[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 119 (Thursday, September 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10201-S10202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Child 
Custody Protection Act. Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan has 
previously spoken on this matter, just a few minutes ago. I have been 
honored to be a cosponsor of that legislation with him from the 
beginning and to participate in a number of different activities that 
he has led to try to call this legislation to the attention of the 
people of America, and to do what we can to see that it is brought up 
for a vote in this body, and to pass this legislation.
  It appears to me that this legislation would be difficult for most 
anybody to oppose. The issue of abortion has divided our country for 
many years now. But the issue we are considering today is not whether 
abortion should be legal or not. The Supreme Court, in my opinion, 
erroneously took that issue away from the people, ripped it out as a 
matter for the democratic process, and decided and declared that the 
Constitution prohibits the limiting of abortions, except in certain 
circumstances.
  But even the Supreme Court has made it clear that it is proper for a 
State to declare that an abortion should not be performed on a minor 
child unless the parents are consulted. Certainly, they have to be 
consulted about minor surgery--and they are consulted by their school 
principals and teachers if they are even given Tylenol. To perform an 
abortion without parental consent is a very dramatic interference in 
family and parental relationships that many States have decided to 
protect. Even our Supreme Court, which has ruled erroneously, in my 
opinion, in a number of different ways on this issue, has approved 
that.
  We have now discovered that there is a problem. We have discovered 
that people are taking children across State lines, from one State 
where parents have to be notified--third parties are intervening in the 
family relationship and are taking children across to another State 
that doesn't have that law, for the purpose of having an abortion 
performed on them.
  In my view, the right of parents to be involved in these major 
decisions affecting their minor children is a fundamental thing and 
ought not to be lightly transgressed. State parental consent and 
notification statutes are an important protection for fundamental 
parental rights. Let me say that the issue before us today is not 
whether States should have such laws--some do, some don't--the issue 
before us today is whether we will allow these important and clearly 
constitutional State laws to be circumvented.
  The purpose of this bill is simply to preclude some third party from 
trampling on the rights of parents by advising a minor child to have an 
abortion, and then assisting them by taking them across a State line to 
a State where they can have one.
  This legislation before us today would forbid a third party from 
transporting a minor child across the State line for the purpose of an 
abortion, without the parent's knowledge or consent, in order to evade 
compliance with the law of the State where the parent and child reside. 
This is hardly a radical or extreme proposal, and the bill is 
necessary. It is constitutional and it is carefully and narrowly drawn.
  Senator Abraham has done a superb job in drafting this legislation. 
He has listened to those who have expressed concerns about it, and he 
has constantly revised and improved it. It is an exceptionally fine 
piece of legislation, in my opinion.
  Mr. President, let me say that I believe this bill is necessary. In 
the Judiciary Committee hearing we had, we heard horrible stories. One 
involved Joyce Farley's 13-year-old daughter and one involved Eileen 
Roberts' 14-year-old daughter. In both cases, these young girls were 
secretly transported across the State line by adults seeking to hide 
the fact of the pregnancy from the children's parents. In both of these 
cases, these young girls were taken from a State that had a parental 
consent statute to one that did not. In both of these cases, the young 
girls suffered serious complications from these legal, but botched, 
abortions.
  Parenthetically, Mr. President, let me state that recently in the New 
York Times there was an op-ed piece by a former abortion doctor who, 
according to the first paragraph in the article,

[[Page S10202]]

had performed 45,000 abortions. He said that, for a number of reasons, 
parents ought to be involved in these decisions, and that parental 
notification laws are correct, and that the pro-abortion forces 
undermine their own efforts and their credibility when they oppose 
them. He pointed out that children should be consulting with their 
families for these kinds of situations.
  And from a medical point of view, he pointed out that when a child is 
transported a long distance to a medical center to have an abortion, 
perhaps she has not had good adult advice as to whether or not that is 
a good doctor or clinic. When she goes there, she is then returned at a 
long distance to the home of her parents. Many times, he noted, there 
are complications. Parents need to be aware and to be watching the 
child to help her if complications occur. And he said return visits to 
the abortion clinic for checkups are little done when a child has a 
long distance to go back to the clinic. So for health and medical 
reasons, he believes that children ought to consult with and have the 
approval of their parents before they obtain abortions. Of course the 
laws of each of those States--and the Supreme Court rulings--require 
that there be an option for a child who is pregnant to go to court and 
get an order for an abortion without notifying a parent. So there is an 
option, required by the Supreme Court decisions.

