Democrats block pro-life, parental rights bill
- Aug 11, 2006
Senate Democrats continued to block progress on the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA) entering a month-long congressional recess, making it possible the session will end without the bill becoming law.
Democrats maintained Aug. 3 their refusal to budge from a procedural tactic that is preventing the pro-life, pro-family measure from going to congressional negotiators, even though it has passed both houses of Congress. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada blocked Majority Leader Bill Frist’s attempt to send the bill to a conference committee, even though Frist made a concession called for by Democrats.
The CCPA is intended to prevent the transportation of underage girls across state lines to obtain abortions in avoidance of parental involvement laws in the girls’ home states.
The Senate passed the measure with a 65-34 vote July 25. After the action, Frist, from Tennessee, promptly moved for the bill to go to a conference committee, where differences between it and a version passed by the House of Representatives could be reconciled. Sen. Richard Durbin, D.-Ill., the assistant minority leader, objected to the normally routine request, thereby halting the advance of the bill.
Frist again sought unanimous consent Aug. 3, after Durbin asked him to promise an amendment added to the Senate bill would be kept in the final version from the conference committee. The amendment, passed 98-0 by senators, bars a father who impregnates his daughter from taking her to another state for an abortion or from suing a person who provides such transportation.
Frist gave assurances he would not support Senate consideration of a conference report without the amendment. When he asked for unanimous consent to send the bill to a conference committee, Reid objected, again preventing further action. Reid blocked the measure’s progress, even though he had voted for the bill earlier.
A conference committee – consisting of members from both the Senate and House – is required when there are differences between bills approved by both chambers. If the committee reports out a final version, both houses must pass it.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission called for its constituents to urge the 14 Democratic senators who voted for the CCPA to demand their leaders end their objection to sending the bill to a conference committee.
“The Democratic leadership is attempting to kill the bill by ‘running out the clock,’ and not much time remains,” ERLC President Richard Land said in an Aug. 1 message to recipients of the entity’s “action alert” emails. “Liberals have been unable to stop this bill in both houses, so they’re trying to kill the bill by parliamentary maneuvering. They are putting their liberal pro-abortion values before the concerns of parents and, most importantly, of young girls in need.”
The Senate went into recess Aug. 3. Congressional leaders have set Oct. 6 as a target for adjournment, leaving the Senate and House only a month after they reconvene Sept. 5 and 6, respectively, to approve a final version of a bill.
President Bush has said he will sign the legislation, if it arrives on his desk.
The Senate legislation (S. 403), like the House version (H.R. 748), is designed to protect the rights of parents in states that have enacted either parental notification or consent laws regarding abortions for minor girls. There are 29 states that have effective parental involvement laws that are not being blocked by courts, according to the National Right to Life Committee.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Family, Parenting, Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, National, Social Issues