CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 26, 2006)
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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee for his leadership throughout the years that this bill has been before us.
I rise in support of S. 403, the Child Custody Protection Act, a bill that has indeed passed the House in 1998, in 1999 and in 2002, making it a Federal offense to transport a minor across State lines in order to circumvent that State's abortion parental notification laws.
The legislation before us today, Mr. Speaker, is a commonsense one. It protects minors from exploitation from the abortion industry, it promotes strong family ties, and it helps foster respect for State laws.
A minor who is forbidden to drink alcohol, to stay out past a certain hour or to get her ears pierced without parental consent is certainly not prepared to make a life-altering, hazardous and potentially fatal decision such as an abortion without the consultation or consent of at least one parent.
Language included in this legislation will also require that an abortion provider notify a parent when a minor is transported to a State where no parental notification laws exist. This provision is a central component to my legislation, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, CIANA, which passed in the House with a vote of 270 in favor and 157 against.
I am truly pleased and honored that my colleagues in the House and Mr. Sensenbrenner have given this important bill further consideration, and I urge them once again to join me in supporting legislation that speaks to the well-being of all of our daughters.
This legislation will put an end to the abortion clinics and family planning organizations that are really exploiting young, vulnerable girls by luring them to recklessly disobey State laws.
About 80 percent of the public favors parental notification laws. Over 50 percent of our States have enacted such laws. Yet sometimes these laws can be evaded by interstate transportation of minors, openly encouraging them to do so in advertising by abortion providers.
Parental consent and parental notification laws may vary from State to State, but they have all been made with the same purpose in mind, Mr. Speaker, to protect frightened and confused adolescent girls from harm.
I urge my colleagues to once again support this vital piece of legislation, uphold the safety laws designed by individual States and protect the parents' rights to be involved in decisions involving their minor daughters.
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