I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1755

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking minors across 

State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents 

in abortion decisions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2003

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. BUYER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. POMBO, Mr. 

WALSH, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. BRADY of 

Texas, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. JANKLOW, Mr. NEY, 

Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. BLUNT, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. LINDER, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. RENZI, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. MCCRERY, Mrs. NORTHUP, 

Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. BERRY, Mr. DELAY, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

of Florida, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mrs. 

MILLER of Michigan, Ms. HART, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. AKIN, Mrs. 

MYRICK, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. SCHROCK, 

Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. TERRY, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 

GOODE, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. BAKER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. 

DEAL of Georgia, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, 

Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. 

HAYES, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. 

TOOMEY, Mr. SULLIVAN, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking 

minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Custody Protec5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF MINORS IN CIRCUMVENTION 

7 OF CERTAIN LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended by inserting after chapter 117 the following: 

10 ‘‘CHAPTER 117A—TRANSPORTATION OF 

11 MINORS IN CIRCUMVENTION OF CER12 TAIN LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘2431. Transportation of minors in circumvention of certain laws relating to 

abortion.

13 ‘‘§ 2431. Transportation of minors in circumvention of 

14 certain laws relating to abortion 

15 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—

16 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—Except as provided in sub17 section (b), whoever knowingly transports a minor 

18 across a State line, with the intent that such minor 

19 obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact abridges the 

20 right of a parent under a law requiring parental in21 volvement in a minor’s abortion decision, in force in 

22 the State where the minor resides, shall be fined 

23 under this title or imprisoned not more than one 

24 year, or both. 
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1 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this 

2 subsection, an abridgement of the right of a parent 

3 occurs if an abortion is performed on the minor, in 

4 a State other than the State where the minor re5 sides, without the parental consent or notification, or 

6 the judicial authorization, that would have been re7 quired by that law had the abortion been performed 

8 in the State where the minor resides. 

9 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) The prohibition of subsection (a) does not 

11 apply if the abortion was necessary to save the life 

12 of the minor because her life was endangered by a 

13 physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, 

14 including a life endangering physical condition 

15 caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. 

16 ‘‘(2) A minor transported in violation of this 

17 section, and any parent of that minor, may not be 

18 prosecuted or sued for a violation of this section, a 

19 conspiracy to violate this section, or an offense 

20 under section 2 or 3 based on a violation of this sec21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(c) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—It is an affirmative 

23 defense to a prosecution for an offense, or to a civil action, 

24 based on a violation of this section that the defendant rea25 sonably believed, based on information the defendant ob-
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1 tained directly from a parent of the minor or other compel2 ling facts, that before the minor obtained the abortion, the 

3 parental consent or notification, or judicial authorization 

4 took place that would have been required by the law re5 quiring parental involvement in a minor’s abortion deci6 sion, had the abortion been performed in the State where 

7 the minor resides. 

8 ‘‘(d) CIVIL ACTION.—Any parent who suffers harm 

9 from a violation of subsection (a) may obtain appropriate 

10 relief in a civil action. 

11 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec12 tion—

13 ‘‘(1) a ‘law requiring parental involvement in a 

14 minor’s abortion decision’ means a law—

15 ‘‘(A) requiring, before an abortion is per16 formed on a minor, either—

17 ‘‘(i) the notification to, or consent of, 

18 a parent of that minor; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) proceedings in a State court; and 

20 ‘‘(B) that does not provide as an alter21 native to the requirements described in sub22 paragraph (A) notification to or consent of any 

23 person or entity who is not described in that 

24 subparagraph; 

25 ‘‘(2) the term ‘parent’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) a parent or guardian; 

2 ‘‘(B) a legal custodian; or 

3 ‘‘(C) a person standing in loco parentis 

4 who has care and control of the minor, and 

5 with whom the minor regularly resides, 

6 who is designated by the law requiring parental in7 volvement in the minor’s abortion decision as a per8 son to whom notification, or from whom consent, is 

9 required; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘minor’ means an individual who 

11 is not older than the maximum age requiring paren12 tal notification or consent, or proceedings in a State 

13 court, under the law requiring parental involvement 

14 in a minor’s abortion decision; and 

15 ‘‘(4) the term ‘State’ includes the District of 

16 Columbia and any commonwealth, possession, or 

17 other territory of the United States.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

19 for part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

20 inserting after the item relating to chapter 117 the fol21 lowing new item:

‘‘117A. Transportation of minors in circumvention of certain laws 

relating to abortion .......................................................................... 2431’’.

Æ