Kaiser Daily Women's Health Report Summarizes Editorials About Bill That Would Criminalize Assisting Minors To Circumvent Parental Notification Laws

Several editorials on Thursday were published on a 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. The Senate on Tuesday voted 65-34 to approve the bill, which was sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). Under the bill, people who violate the measure 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 bars anyone committing incest on a minor from transporting a minor to another state to obtain an abortion (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/26). Summaries appear below.

• Orlando Sentinel: The Senate measure is "just election-year fodder" and is an "issue that belongs with the states," a Sentinel editorial says. "Congress has no reason -- other than political -- to be involved in this debate," the editorial adds, concluding, "The states are handling it just fine" (Orlando Sentinel, 7/27).
  


• New York Times: The Senate bill is a "mean piece of legislation, which takes a politically popular concept and applies it to a range of cases that could include particularly desperate young women," a Times editorial says. "The underlying intent of the bill's sponsors was to score pre-election points with social conservatives ... in a way that would not alarm moderate voters who believe that parents should know if their child is pregnant and considering an abortion," the editorial says (New York Times, 7/27).
  


• San Jose Mercury News: The Senate legislation "achieves the far right's more overriding goal," which is to do "everything possible to chip away at the constitutional right to have an abortion," a Mercury News editorial says. According to the editorial, if the Senate majority was concerned with the "best interests of girls," they would have granted exemptions for girls that are accompanied by members of the clergy or grandparents; they would have granted exemptions for victims of incest; and they would have made provisions in the bill for the children in the U.S. that do not live with either parent. "Congress has wisely not intervened to require that parents be notified when children seek treatment for such problems as mental health, drug abuse or sexually transmitted diseases," the editorial says, concluding, "The same should be true for abortion" (San Jose Mercury News, 7/27).

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