Bill Delahunt: “this legislation infringes on the constitutional right of a woman to elect a medical procedure which may, in the…”

“this legislation infringes on the constitutional right of a woman to elect a medical procedure which may, in the judgment of her physician, be the best means of preserving her life and her health. This bill is not about procedure, it is about women's lives. At the Committee on the Judiciary markup I read into the record a portion of the testimony of Maureen Britell, a constituent of mine from Sandwich, MA. She is also a woman of remarkable courage who came forward to tell her story because of her concern that the procedure performed on her would be illegal if this bill becomes law. She describes herself as a textbook case of why this legislation is dangerous. Mrs. Britell discovered in the sixth month of her pregnancy that her unborn daughter had a fatal anomaly in which the fetal brain fails to develop. Her doctors advised her to induce labor and end the pregnancy immediately for the sake of her health. As a devout Catholic, she was extremely reluctant to do this, but ultimately decided, with the support of her family and her priest, to have the abortion. During the delivery, the fetus became lodged in the birth canal. The doctors had to cut the umbilical cord, ending the baby's life in order to complete the delivery and avoid serious health consequences to Mrs. Britell. In her testimony she said, "Although the delivery did not proceed as expected, the doctors acted in a medically appropriate way and I recovered well.”