News

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the Child Custody Protection Act (H.R. 476), by a lopsided margin of 260-161. This bill would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across a state line in circumvention of a state law requiring parental or judicial involvement in the minor’s abortion decision. More than 24 states have laws that would be covered by the bill.

National Right to Life Committee Legislative Director Douglas Johnson commented, “By passing the Child Custody Protection Act Congress would take a clear stand against the bizarre notion that the U.S. Constitution confers a ‘right’ upon strangers to take one’s minor daughter across state lines for a secret abortion, even when a state law specifically requires the involvement of a parent or judge in the daughter’s abortion decision.”.

Polls consistently show the majority of Americans support legislation similar to the Child Custody Protection Act. According to a 1998 poll conducted by Baselice & Associates, 85% of Americans did not think that a person should be able to take a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents’ knowledge.

See the Washington Times coverage:  https://www.washtimes.com/national/20020418-643287.htm