Chairman DeKrey, members of the committee, I am Stacey Pfliiger, Executive Director of the North Dakota Right to Life Association. I am here today in opposition of HB 1242 relating to the protection of a preborn child and the duty of physicians.

HB 1242 states that a person is guilty of a class AA felony if the person intentionally destroys or terminates the life of a preborn child. However, the bill does not define who that person is. I conclude it is meant to target the abortionist and the mother of the unborn child. Thus making the mother, who the pro-life movement has recognized as a victim, suddenly now, a suspect. The North Dakota Right to Life Association's position is that a woman receiving an abortion is the second victim of the abortion holocaust, not a criminal.

Women faced with unexpected pregnancies often face coercion from loved ones who insist that abortion is the best solution. Pressure to do the 'right' thing is usually done out of love for the woman and with the sincere belief that such care will be appreciated later on. At other times loved ones will push abortion on a woman not out of concern for her but out of concern for themselves. In either case, the woman who gives in to such pressure suffers because the abortion is not the result of her own free choice. She feels compelled to compromise her own values in order to please others.

The most powerful form of this coercion is the threat that families and boyfriends will withdraw their love and support. For example, Sandra Morean was forced to choose between her husband and her unborn child: "The more I thought about being pregnant, I realized there was a life in me, and I wanted to give birth to it. But my husband told me, "Either you have an abortion, or I'll leave you. You can raise it by yourself, because I don't want any more children." Not being strong enough to do what was right, and too afraid to go it alone, I gave in."

Another woman describes her experience as pressures from all directions: "My family would not support my decision to keep my baby. My boyfriend said he would give me no emotional or financial help whatsoever. All the people that mattered told me to abort . . . . I started feeling like maybe I was crazy to want to keep it. I finally told everyone that I would have the abortion just to get them off my back. But inside I still didn't want to have the abortion. Unfortunately, when the abortion day came I shut off my inside feelings. I was scared to not do it because of how my family and boyfriend felt. I'm so angry at myself for giving in to the pressure others. I just felt so alone in my feelings to have my baby." Two days later this woman attempted suicide. Seven months later she was attempting to deceive her boyfriend into making her pregnant again in the belief that a second pregnancy could somehow make up for the first.

Sociologist Mary K. Zimmerman has studied how women experience abortion. Throughout the course of Zimmerman's work she concluded that 35 percent of the aborted women she studied remained confused throughout most of the decision-making process. Many were not clear about what they would do until right before the abortion was performed. Of the 65 percent who said that the decision to abort was clear, most saw it not as a choice but rather as their only alternative. In general, the choice seemed clear because all the persons with whom they consulted positively encouraged and supported the abortion option. Altogether, over two-thirds of the women made statements suggesting that they had had "no choice" or had been "forced" to have the abortion.

Over and over again, we see women choosing abortion in an attempt to please others, not herself. If a woman who is coerced into having an abortion is guilty of a class AA felony, when do we begin charging the boyfriends, the husbands, the family members, the friends, the counselors, the clergy, etc.?

The North Dakota Right to Life Association shares in the desire to end the abortion holocaust. The North Dakota Right to Life Association believes in the sanctity of all innocent human life. However, recognizing the reality of our imperfect society, the Association sees the necessity of working in an incremental fashion to protect as many lives as possible while still striving to achieve its Vision that all abortion be ended.

I respectfully request this committee to give HB 1242 a do NOT pass recommendation.