ACTION ALERT!
U.S. House May Vote This Month on Curbing Transportation of Minors across State Lines for Secret Abortions
WASHINGTON (June 4) The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote before the end of 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.
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 margin 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:
ˇ Parents have a right to be involved if their daughter is contemplating abortion. Other personssuch as boyfriends or school counselorsdo not have a right to transport minors across state lines for secret abortions.
ˇ 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.
ˇ 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.
ˇ The Clinton-Gore Administra-tion 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 Ameri-can parents would not want a parent's mother-in-law or a brother or sister to transport their minor daughter across state lines for a secret abortion.
ˇ 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?" 78% strongly disagreed, and another 7% somewhat disagreed, for a total of 85%, while 3% somewhat agreed and 6% strongly agreed.
Resources
An article on the latest congressional developments on the Child Custody Protection Act appears on page 6 of this issue of NRL News.
A short NRLC factsheet, "Key Points on the Child Custody Protection Act," appears on page 7 of this issue. That document is also 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.
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.