CONTACT CONGRESS NOW:

U.S. House May Vote by Mid-June on Curbing Transportation of Minors Across State Lines for Secret Abortions

WASHINGTON (May 10) ­ The U.S. House of Representatives may vote as early as mid-June on the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA) (HR 1218).

This bill would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across a state line for an abortion, if this circumvents a state law requiring parental or judicial involvement in the minor's abortion decision. Such laws are currently in effect in about 21 states. The federal bill would not apply to minors who reside in states that do not have such laws.

The bill would also allow parents to sue any person who abridges their parental rights by transporting their minor daughter to another state for a secret abortion.

The bill is strongly opposed by the Clinton-Gore Administration.

The chief House sponsor of the bill is Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.). Rep. James Barcia (D-Mi.) is the chief Democratic co-sponsor.

The Senate version of the bill, S. 661, authored by Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mi.), is awaiting action in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This will be the second time that the House has considered the measure. In the last Congress, on July 15, 1998, the House passed the bill on a vote of 276-150. (See August 12, 1998, NRL News, page 4. The votes also appear as House votes no. 6-7 in NRLC's 1997-98 congressional scorecard.)

The bill died in the Senate after supporters were unable to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural obstacle. (See Sept. 28, 1998, NRL News, page 23. This vote also appears as Senate vote no. 5 in NRLC's 1997-98 congressional scorecard.)

Action Request

If the House and Senate approve the bill, it faces a likely veto, since the Clinton-Gore Administration has expressed strong opposition to the measure. Therefore, it is critical that pro-life citizens flood Congress with letters and calls urging support for the bill, in the hope of obtaining the two-thirds margins that would be necessary to override a veto.

All House members may be reached at House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. All Senators may be reached at Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510.

Hints for Letters

Your letters should be in your own words - - but you might want to mention some of these key points in favor of the bill:

· Parents have a right to be involved if their daughter is contemplating abortion. Other persons - - such as boyfriends or school counselors - - do not have a right to transport minors across state lines for secret abortions.

· Often, minor girls may be unaware of factors in their own medical history, or family medical history, that may place them at heightened risk of physical complications or death from an induced abortion. In many cases, such factors will only enter into the decisionmaking process if the parents are involved.

· In many cases, girls of high-school age are impregnated by men who are substantially older - - often, in their 20s. Many of these men are vulnerable to statutory rape charges, so they stand to benefit by a secret abortion in order to keep the sexual relationship a secret. The bill would help parents protect their young daughters at a time when they may be especially vulnerable to harmful manipulation by much older males.

· The Clinton-Gore Administration opposes the bill and is demanding that the bill be amended to give "close family members," such as "grandmothers, aunts, and . . . siblings," the same rights as parents. But the overwhelming majority of American parents would not want a parent's mother-in-law or a child's brother or sister to transport their minor daughter across state lines for a secret abortion.

· The respected national polling firm of Baselice & Associates, in June 1998, asked 1,000 registered voters, "Should a person be able to take a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge?" Seventy-eight percent strongly disagreed and another 7% somewhat disagreed, for a total of 85%, while 3% somewhat agreed and 6% strongly agreed.

Please Send Copy of Response or Press Reports

Please send a copy of any response received from a lawmaker, or any local news story that reports on the lawmaker's position on this (or any other) pro-life issue, to the NRLC Federal Legislative Office at 419-Seventh Street, Northwest, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20004, fax (202) 347-3668, e-mail: Legfederal@aol.com.

Resources

An article on the re-introduction of the Child Custody Protection Act, and the need for this legislation, appeared in the April 8 edition of NRL News, page 4. (This article is also available at the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org/ news/1999/NRL499/doug.html.) A short NRLC factsheet, "Key Facts on the Child Custody Protection Act," is available at the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org/Federal/ CCPA/key_point_CCPA.htm.

A long resource paper on the bill, "Why We Need the Child Custody Protection Act" (updated April 1999), is available at www.nrlc.org/Federal/CCPA/why_we_need_CCPA.htm.