  Mrs. Farley testified that her daughter was taken out of state for an 
abortion by one Rosa Marie Hartford. Ms. Hartford was actually the 
mother of the 18-year-old young man whose statutory rape of the then-
12-year-old girl is what caused the pregnancy. In other words, the 
woman was trying to cover up the criminal activity of her son. The son 
later pled guilty to statutory rape.
  The attorney general for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania testified 
concerning his efforts to prosecute Mrs. Hartford under state law for 
interfering with the custody of a minor. Those efforts may or may not 
ultimately prove successful. Attorney General Fischer testified 
concerning the difficulties of pursuing such a case under state law, 
and strongly recommended passage of this bill.
  This issue does not involve a few isolated cases. An attorney for the 
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, has acknowledged this. Attorney 
Kathryn Kolbert stated, and I quote: ``There are thousands of minors 
who cross state liens for an abortion every year and who need 
assistance from adults to do that.'' We have seen several examples of 
abortion clinics which openly place advertisements in the yellow pages 
in nearby states that have parental consent statutes. These 
advertisements proudly proclaim: ``No parental consent.''
  Thus, these clinics are openly encouraging the evasion of state laws, 
and something needs to be done about it. Because of the interstate 
nature of this problem, a Federal solution is required.
  This bill is constitutional. As I have stated earlier, the Supreme 
Court has upheld the types of state parental notification and consent 
laws that this bill would help to bolster. It is specious to suggest 
that this bill would unduly burden the right to an abortion. The bill 
does nothing more than prohibit the evasion of constitutional state 
statutes.
  This bill is a valid and appropriate exercise of Congress's authority 
under the Commerce Clause.
  I was a Federal prosecutor, Mr. President, for nearly 15 years. A 
long-term Federal statute is the Mann Act. It has for many years--many 
years back, I think, since 1913--prohibited the interstate 
transportation of women or girls across State lines for prostitution or 
other immoral purposes. That is a Federal law. The constitutionality of 
the Mann Act has been upheld by the Supreme Court since the early 
1900s. It is a very close analogy to the Child Custody Protection Act, 
which would preclude the transporting of minor girls across State lines 
to evade State parental involvement laws. Any constitutional objections 
to this bill, in my opinion, would be without merit and would certainly 
fail.
  Also, this bill is very narrow in its scope. It does not prohibit 
interstate abortions. It does not invalidate any state laws. It does 
not establish a right to parental consent for residents of any state 
that does not already have a parental consent law. It doesn't even 
attempt to regulate the activities of the pregnant minor herself. It 
only reaches the conduct of outside parties who wrongfully usurp the 
rights of parents that are guaranteed by state law.
  Some suggest that the bill should be narrowed further, to exempt the 
interference with parental rights, if the adult is a relative of the 
child, they could interfere with the parents' rights. I would disagree 
with that.
  This bill would not prevent the minor from seeking counsel from an 
aunt or grandmother or anyone else. It would prohibit aunts and 
grandmothers from violating the rights of the child's parents by 
secretly driving the youngster to another state for an abortion without 
telling the parents. I personally wonder whether it might be worse to 
have a grandmother or an aunt interjecting themselves in between the 
parent and the child, than to have some stranger do it. The result is 
the same. It is the same. It is the parent who has the responsibility, 
who brought the child into the world, and who has raised the child. The 
destructive impact on the family could be greater in that case.
  In any event, the grandmother isn't the parent, and the aunt isn't 
the parent; and neither relative nor stranger should have the right to 
circumvent parental involvement statutes.
  If a well-meaning grandmother wants to be helpful, in most situations 
she should encourage the child to confide in her parents. In the rare 
circumstances where that would not be appropriate, and the child is 
intent on obtaining an abortion, the judicial by-pass procedure could 
be used.
  That is, a child could go to a court, and the abortion could be 
authorized by the judge. The child could go to court in those 
circumstances.
  In summary, this bill is narrowly crated, it is well written, it is 
necessary, and it is constitutional. The House of Representatives 
passed this bill with a strong bipartisan majority of 276 to 150. I 
urge my colleagues to do likewise.
  We need to ensure this bill receives a vote on the merits. We are 
apparently going to have to invoke cloture to even get it up for a 
vote. There is a strong determination--I consider it an extreme 
commitment--to support anything that favors abortion by too many 
Members of this body.
  This is a reasonable bill. This is a fair bill. It is an appropriate 
action by the Congress of the United States involving interstate 
commerce. As a Federal prosecutor, I prosecuted those who transported 
stolen motor vehicles--ITSMV, Interstate Transportation of Stolen Motor 
Vehicles, stolen property, lots of those kinds of cases. This is one 
type of case that is quite appropriate for us to legislate on.
  I hope that every Member of this body will vote for it. It ought to 
pass overwhelmingly. It is good public policy.
  I, again, congratulate Senator Abraham for his determined and skilled 
legislative leadership in crafting and presenting this outstanding 
piece of legislation.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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