Bishops' Official Urges Congress to Pass Law Requiring That Parents Be Notified Before a Teen's Abortion
WASHINGTON (April 27, 2005) -- Today the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, H.R. 748. The Act would require abortionists to notify parents before doing abortions on teenage girls from other states without parental involvement or judicial authorization.
"The overwhelming majority of Americans believe parents should be involved in abortion decisions affecting their teenage daughters," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., Director of Planning and Information for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. "Yet abortion advocacy groups support and facilitate secret out-of-state abortions for minors."
"Once again, the abortion lobby is showing itself to be extreme and out of step with the American people," Ruse said.
About half the states have laws requiring parental involvement in minors' abortions, but these laws are often thwarted. Last month a mother in Pennsylvania, where parental involvement is required, testified before Congress that her daughter was taken without her knowledge to New Jersey for a secret abortion by the parents of her daughter's boyfriend. After contacting state police, she learned that nothing could be done to protect her parental rights. H.R. 748 is aimed at adults who take teenage girls across state lines for secret abortions, and at the abortionists who perform these procedures.
"This practice exposes teens to the dangers of surgery and the heartbreak of abortion without the benefit of medical records or history, without necessary medical follow-up, and without the care and support of their own parents," said Ruse. "We urge Congress to pass this law to help protect vulnerable girls from this kind of exploitation."