WASHINGTON — Members of Congress again are seeking to restrict interstate transportation for minors’ abortions after years of failures to enact the legislation.
The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, H.R. 2299 in this Congress, was first introduced in 1998 but has never reached the president’s desk for signature.
A House of Representatives subcommittee heard testimony from supporters and opponents of the measure in a March 8 hearing.
Under the bill, a person knowingly transporting a minor who lives in a state requiring parental involvement for an abortion would need parental permission or a bypass granted by a judge in order for the procedure to occur in another state.
The bill would also require abortion providers to notify parents before performing an abortion on an out-of-state minor.
Violators would face not more than one year in prison or a fine.
Of the 28 states that enforce parental involvement laws, 22 require only one parent to grant permission for the abortion.
Abortion is a serious procedure and holds consequences for a person’s health, such as “increased risk of breast cancer; extremely premature birth in subsequent pregnancies — at 28 weeks of gestation or less — and suicide,” said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., the subcommittee’s chairman.
Since 1998, the bill — in various forms — has received approval from the House but has gained passage in the Senate only once.
The House and Senate approved different versions of the legislation in 2006, but Democrats blocked a negotiated bill from receiving a vote on final passage.
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