Patricia Schroeder: “today Representative Chris Shays and I are introducing legislation with bipartisan support for the Women's Right To Know…”

“today Representative Chris Shays and I are introducing legislation with bipartisan support for the Women's Right To Know Act, a bill that unequivocally asserts American women's right to receive information about the full range of their reproductive health options. The Women's Right To Know Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and simply says that government, Federal or State, cannot restrict a doctor's right to give or a woman's right to receive information about her reproduction health options, including family planning, prenatal care, adoption, and abortion services. We introduce this bill on the 23d anniversary of Roe versus Wade, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the right to choose abortion is protected by the Federal Constitution. It's also a time when the gag rule stands on shaky ground. The original Republican contract included a gag rule on information welfare recipients could receive about abortion. We then heard that was a mistake. It wasn't supposed to be in there. I don't want to leave anything to chance. It's time for this Congress to stand firm and say no more gag rules for women and no more gag rules for doctors. That's what this bill says. We say it's a doctor's right to give information about reproductive health and a woman's right to receive that information. Very simple.…”