U.S. CONGRESS EXPECTED TO MOVE ON CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION ACT

With only about 40 voting days left this year for Congress, pro-lifers have their work cut out for them if they want to make headway on the popular Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA). There are also plans to try to overturn President Clinton’s veto of legislation banning partial-birth abortions.  According to Conservative News Service, House majority leader Dick Armey (R-Tx.), House majority whip Tom DeLay and other members of Congress are expected to appear at a press conference tomorrow with representatives of the National Right to Life Committee, the Christian Coalition, and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, to voice their support of the CCPA.  The legislation will make it a federal offense for an adult to transport a minor across state lines in order to evade state parental-notification laws on abortion. Penalties include a $100,000 fine and one year in jail. Congressman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), who introduced the legislation, defended the role of parents in helping their children in times of difficulty such as crisis pregnancies. She said, “parents should not be robbed of their inherent right to counsel their children at a time of need when strangers transport their underage daughters to obtain abortions in states without parental notification laws.”  Not surprisingly, President Clinton opposes the legislation, apparently due to confusion over the nature of the family. White House chief of staff Erskine B. Bowles said the Clinton Administration “strongly opposes the bill” in its current form, and demanded, among other changes, that the bill be amended to grant other family members, such as grandmothers, aunts, and siblings, the same rights as parents.