I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1218

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

MARCH 23, 1999

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mrs.

FOWLER, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. GOSS, Mr. MICA, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.

SCARBOROUGH, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. DELAY, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr.

HYDE, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. CRANE, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. PITTS, Mr. COX,

Mr. BLILEY, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. WALSH, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr.

HOEKSTRA, Mr. FORBES, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LARGENT, Mr.

RAHALL, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SOUDER, Mr.

HALL of Ohio, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. SALMON, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. BURTON of Indiana,

Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. ROGAN, Mr. HUNTER,

Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr.

HILLEARY, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. GOODE, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr.

BURR of North Carolina, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. BARRETT

of Nebraska, Mr. JOHN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. BRYANT, Mr.

SCHAFFER, Mr. TALENT, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin,

Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. BERRY, Mr.

ADERHOLT, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. PICKERING,

Mr. KING, Mr. TERRY, Mr. METCALF, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. SMITH of

Michigan, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LINDER, Mr. SESSIONS,

Mr. CAMP, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. POMBO, Mr. COOK, Mr. RYAN of

Wisconsin, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr.

DICKEY, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. COBURN, Mr. EHLERS, Mr.

CUNNINGHAM, Mr. RILEY, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. BARTON of

Texas, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr.

MANZULLO, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. BLUNT,

Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. NEY,

Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. THUNE, and Mr.

WHITFIELD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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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.

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 an indi18 vidual who has not attained the age of 18 years

19 across a State line, with the intent that such indi20 vidual obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact
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1 abridges the right of a parent under a law requiring

2 parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision,

3 in force in the State where the individual resides,

4 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not

5 more than one year, or both.

6 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this

7 subsection, an abridgement of the right of a parent

8 occurs if an abortion is performed on the individual,

9 in a State other than the State where the individual

10 resides, without the parental consent or notification,

11 or the judicial authorization, that would have been

12 required by that law had the abortion been per13 formed in the State where the individual resides.

14 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—(1) The prohibition of subsection

15 (a) does not apply if the abortion was necessary to save

16 the life of the minor because her life was endangered by

17 a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, in18 cluding a life endangering physical condition caused by or

19 arising from the pregnancy itself.

20 ‘‘(2) An individual transported in violation of this sec21 tion, and any parent of that individual, may not be pros22 ecuted or sued for a violation of this section, a conspiracy

23 to violate this section, or an offense under section 2 or

24 3 based on a violation of this section.
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1 ‘‘(c) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—It is an affirmative

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

3 based on a violation of this section that the defendant rea4 sonably believed, based on information the defendant ob5 tained directly from a parent of the individual or other

6 compelling facts, that before the individual obtained the

7 abortion, the parental consent or notification, or judicial

8 authorization took place that would have been required by

9 the law requiring parental involvement in a minor’s abor10 tion decision, had the abortion been performed in the

11 State where the individual resides.

12 ‘‘(d) CIVIL ACTION.—Any parent who suffers legal

13 harm from a violation of subsection (a) may obtain appro14 priate relief in a civil action.

15 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

16 section—

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

18 minor’s abortion decision is a law—

19 ‘‘(A) requiring, before an abortion is per20 formed on a minor, either—

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

22 a parent of that minor; or

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

24 ‘‘(B) that does not provide as an alter25 native to the requirements described in sub-
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1 paragraph (A) notification to or consent of any

2 person or entity who is not described in that

3 subparagraph;

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘parent’ means—

5 ‘‘(A) a parent or guardian;

6 ‘‘(B) a legal custodian; or

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

8 who has care and control of the minor, and

9 with whom the minor regularly resides;

10 who is designated by the law requiring parental in11 volvement in the minor’s abortion decision as a per12 son to whom notification, or from whom consent, is

13 required;

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

15 is not older than the maximum age requiring paren16 tal notification or consent, or proceedings in a State

17 court, under the law requiring parental involvement

18 in a minor’s abortion decision; and

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

20 Columbia and any commonwealth, possession, or

21 other territory of the United States.’’.

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

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

24 inserting after the item relating to chapter 117 the fol25 lowing new item:
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‘‘117A. Transportation of minors in circumvention of certain laws

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

Æ