Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act

CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2005)

Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. While many States require parental notification or consent before an abortion procedure, others do not. The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced this bill to prohibit the transportation of a minor across State lines in order to obtain an abortion.

As we have all heard in the discussion today, there are no Federal parental notification laws and not every State operates under the same rules. There are some States that do not require a parental consent form or notification, or their laws may be tied up in a court challenge, as was the case in Florida; but the voters voted overwhelmingly to have parental notification. When a minor is transported across State lines to evade these State laws, the rights of parents have been violated.

I only have daughters. I have three daughters and certainly any parent realizes that their children cannot have such a minor thing as a tattoo or a body piercing or even receive vaccines in school without their consent. Is it asking too much that our children receive parental consent before they undergo an out-of-state and serious medical procedure, all without their parents' consent? Can you imagine learning that your daughter was transported across State lines because she thought it was her only option? That is just plain wrong.

Mr. Chairman, we must support the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act today. Certainly Congress does not want to condone nonparents transporting young women across State lines for the purpose of evading the parental involvement laws in the girl's home State. To me that is a dangerous and unconscionable precedent to set. Across the country, officials must obtain parental consent before performing even routine medical procedures.

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