Senate Passes
Interstate Abortion Bill
By Charles Babington,
washingtonpost.com from the Web, July 25, 2006
Washington -- The Senate voted
tonight to make it a crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines to obtain
an abortion without her parents' knowledge, handing a long-sought victory to the
Bush administration and abortion opponents.
The bill would help about three dozen states enforce laws that require minors to
notify or obtain the consent of their parents before having an abortion.
It would bar people -- including clergy and grandparents -- from helping a girl
travel to another state to avoid parental-involvement laws. Violations
could result in a year in prison.
 |
|
|
Graphic
compares state laws on parental involvement in minors abortions.
(AP
Graphic) |
|
The Senate voted 65 to 34 to approve
the bill, which is similar to one that the House has approved before, including
last year. Most states have passed such laws, but courts have invalidated
at least nine of them, advocacy groups say.
The White House said the bill would "protect the health and safety of minors"
and "protect the rights of parents to be involved in the medical decisions of
their minor daughters consistent with the widespread belief among authorities in
the field that it is the parents of a pregnant minor who are best suited to
provide her counsel, guidance, and support."
"I appreciate the Senate's efforts to preserve the integrity of state law and
protect our nation's families," President Bush said in a statement.
The administration urged House and Senate negotiators to reconcile their
differences and send Bush a bill for his signature. Unlike the Senate
version, the House bill would penalize physicians who knowingly perform
abortions on minors who circumvented parental involvement laws.
Tuesday's vote marked the most significant congressional action on abortion in
some time. Congressional Republicans, concerned about sagging poll numbers
as they approach the November elections, lately have emphasized a "values
agenda" that includes bids to ban flag desecration, gay marriage and estate
taxes.
Democrats are pushing back, accusing Republicans of trying to frighten and
divide the electorate rather than tackle tough issues such as gasoline prices
and the Iraq war. Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), an anti-abortion
Democrat who voted for the Senate bill, will spend part of the summer stressing
the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies, aides said.
The Senate vote was a victory for anti-abortion activists who have tried in vain
to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in all
50 states. For years, advocates on both sides of the abortion issue have
battled at the state level over narrower questions, including parental
notification and consent for minors. Fifty-one Republicans and 14
Democratic senators voted for the bill, while four Republicans, 29 Democrats and
one independent voted against it. Sens. George Allen (R-Va.) and John
Warner (R-Va.) voted for the bill; Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Paul S.
Sarbanes (D-Md.) voted against it.
The bill would not penalize a pregnant girl or her parents for crossing state
lines to obtain an abortion.
Opponents said the Senate bill will threaten the safety of pregnant girls whose
parents might beat them if they learn of their daughters' plans for an abortion.
The proponents' approach "is not to deal with the reality of young people" in
troubled families, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). He cited accounts
of an Idaho man who raped and impregnated his 13-year-old daughter, and then
killed her when he learned she had scheduled an abortion.
Proponents of the Senate bill said it would protect pregnant girls from being
pressured into having an abortion by their boyfriends. "It's an
affirmation of parental rights," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). "An
underage child cannot obtain an aspirin at school without parental consent," he
said, and parents' role in their young daughter's decision about abortion is far
more significant.
Senators voted 51-48 to reject a Democratic-drafted amendment that would have
steered federal funds to programs educating teens about sexual abstinence and
contraception.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hailed the bill's passage, saying "What opponents
of this bill forget is that no parent wants anyone to take their children across
state lines -- or even across the street -- without their permission. This
is a fundamental right, and the Congress is right to uphold it in law."
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the Senate vote "an
irresponsible action that will do nothing to protect young women's safety or
improve family communication."
She said the measure "would prohibit anyone other than a parent -- including a
grandparent, aunt, adult sibling, or member of the clergy -- from accompanying a
young woman across state lines for abortion care if the home state's
parental-involvement law has not been met."
Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said
the measure "would put teens, especially the most vulnerable ones, at greater
risk. Not all teenagers come from the perfect American family."
|
