Oppose the Brownback Amendment (SA 2445) to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006.
Dear Senator: The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges you to oppose an amendment (SA 2445) to the FY 2006 Department of Defense Authorization Bill that may be offered by Senator Sam Brownback. The amendment would mandate parental notification for any minor who seeks an abortion at a Department of Defense facility.
There is no cause for Congress to step in and codify law on this issue. First, current law prohibits abortions on U.S. military bases except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment; thus, the Brownback restriction would apply only in these extremely narrow circumstances. Further restricting young women’s access to reproductive health care in these horrific circumstances will only endanger their health and further victimize rape and incest survivors. Second, current military policy, instituted in 1994, already requires a minor to secure a parent’s or guardian’s consent before obtaining an abortion in the narrow circumstances the law currently allows (life, rape, incest). Though the 1994 policy is still in effect, codifying a parental-notification mandate with the Brownback Amendment is a much more serious legal step, requiring affirmative congressional action for it to be modified or repealed.
Moreover, most young women who are pregnant and seeking an abortion voluntarily involve a parent in their decision. For those young women who choose not to involve their parents, many valid reasons compel them not to do so. For instance, one third of young women do not involve a parent because they fear family violence (in many cases because it has already occurred), or are afraid of being forced to leave home. Long-term studies of abusive and dysfunctional families reveal that the incidence of violence escalates when a wife or teenage daughter becomes pregnant. Forcing a young woman to notify her abusive parent of a pregnancy can have dangerous, and even fatal, consequences for her and for other family members. Healthy family communication simply cannot be legislated.
The Amendment’s inclusion of a judicial bypass mechanism will not protect the most vulnerable young women. The amendment will impose complicated jurisdictional requirements that will be difficult, if not impossible, for a minor overseas to navigate. For example, the provision requires a minor to file a petition for a judicial bypass in the U.S. district court of her state of last residence (if the minor proceeds by telephone) or the “district in which the minor first arrives” from outside the United States (if the minor elects to travel to the U.S.). Most young people will have no idea how to find or access the appropriate court from long distances. Moreover, a minor who travels to the U.S. is forced to file her petition in the first state in which her plane lands, which may merely be the state in which her flight stops over.
For all of these reasons, the ACLU urges you to oppose the Brownback Amendment.
Sincerely, Caroline Fredrickson, Director
Washington Legislative Office
Greg Nojeim, Associate Director
Washington Legislative Office