[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 96 (Thursday, July 20, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8031-S8032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I rise to speak today about the Child 
Custody Protection Act. A bill the Senate will debate shortly. I 
believe, as a father of three children, including one daughter, it is a 
very important piece of legislation.
  Good people can disagree on issues even of profound moral 
consequence. Most Americans, even those who consider themselves pro-
choice, believe there should be at least some restrictions on abortion.
  I believe this is one of those situations where we should be able to 
come together and find some common ground. The Child Custody Protection 
Act simply states that if an adult willfully takes a minor child across 
State lines to get an abortion, for the purpose of avoiding a State's 
parental consent or notification law that would be a Federal crime for 
that adult.
  Judicial bypass is an integral part of all effective parental consent 
laws. So for those concerned about the cases of parental rape or incest 
and what a child does in that case?--there is a judicial review, a 
judicial bypass available. The Child Custody Protection Act would only 
apply in those States parental consent or notification laws in place.
  This is an important piece of legislation, especially for parents as 
many of these cases involve a 20-something-year-old male who has 
impregnated a young teenager, often a 13, 14, 15-year-old girl, which 
has ended in a secret abortion.
  Now because your little girl had become pregnant and this 20-
something-year-old realized that is a crime of statutory rape, they 
want to dispose of the evidence. So they decide to talk your little 
girl into going across State lines for an abortion because your State 
law requires parental notification or parental consent for such a 
procedure. They go to the State next door, take care of the abortion, 
and you, the parent, know nothing about it. How would you feel as a 
parent in a situation such as that?
  Even further, abortion is a surgical procedure. Our kids are not even 
allowed to get an aspirin in school without parental consent. They are 
not allowed to take a field trip without parental consent. They are not 
allowed to take sex education classes without parental consent. Yet, 
remarkably, it is not against the law evade parental consent or notice 
requirements to take a child across State lines to get a surgical 
procedure, a surgical abortion.
  It is time for legislation such as the Child Custody Protection Act. 
I realize that emotions run high on both sides of the abortion issue. 
They run deeply and have divided our country for some time. We need to 
look for a place of common ground. A place where reasonable people 
should be able to come together and agree to at least have this one 
restriction on abortion, agree that parents should be involved in the 
decisions, especially the medical decisions, involving their children. 
The Child Custody Protection Act does just that.

[[Page S8032]]

This is legislation where we preserve parent rights, we preserve State 
rights, and we do something that approximately 80 percent of the 
American people support.
  As we debate this bill over the next several days, I hope people will 
take an honest look at the intent of this legislation. I hope people 
will not automatically, because the word ``abortion'' is contained in 
this legislation, say: I can't vote for such a measure because it 
contains abortion language. I hope people will say: Let's find the 
common ground. Let's look for things that are reasonable and come 
together on an issue that should be agreed on to protect our children, 
our daughters.
  I yield the floor.

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