Bills That Would Criminalize Assisting Minors To Circumvent Parental Notification Laws Does Not Protect Pregnant Girls, Their Children, Opinion Piece

A Senate-approved bill (S 403) that would allow federal charges to be filed against any individual who transports minors across state lines for the purpose of evading state abortion parental notification or consent laws, "would force" teens to make the decision to undergo the procedure "by themselves," without the support of an aunt, grandmother or clergy member, Lynn Harris, a member of the Haven Coalition, writes in a New York Times opinion piece. According to Harris, the Haven Coalition provides no-cost overnight housing to women, minors and their families coming to New York to obtain an abortion (Harris, New York Times, 8/6). Under the Senate-approved bill, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), people who violate state parental notification or consent laws would be subject to a fine or up to one year in prison. The measure includes an exception if an abortion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant minor. In addition, the bill would bar a father who rapes his daughter from suing anyone who assists in her abortion, as well as bar anyone committing incest on a minor from transporting her to another state to obtain an abortion (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/2). The bill and a similar measure (HR 748) approved by the House last year "clai[m] to protect pregnant teenagers," but they actually "put already at-risk girls in greater danger," Harris writes. She adds that research shows teens who do not tell their parents if they are considering undergoing an abortion "usually have a good reason not to," such as a threat of physical abuse. If the House and Senate versions of the measure are reconciled and President Bush signs the resulting bill, teens will be "forced to become parents because they believe their own parents won't" support their decision to undergo an abortion, and the children of those teens, "will suffer," the editorial concludes (New York Times, 8/6).

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