The Senate passed the Teen Endangerment Act - aka the Child Custody Protection Act - by a vote of 65-34. The law will make it a federal "crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines for an abortion without her parents' knowledge."
According to NARAL, mandatory parental involvement laws are viewed as a danger to teens and thus opposed by: the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, and the American Public Health Association.
But we know how Republicans feel about the views of anyone remotely linked to science.
AP:
The 65-34 vote gave the Senate's approval to the bill, which would make taking a pregnant girl to another state for the purposes of evading parental notification laws punishable by fines and up to a year in jail.
The girl and her parents would be exempt from prosecution, and the bill contains an exception for abortions performed in this manner that posed a threat to the mother's life.
Procedural hurdles also stood in the way. Following the vote, Democrats prevented Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., from appointing Senate negotiators to help bridge the differences with the House version. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., objected to the conferees' appointment on the grounds that the bill had not been considered by a committee and that negotiations were premature.
"I hope this is not a sign that they're going to try to obstruct this bill," Frist said. . . States that do not have parental notification or consent laws are Washington, Oregon, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The District of Columbia also does not have such laws.
No one knows how many girls get abortions in this way, or who helps them. But Democrats say the policy would be dangerous to pregnant teens who have abusive or neglectful parents by discouraging other people from helping them.
"We're going to sacrifice a lot of girls' lives," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. . . The bills are S. 403 and H.R. 748.
[T]he Senate voted 51-48 against an amendment that would have funded birth control education and thus lowered the number of teen pregnancies.
"Abstinence is the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy," whined Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Coburn opined that everyone should refrain from sex until they are married.
Cause everyone gets married. Duh.
Republicans also rejected a proposal from Sen. Dianne Feinstein to exempt grandparents and clergy from prosecution. "Congress ought to have higher priorities than turning grandparents into criminals," observed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
When grandma goes to jail for a year, I hope the media will remember to note that grandma was sent there by a Republican Congress.
"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. . . Fifty-one Republicans and 14 Democrats voted for the bill, while four Republicans, 29 Democrats and one independent voted against it."
The House and Senate versions are said to have "vast differences" which will have to be resolved before the bill goes to the desk of George W. Screw-Up.
Politics Abortion Frist Teen Endangerment Act Feminism Reproductive Rights Pro Choice Roe v. Wade Republicans Bush
