John Ensign: “incest is a terrible act, a terrible crime. We should not be protecting the people who perpetrate these crimes. But at…”

“incest is a terrible act, a terrible crime. We should not be protecting the people who perpetrate these crimes. But at the same time, if there is incest involved we, as a society, must take steps to protect the young victims. Imagine a young girl who has had this terrible act committed against her and now somebody else with good intentions wants to take her across State lines to get an abortion. There are several problems raised by this scenario. If the judiciary can be involved, at least some of these crimes can be addressed. But if the crime remains secret from the parents and there is no judiciary involved, this girl will be forced to just goes back home, with the abortion hidden, to face continued victimization. The second concern that I have relates to the potential medical consequences that a young girl might face following an abortion. She might encounter a postsurgical infection, or complications if the abortion is performed with inaccurate or an incomplete medical history of the young girl, like administering some kind of medication or anesthesia to which the girl has an allergy. The young girls parents may not know to watch for postsurgical complications. Each of these medical concerns become life threatening when friends or a member of the clergy are involved rather than the young girl's parents or the authorities. That is why I think some of the amendments coming up are ill- conceived and why this bill is so important to enact.…”