The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Democrats Continue to Hold Hostage Parental Notification Bill

By Richard Land - Aug 2, 2006 - comment

The Senate Democratic leadership is using a procedural move to block important parental notification legislation passed by both houses of Congress. Parents’ right to know about their young daughter’s decision to have an abortion is at stake.

State parental notification and consent laws are often circumvented when minors are transported to other states that do not require parental involvement. The Senate, in a bipartisan 65-34 vote, passed the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403) to stop this violation of parental rights. This victory for parents makes it a federal offense to skirt a state’s parental notification or consent law by transporting a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion.

Following passage of this common sense bill, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist made a routine move to send the bill to a conference committee to work out differences with the House bill, which passed last year with different but related provisions. Astonishingly, the Senate Democratic leadership immediately threw up a procedural roadblock in an attempt to kill the bill.

A conference committee must reconcile the two already-passed versions so that the President can sign the measure into law. 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 House of Representatives has passed such legislation four times since 1998, but every time it has been killed by actions of the Senate Democratic caucus.

The Democratic leadership is attempting to kill the bill by “running out the clock”, and not much time remains. Congress is in recess throughout August, and then will return for about four weeks before adjourning for the year. Within this time, the bill must go through committee and then the final bill must be voted on by both Houses.

The fourteen Democratic senators listed below voted in favor of the bill, but their Senate Democratic leadership is now obstructing this legislation, which is supported by 80 percent of the public who believe parental notification laws protect vulnerable minors and the rights of parents.

Please contact these Democratic senators and ask them to demand that their leadership withdraw their objection. It is vital that we contact them via phone and/or e-mail to demand that the Child Custody Protection Act makes it to conference. You can find their phone numbers below. Click here to contact the senators electronically.

Thank you for taking the time to make your voice heard on this important pro-life legislation.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Parenting, Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, Persecution, Social Issues

Recently

• R/6 programs help ex-offenders regain livelihood
• It seems that HIV really ‘is a gay disease’
• The face of marriage in America
• CLC urges Blunt to call pro-life special session
• A little honesty, please

Get Involved

Sign Up

Get connected with the latest information on ethical and moral issues throughout the week with ERLC communications.

Talk Back

We want to know what you think about today’s big issues.

• How do you separate church and state?
• Religious Liberty in Your Community

Donations

Partner with us as we seek to transform our culture and our nation. Make a financial gift to the ministry of the ERLC.

Internship Program

An internship can be a tremendously formative experience for students as they prepare for their career. An intern will come away with a deep satisfaction of knowing that they were directly involved in affecting issues that impact millions of people.