For Immediate Release

April 29, 2005

Vermont Right to Life Committee

Mary Hahn Beerworth

229-4885

Bernie Sanders Votes With Minority Against Parental Notification Law

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives gave strong approval to legislation requiring parental notification for interstate abortions on minors.  Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders opposed the Bill despite heart wrenching testimony from parents whose young daughters have been taken across state lines for abortions.  (See testimony below)

The House passed the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA, H.R. 748) by a bipartisan margin of 270-157.  The Bill was sponsored by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.).

In a national poll of 1,000 adults conducted April 21-24 by The Polling Company, Inc., released today, respondents were asked, "Do you agree or disagree that a person should be able to take a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge?  And would you say you strongly agree/disagree or somewhat agree/disagree?"  82% disagreed (including 75% who strongly disagreed and 7% who somewhat disagreed), while only 15% agreed (including 7% strongly agreed and 8% who somewhat agreed).

A survey conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide in 2000 found 72% of Vermonters favor parental notification laws.  According to the survey, support for enacting a parental notification law was strong among those who identified themselves as either “pro-choice” or “pro-life” and had majority support across party lines (Republicans – 87%, Democrats – 59%, Independents – 69%).

Abortion is legal in Vermont throughout pregnancy without restriction, and there is not one single regulation placed on the practice of abortion.  The Vermont House passed parental notification legislation in 2001 by a vote of 78-55, but the Senate did not take up the Bill and H. 218 was never enacted.  The legislation would have required abortion providers to notify a parent 48 hours before performing an abortion on an unemancipated minor with special provisions for girls in abusive situations.

About half of the states currently have parental notification or consent laws in effect.  However these laws are often circumvented by minors traveling, or being transported to other states, that do not have parental notification requirements, often under pressure from older boyfriends or at the urging of agents of abortion providers.  The CIANA would make it a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion if this is done to evade a state parental involvement law, unless a state court has issued a waiver.

In addition, the CIANA requires any abortionist to notify a parent before performing an abortion on a minor who is a resident of another state, unless the minor has already received authorization from a court in her home state, or unless the abortionist is already required to provide such parental notification by a current law in the state in which he practices.  If the minor asserts that she is the victim of abuse, the abortionist would notify the appropriate state child abuse agency instead of a parent.

The House rejected amendments to exempt certain classes of non-parents, including members of the clergy, from the scope of the bill.

National Right to Life Committee's position on the CIANA, including rebuttal to criticisms of the bill, was explained in a letter sent to U.S. House members on April 22, which is posted here: http://www.nrlc.org/federal/ccpa/HouseLetter043305.html

The NRLC website also contains documentation on other polls on parental notification, information on state parental notification laws, and powerful testimony presented to Congress in support of the bill, all at: http://www.nrlc.org/federal/ccpa/index.html

For additional information, contact NRLC at 202-626-8825 or 202-626-8820 or send e-mail to Legfederal@aol.com.

Testimony of Marcia Carroll, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in support of HR 748, The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, U.S. House of Representatives, March 3, 2005.

Good afternoon, my name is Marcia Carroll. I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I would like to begin by thanking you for inviting me here to speak and share my family's story. The following is a horrifying series of events centered around my fourteen year old daughter.

On Christmas Eve 2004, my daughter informed me she was pregnant. I assured her I would seek out all resources and help that was available. As her parents, her father and I would stand beside her and support any decision she made.

We scheduled appointments with her pediatrician, her private counselor, and her school nurse. I followed all of their advice and recommendations. They referred us to Healthy Beginnings Plus, Lancaster Family Services, and the WIC program.   They discussed all her options with her. I purposefully allowed my daughter to speak alone with professionals so that she would speak her mind and not just say what she thought I wanted to hear.

My daughter chose to have the baby and raise it. My family fully supported my daughter’s decision to keep her baby and offered her our love and support.

Subsequently, her boyfriend’s family began to harass my daughter and my family. They started showing up at our house to express their desire for my daughter to have an abortion. When that did not work, his grandmother started calling my daughter without my knowledge. They would tell her that if she kept the baby, she couldn't see her boyfriend again. They threatened to move out of state.

I told his family that my daughter had our full support in her decision to keep the baby. She also had the best doctors, counselors, and professionals to help her through the pregnancy. We all had her best interests in mind.

The behavior of the boy’s family began to concern me to the point where I called my local police department for advice.  Additionally, I called the number for an abortion center to see how old you have to be to have an abortion in our state.

I felt safe when they told me my minor daughter had to be 16 years of age in the state of Pennsylvania to have an abortion without parental consent.  I found out later that the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act actually says that parental consent is needed for a minor under 18 years of age.  It never occurred to me that I would need to check the laws of other states around me.  I thought as a resident of the state of Pennsylvania that she was protected by Pennsylvania state laws.  Boy, was I ever wrong.

On Feb. 16th, I sent my daughter to her bus stop with $2.00 of lunch money. I thought she was safe at school. She and her boyfriend even had a prenatal class scheduled after school.

However, what really happened was that her boyfriend and his family met with her down the road from her bus stop and called a taxi. The adults put the children in the taxi to take them to the train station. His stepfather met the children at the train station, where he had to purchase my daughter’s ticket since she was only fourteen. They put the children on the train from Lancaster to Philadelphia. From there, they took two subways to New Jersey. That is where his family met the children and took them to the abortion clinic, where one of the adults had made the appointment.

When my daughter started to cry and have second thoughts, they told her they would leave her in New Jersey. They planned, paid for, coerced, harassed, and threatened her into having the abortion. They left her alone during the abortion and went to eat lunch.

After the abortion, his stepfather and grandmother drove my daughter home from New Jersey and dropped her off down the road from our house.

My daughter told me that on the way home she started to cry, they got angry at her and told her there was nothing to cry about.

Anything could have happened to my daughter at the abortion facility or on the ride back home. These people did not know my daughter’s medical history, yet they took her across state lines to have a medical procedure without my knowledge or consent. Our family will be responsible for the medical and psychological consequences for my daughter as a result of this procedure that was completed unbeknownst to me.

I was so devastated that this could have been done that I called the local police department to see what could be done.  They were just as shocked and surprised as I was that there was nothing that could be done in this horrible situation.

The state of Pennsylvania does have a parental consent law. Something has to be done to prevent this from happening to other families. This is just not acceptable to me and should not happen to families in this country. If your child goes to her school clinic for a headache, a registered nurse can't give her a Tylenol or aspirin without a parent's written permission.

As a consequence of my daughter being taken out of our state for an abortion without parental knowledge, she is suffering intense grief. My daughter cries herself to sleep at night and lives with this everyday.

I think about what I could or should have done to keep her safe. Everybody tells me I did everything I could have and should have done. It doesn't make me feel any better, knowing everything I did was not enough to protect my daughter.

It does ease my mind to know with your help that we can make a difference and change the law to protect other girls and their families.  I urge your support for The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.  It is critical that this law passes in Congress.  The right of parents to protect the health and welfare of their minor daughters needs to be protected.  No one should be able to circumvent state laws by performing an abortion in another state on a minor daughter without parental consent.

Thank you for your time.