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Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act Heads to House Floor

On April 13, the House Judiciary Committee approved, 20-13, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (H.R. 748). The Constitution Subcommittee approved the measure on March 17 (see The Source, 3/18/05).

Sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), H.R. 748 would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, thereby evading parental consent and notification laws. The bill would require that a parent or legal guardian be notified when a minor is transported across state lines for an abortion. Individuals who transported a minor across state lines and the doctor performing the abortion would be fined and could serve up to one year in prison. Under the bill, a defendant could use an affirmative defense if he or she reasonably believed that parental consent had been given or that the court had waived the requirement for parental consent.

During consideration of the bill, the committee rejected the following amendments:

  • an amendment by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that would have exempted from criminal action the transportation of a minor across state lines for an abortion if the pregnancy was the result of sexual relations with a parent, guardian, or other household member, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Waters that would have clarified that the transportation of a minor across state lines for an abortion would not be a crime if the pregnancy resulted from incest, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) that would have allowed a minor to seek a waiver from the federal district court if it can be shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a judicial bypass procedure in the minor’s state is unavailable or if a judicial bypass procedure in the minor’s state might compromise her privacy, 11-16;
  • an amendment by Rep. Nadler that would have exempted grandparents and adult siblings from being charged with a crime for transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion without parental or guardian consent, 12-19;
  • an amendment by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) that would have exempted taxicab drivers, bus drivers or others in the business of professional transportation from being charged with a crime for transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion without parental or guardian consent, 12-18; and
  • an amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) that would have exempted members of the clergy, godparents, aunts, uncles, or first cousins from being charged with a crime for transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion without parental or guardian consent, and would have directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the number of unsafe and illegal abortions performed on minors affected by the bill, 13-20.

 

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) has introduced a similar measure (S. 396) in the Senate.