House passes bill on parental consent for abortions

WASHINGTON -- Congressional social conservatives on Wednesday advanced their strategy of trying to restrict abortions on a piecemeal basis by approving legislation that would make it a crime to help a pregnant minor circumvent state laws that require parents be notified of their daughters' abortions.

Their bill, which passed the House 270-157, now heads to the Senate, which could clear the measure by the end of the summer and send it to President Bush, who is expected to sign it into law. In a statement Wednesday, the Bush administration said it "strongly supports" the measure.

Utah's three representatives -- Republicans Rob Bishop and Chris Cannon and Democrat Jim Matheson -- voted for the measure.

At issue is how to keep people from evading laws on the books in 33 states that require a parent to consent or be notified before a minor can get an abortion.

The Supreme Court has upheld such laws as long as they also give minors the option of obtaining an abortion by getting a judge's consent.

In 10 of the 33 states, court orders are blocking the parental involvement laws from being enforced.

Supporters of the legislation, including Rep. Steve Chabot, R- Ohio, argue it is necessary to block people from transporting pregnant minors across state lines to get abortions in states that don't have parental involvement laws.

"The parents are the ones that ought to be involved in making these oftentimes life-altering decisions, not some abusive boyfriend, not some older man," Chabot said. "He doesn't have that girl's best interest in mind. The parents are the ones who ought to be involved in this decision."

Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., said that some clinics in his state advertise in neighboring Pennsylvania that New Jersey does not have a parental involvement law.

"The marketing of teenage abortions in this way is morally indefensible," Smith said. "The abortion industry's engraved invitation to girls to procure a secret abortion makes it more likely that abortions will occur. That means more dead babies. That means more wounded moms."

But critics of the legislation, such as Rep. Linda Sanchez, D- Cal., said it is an assault on abortion rights and could endanger vulnerable girls who fear for their safety if they must first get a parent's permission, or who are the victims of incest.

Sanchez said it was "another example of anti-woman, anti- abortion legislation."

And Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the proposal would unfairly put relatives of a pregnant girl at risk of jail time for helping the minor get an abortion.

Under the legislation it would be a federal crime -- punishable by up to $100,000 and a year in prison -- to knowingly transport a minor across state lines with the intent of circumventing parental consent laws and getting an abortion. The bill would make an exception for cases where an abortion was necessary to save a minor's life.

"Some parents are violent. Some parents are rapists," Nadler said, noting that in those cases, pregnant girls might have no alternative but to turn to other relatives or clergy.

"This bill would make criminals of grandparents, boyfriends, brothers, sisters and clergymen and women who try to help a young woman who has a fear of alienation and thinks she can't confide in her parents," Nadler said.

The legislation also would require physicians who perform abortions on minors who reside in other states to provide notice 24 hours in advance of the abortion to the pregnant girl's parent. And, under the bill, doctors would have to provide that written notification in person. With some exceptions -- including abortions done for the life of the minor -- doctors who do not follow through with the notification would face up to a $100,000 fine and a year in prison.

Similar legislation has passed the House three times -- in 1998, 1999 and 2002. The only time the Senate considered the previous bill came in 1998. Supporters fell six votes short of the 60 they needed to break a threatened filibuster of the legislation.

But abortion foes are counting on a better reception in the Senate this time around, in part because, according to the National Right to Life Committee, last year's election ushered as many as four new senators who oppose abortion.

Additionally, Democrats are struggling with how to tackle the politically explosive issue, since studies following the 2004 election revealed anti-abortion voters went to the polls on the issue. The House's top Democrat, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, and Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York have signaled they want to change the way they talk about abortion policy. In particular, they have focused attention on encouraging birth control and education to slash unintended pregnancies.

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