[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 13, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SUPPORT THE CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, in most schools an underage child is 
prohibited from attending a school field trip without first obtaining 
parental authorization, yet nothing forbids this child from being taken 
across State lines in disregard of State laws for the purpose of 
undergoing a life-altering procedure, an abortion.
  Please note these documents from a local school district in which it 
is required to have extensive information and parental authorization 
for a simple field trip or for a release for disbursement of 
medication, a total of eight pages for a field trip or for giving an 
aspirin, even brought from the child's home. But for an abortion, 
nothing is required.
  My legislation, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, 
CIANA, would make it a Federal offense to transport an underage child 
across State lines in circumvention of State and local parental 
notification laws for the purpose of having an abortion. It will also 
require that, in a State without a parental notification requirement, 
abortion providers be required to notify a parent.
  Today, CIANA will be marked up by the House Committee on the 
Judiciary. I hope we can pass the bill in the House quickly to protect 
our underage girls.

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