into a traumatic and harmful abortion that is a poor substitute for the authentic support and alternatives that women need and deserve.

MEDIA: I don’t understand what you mean by “unwanted” abortions. If a woman chooses to have an abortion, that’s the choice she wants.
 

CANDIDATE: According to one survey of American women who had abortions, 64 percent reported that they felt pressured by others to abort. More than 80 percent said they did not receive adequate counseling and more than 50 percent said they felt rushed or uncertain about the decision. Nearly 80 percent were not informed of available alternatives.¹  Another survey found that 95 percent of women want to be fully informed of the risks when having an elective procedure.² By any reasonable measure, these numbers do not add up to "choice!"

Further, there are many stories of women and girls being threatened, badgered, pressured, and even literally dragged to abortion clinics by their partner or parents — like the teenage girl in Florida who was taken at gunpoint to an abortion clinic by her mother.³ Homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women, and many news reports on these cases have indicated that the victims were killed for refusing to undergo an abortion.⁴ This hardly presents a picture of women who have freely "chosen" abortion or are decided about having an abortion.

[In cases where an opponent supports international population control programs] Another example is found in China’s national “one child” policy, where couples are brutally forced to undergo unwanted abortions. This points to another important difference between my opponent and myself. My opponent supports government funding for agencies which engage in forced abortions on unwilling women for the purpose of suppressing population growth in developing countries.
 

My opponent is closing his/her eyes to the plight of minority women in developing countries who are being forced into unwanted abortions. He/she is even willing to pay for it. Women deserve better than this.

MEDIA: What are your views on abortion in the case of rape or incest?
 

CANDIDATE: I support legislation that protects women’s interests. Women who are victims of rape or incest deserve our compassion, meaningful support and the best medical care and counseling available. It doesn’t benefit them to be rushed into abortion regardless of their will or the risks to their health. That would only victimize them a second time.

I’ve read the testimonies of women who have had sexual-assault pregnancies and either carried to term or had abortions, and what these women are saying is quite different than what most people assume.⁵ Most who had abortions reported that they often did not freely choose to abort and that abortion was not a good solution, while most who carried to term say it was the best decision for them. In fact, abortion can further traumatize an already hurting victim.

Further, abortion is often used by sexual predators to cover up their crimes. Young girls who become pregnant may be given an abortion with no questions asked and then returned to the abusive situation.⁶

Before the government gets involved in the business of funding abortions for rape victims, I would like to invite women who have experienced a pregnancy resulting from sexual assault or abuse to testify about their experiences. The government shouldn’t rush in and get involved on the basis of preconceived notions or political agendas. Let’s find out from the women who have really been there what is helpful and what is harmful.

MEDIA: Some abortion doctors say they won’t be able to afford to do abortions if they face the kind of liability you’re talking about. If women can’t get abortions from doctors, won’t that lead us back to the dangers of back-alley abortions?

CANDIDATE: Abortionists will only stop doing abortions if it turns out that abortion is far more dangerous than they have been telling us. Proper liability will lead to proper care and screening. This will help protect women. Proper liability will also protect children, teens and other women who are being coerced or forced into unwanted abortions
 

Citations

1. VM Rue et. al., “Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women,” Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16 (2004).

2. PK Coleman et. al., “Women’s preferences for information and complication seriousness ratings related to elective medical procedures,” Journal of Medical Ethics 32:435-438 (2006).

3. "Mother charged in forcing abortion, Said to threaten daughter with gun," Washington Times, Aug. 3, 2000; "Woman in Forced Abortion Case Gets No Jail Time," Associated Press, Jan. 6, 2001.

4. I.L. Horton and D. Cheng, “Enhanced Surveillance for Pregnancy-Associated Mortality-Maryland, 1993-1998,” JAMA 285(11): 1455-1459 (2001); see also J. Mcfarlane et. al., "Abuse During Pregnancy and Femicide: Urgent Implications for Wome''s Health," Obstetrics & Gynecology 100: 27-36 (2002). For specific cases, see Forced Abortion in America: A Special Report.

5. Reardon, Makimaa & Sobie, Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions & Children Resulting From Sexual Assault (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2000).

6. See Forced Abortion in America: A Special Report, and Victims and Victors, op. cit.

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