Information about the vote from special interest groups and other information providers in our Report Cards:
American Civil Liberties Union
Reproductive Rights for Minors.
The Senate passed the Child Custody Protection Act. This bill would make it a federal crime for any person, other than a parent, to accompany a young woman to an out-of-state doctor for abortion care if her home state's parental-involvement law has not been met. This group opposed this bill because it endangers vulnerable teens and violates a woman's right to choose.American Conservative Union
Parental Notification of Abortion.
The Senate passed a bill making it a federal crime to take a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion in order to circumvent state parental notification and consent laws.Americans for Democratic Action
S 403. Parental Notification.
Passage of a bill to make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to take a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion in order to circumvent state parental notification and consent laws. An exception would be provided when an abortion is necessary to save the life of the minor.NARAL Pro-Choice America
Child Custody Protection Act, S.403.
Final passage of Ensign (R-NV) bill to make it a
federal crime for anyone other than a parent
– including a grandparent, adult sibling,
or religious counselor – to accompany
a young woman across state lines for abortion
care if the home state parental-involvement
mandate has not been met.National Right to Life Committee
Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403): passage.
More than half of the states have in effect laws that require notification to, or consent of, a parent before an abortion can be performed on a minor daughter (or a waiver from a state court). However, these laws are often circumvented when minors are transported to other states that do not have parental involvement requirements, often under pressure from older boyfriends or in response to cross-border advertising by abortion providers. The Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403), sponsored by Senator John Ensign (R-Nv.) and supported by NRLC, would prohibit the transportation of a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion, if this abridges the right of her parents to be involved in her abortion decision under their home-state law, with certain exceptions. Violators could be prosecuted and/or sued. The Senate passed S. 403. Note: The House of Representatives already had passed the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA, H.R. 748), a bill sponsored by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.), which addresses the same subject, in April 2005. The House and Senate bills each contain some provisions not found in the other. The next step in the process should be a House-Senate conference committee to hammer out a final version, but the Senate Democratic leadership has erected a procedural roadblock that they hope may derail the legislation.Republican Liberty Caucus (Civil Liberty)
S. 403.
Interstate abortions/to make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state borders to circumvent state abortion laws.The John Birch Society
Parental Notification.
The Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403) would make it a federal crime for a person to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion in order to bypass state laws requiring parental notification. Congress can and should use its power to regulate interstate commerce to restrict abortion.