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CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION ACT -- HON. SAM GRAVES (Extensions of Remarks -
April 29, 2002)
[Page: E655] GPO's PDF
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HON. SAM GRAVES
OF MISSOURI
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, April 29, 2002
- Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 476, the Child Custody Protection Act, is an
important measure that Congress should pass and allow President Bush to sign.
Transporting minors across State lines for abortions to circumvent State parental involvement laws is a
widespread problem in our country.
- In this Country we, as citizens, do not allow our minor children to drive
a car, to buy alcohol, or cigarettes, or even to vote. How can we as parents
allow minor children to travel across certain State lines to obtain an abortion , without parental consent ?
- The purpose of the Child Custody Protection Act is twofold. The first is
to protect the health and safety of young girls by preventing valid and
constitutional State parental
involvement laws from being circumvented. This is not a Federal parental involvement law. This plainly
[Page: E656] GPO's PDF
ensures
that these State laws are not evaded through interstate activity. This bill is
the Federal reinforcement to the enacted State measures providing
constitutionally sound parental
involvement in their childrens lives. Parental involvement during one of the
most terrifying decisions a minor girl will ever make will improve medical
care and safety for those young women.
- The second purpose is to protect the rights of parents to be involved in
the medical decisions of their minor daughters. Parents need to be aware that
their minor daughter may be subjected to surgery or to the administration of
drugs that could be dangerous to her health. There may be a multiple of
potential health risks that the minor has no knowledge about including a
history of family illness or allergies.
- This is something that affects our entire Nation. In fact, in 1997, a
study in the American Journal of Public Health reported that a leading abortion provider in Missouri refers
minors out of State for abortions if the girls do not want to
involve their parents. Reproductive Health Services, which performs over half
of the abortions performed in
Missouri, refers minors to the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City,
Illinois. Research reveals that based on the available data the odds of a
minor traveling out of State for an abortion increased by over 50 percent
when Missouri's parental consent law went into effect.
Furthermore, compared to older women, underage girls were significantly more
likely to travel out of State to have their abortions .
- A 1999 St. Louis Post-Dispatch news report confirms that the Hope Clinic
in Illinois continues to attract underage girls seeking abortions without parental involvement. According to the
report, the Hope Clinic performed 3,200 abortions on out-of-State women last
year, and the clinic's executive director estimates that number is 45% of the
total abortions performed at the
clinic. The executive director also estimates that 13% of the clinic's clients
are minors.