WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Republican U.S. Reps. Dave Taylor of Ohio, Bob Onder of Missouri, and Mark Harris of North Carolina introduced legislation to crack down on those taking minors across state lines for abortions to address cases like a disturbing situation currently under investigation in Virginia.
The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act would punish anyone who “knowingly transports a minor across a state line, with the intent that such minor obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact abridges the right of a parent under a law requiring parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision, in force in the State where the minor resides,” except in case of medical emergency. Violators could be fined and/or spend up to a year in jail, plus be subject to civil action by the parents (as long as the parent did not commit incest in the case). Physicians who knowingly perform abortions under the same circumstances would also be subject to the same penalties.
“No one should be taking children across state lines to receive secret abortions behind the backs of that child’s parents. Our Nation’s laws should protect our children from vulnerability, not open them up to coercion from oppressors trying to evade accountability from parents and the law,” Taylor said. “As states like Illinois and California promote abortions and keep parents in the dark about their child’s health, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act would help put parents back in the equation while protecting both their child and the lives of the unborn. If a child can’t even get a tattoo or piercing without parental involvement, why should they be allowed to have an abortion without it? It’s common sense that parents should be able to guide and support their child through important, life-altering decisions like bringing new life into the world.”
The need for such legislation was recently demonstrated in Fairfax County, Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin directed the Virginia State Police to launch a criminal investigation into accusations that Centreville High School social worker Carolina Diaz, with the full backing of principal Chad Lehman, had scheduled appointments and paid for two minors to abort their unborn children, completely without their parents’ knowledge.
Though commonly opposed by the abortion industry and its activist allies, parental involvement rules for underage abortions stop the practice from being used by sexual abusers to cover up and continue their crimes, as is often the case — sometimes with the knowledge and cooperation of Planned Parenthood staffers, as established by undercover investigations by the pro-life group Live Action.
Twelve states have banned all or most abortions. But the abortion lobby continues to work feverishly to cancel out those deterrents via deregulated interstate distribution of abortion pills, legal protection and financial support of interstate abortion travel, constructing new abortion facilities near borders shared by pro-life and pro-abortion states, making liberal states sanctuaries for those who want to evade or violate the laws of more pro-life neighbors, and enshrining abortion “rights” in state constitutions.
