House Committee Passes Interstate Abortion Bill
From Women's Policy, Inc
On March 27, the House Judiciary Committee approved, 20-13, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (H.R. 2299). The committee held a hearing on the bill on March 8 (see SeniorWomen.com's previous story, Examining the 'Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act').
Sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the act would criminalize any individual who knowingly transports a minor across state lines to have an abortion in order to avoid parental notification laws in the minor’s home state. The legislation would require providers to seek consent from the parents of the minor seeking an abortion, and then wait 24 hours before they can legally perform the procedure. Under the measure, a provider that knowingly performs an abortion on an out-of-state minor without parental notification or prior judicial authorization would be in violation and, therefore, subject to a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.
The bill would make an exception for an abortion necessary to save the life of a minor. In addition, it would not prohibit a provider from performing an abortion if the minor can provide a written statement declaring that she was the victim of sexual abuse, neglect, or physical abuse by a parent, as long as the provider notifies authorities from the minor’s home state to receive reports of child abuse or neglect prior to performing the procedure.
During consideration of the bill, the committee rejected the following amendments:
An amendment by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to allow the parental notification requirement to include a grandparent or sibling, unless the grandparent or sibling had sexual contact with the minor, 7-16;
An amendment by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) to allow the parental notification requirement to include all siblings, whether they are adults or minors, by voice vote;
An amendment by Rep. Scott to ensure that taxicab, bus, or other service transportation drivers are not held liable under the bill, unless they are registered sex offenders, 10-14;
An amendment by Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC) to exempt from legal liability anyone who transports a minor across the state line for an abortion if she or he as a “good faith belief” that the minor’s life or health is endangered by the 24-hour waiting period following parental notification, 11-13;
An amendment by Rep. Watt to exclude from the prohibition against transporting minors across state lines for the purposes of having an abortion situations where the minor receives an abortion in order to save her own life, 12-15;
An amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to include in the parental notification requirement members of the clergy, godparents, aunts, uncles, and first cousins, unless they had sexual contact with the minor, 11-16;
An amendment by Rep. Jackson Lee to exempt from the prohibition circumstances in which the minor’s pregnancy is the result of sexual contact with a parent or other family member, or any person who has permanent or temporary custody of the minor, 11-17;
An amendment by Rep. Jackson Lee to delay the bill from taking effect for 120 days after enactment, 11-17;
An amendment by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) to waive the parental notification requirement if informing the parent of the pregnancy or abortion would endanger the safety of the minor, 11-18;
An amendment by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) to exempt from the prohibition situations where the minor becomes pregnant as a result of incest or rape, 11-15;
An amendment by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) to exempt from the prohibition situations where the minor received an abortion to protect her health, 9-15;
An amendment by Rep. Nadler to exempt from prosecution any adult who can demonstrate with evidence that she or he has reason to believe that compliance with the bill’s prohibitions would compromise the minor’s intent to maintain confidentiality of her abortion, 8-16; and
An en bloc amendment by Rep. Scott to 1) exempt from the prohibition minors from a state with no such law who receive an abortion in a state with no such law; and 2) prohibit the prosecution of a person charged with circumventing the parental notification law unless the alleged action is a first-degree crime, 14-17.
Photograph: Rep. Jackson from her House of Representatives website.
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