House Passes Parental Notification and Public Expression of Religion Bills; Now Senate Must Act

By Richard Land - Sep 27, 2006 - 1

I realize that I just asked for your help on legislation that would significantly reduce Internet gambling, but I believe two other bills require your attention, and our time to act is short. As Congress prepares to leave Washington the end of this week, we stand at the brink of several pro-family victories. The House of Representatives passed two highly important bills last night by large margins: the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (S. 403) by a vote of 264-153 and the Public Expression of Religion Act (H.R. 2679) by a vote of 244-173. I applaud all members of Congress who showed true representation of mainstream America’s values by supporting these bills.

However, these bills must be passed by the Senate before they can reach the President’s desk to be signed into law.

You may recall from previous alerts that while the Child Custody Protection Act passed the Senate with bipartisan support in July, the Democratic leadership has refused to allow the bill to move to a conference committee to reconcile differences with the House-passed Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. Both the Senate and House bills would make it a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion in circumvention of a parental notification or consent law in the girl’s home state. The House bill, however, would also require an abortion provider to notify the minor’s parents before performing an abortion in such an instance. The House passed this stronger language again last night—this time by amending the Senate-passed bill. This bill is crucial to helping restore to parents the right to know if their young daughter is seeking an abortion and preventing minors from being coerced into an abortion by an older boyfriend or sexual predator.

A second bill that now faces the Senate, the Public Expression of Religion Act, would end a decades-old law that enables plaintiffs—typically organizations like the ACLU or the Americans United for Separation of Church and State—to collect attorneys’ fees from losing parties in Establishment Clause cases. Groups that wish to remove any acknowledgement of God from the public square have recovered millions of dollars in legal fees from losing parties over cases involving the Ten Commandments, veterans memorials, and other religious symbols like the small cross on the Los Angeles County seal.

These costs come at taxpayers’ expense!

As a result, many municipalities targeted with Establishment Clause violations, fearing loss in court and debilitating costs not merely for their own defense but also to reimburse plaintiffs, simply cede to threatened suits and withdraw their religious symbol or statement in question. The Public Expression of Religion Act would rectify this situation. Each party, regardless of a court’s decision, should pay only its own legal fees.

Unfortunately, Congress will adjourn in just a few days to campaign for the mid-term elections. Unless the Senate votes on the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act and the Public Expression of Religion Act before the end of this week, the bills could see their death this congressional session.

If you agree that parents have a right to be informed prior to their young daughter undergoing an abortion and if you agree that groups like the ACLU should not be permitted to recover attorneys’ fees from municipalities in cases where a court rules that a public religious symbol violates the Establishment Clause, then please call or email your senators and tell them to vote for the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (S. 403) and the Public Expression of Religion Act (S. 3696/H.R. 2679). You can reach your senators by dialing the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or by clicking here and entering your zip code in the areas provided to email them a suggested letter or one entirely your own.

I am deeply grateful for your involvement on these issues of faith and family. May God bless your efforts and protect the health and safety of minors and our free expression of religion.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, National, Religious Liberty

1 comments (post your own) feed

1 On Oct 3rd, 2006, at 5:25pm, Stephanie Woodrome wrote:

I urge you to pass the s. 403 bill and the public expression of religion act bill. We are praying for you.

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