U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator:
We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our opposition to the Child Custody Protection Act (S.403). This bill would make it a federal crime for any person, other than a parent, to accompany a young woman to an out-of-state doctor for abortion care if the home state’s parental-involvement law has not been met.
We believe that young women should be encouraged to talk to their parents about important health issues like an unplanned pregnancy – and thankfully, many do. Even in states that do not have mandatory parental-involvement laws, more than 60 percent of young women report that one or both of their parents knew of their decision to choose an abortion. However, some teens simply cannot approach their parents about such matters, and often for good reason. Among young women who do not tell their parents of their decision to terminate an unplanned pregnancy, 30 percent report having experienced or feared violence in their family or feared being forced to leave home. In cases like these, our first priority must be to keep these young women safe. The Child Custody Protection Act does exactly the opposite.
Teens who decide they cannot involve a parent – for whatever reason - often seek help and guidance from other trusted adults. Unfortunately, this bill would deter them from doing so. The Child Custody Protection Act would make criminals of grandparents, adult siblings, and even clergy members for helping young women obtain medical care that is legal – even if that person does not intend, or even know, that the home state parental-involvement law has not been followed. Threatening a caring grandmother with a prison sentence for accompanying her granddaughter to the doctor is hardly a constructive response to the American teen-pregnancy epidemic.
The Child Custody Protection Act also imposes an extremely complex patchwork of parental-involvement laws on women and doctors across the country. Among other things, the bill forces doctors to learn 49 other states’ laws, under the threat of fine, imprisonment, and civil suits. In some cases, the Child Custody Protection Act forces young women to comply with two states’ parental-involvement mandates. These are just a few examples of the legislation’s onerous requirements.
Finally, the Child Custody Protection Act is unconstitutional and tramples on some of the most basic principles of federalism. In the words of legal scholars Laurence Tribe of Harvard University and Peter Rubin of Georgetown University, the legislation “violates the rights of states to enact and enforce their own laws governing conduct within their territorial boundaries, and the rights of the residents of each of the United States and of the District of Columbia to travel to and from any state of the Union for lawful purposes, a right strongly affirmed by the Supreme Court….”
For these reasons, we urge you to oppose this dangerous legislation. Our nation’s families would be much better served if Congress instead focused its time and energy on enacting commonsense policies, such as honest and comprehensive sex education and improved access to birth control, both of which would help prevent teen pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
American Association of University Women
American Civil Liberties Union
American Medical Women’s Association
Americans for Democratic Action
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
Catholics for a Free Choice
Center for Reproductive Rights
Chicago Abortion Fund
Chicago Foundation for Women
Choice USA
Feminist Caucus of the American Humanist Association
Guttmacher Institute
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America
Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health
International Gender Association
Legal Momentum
Ms. Foundation for Women
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Abortion Federation
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Women’s Organizations
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Network of Abortion Funds
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women’s Conference
National Women’s Law Center
People For the American Way
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health®
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Population Connection
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Reproductive Health Technologies Project
Republican Majority for Choice
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Women of Reform Judaism
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press