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Union Calendar No. 118

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1218

[Report No. 106–204]

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,
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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

JUNE 25, 1999

Additional sponsors: Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. GOODLING, Mr.

HAYES, Mr. WAMP, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky,

Mr. PACKARD, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. PHELPS, and Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma

JUNE 25, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

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:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 117A—TRANSPORTATION OF

2 MINORS IN CIRCUMVENTION OF CER3 TAIN LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION

‘‘Sec.

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

abortion.

4 ‘‘§ 2431. Transportation of minors in circumvention of

5 certain laws relating to abortion

6 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—

7 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—Except as provided in sub8 section (b), whoever knowingly transports an indi9 vidual who has not attained the age of 18 years

10 across a State line, with the intent that such indi11 vidual obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact

12 abridges the right of a parent under a law requiring

13 parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision,

14 in force in the State where the individual resides,

15 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not

16 more than one year, or both.

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

18 subsection, an abridgement of the right of a parent

19 occurs if an abortion is performed on the individual,

20 in a State other than the State where the individual

21 resides, without the parental consent or notification,

22 or the judicial authorization, that would have been

23 required by that law had the abortion been per24 formed in the State where the individual resides.
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1 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—(1) The prohibition of subsection

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

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

4 a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, in5 cluding a life endangering physical condition caused by or

6 arising from the pregnancy itself.

7 ‘‘(2) An individual transported in violation of this sec8 tion, and any parent of that individual, may not be pros9 ecuted or sued for a violation of this section, a conspiracy

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

11 3 based on a violation of this section.

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

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

14 based on a violation of this section that the defendant rea15 sonably believed, based on information the defendant ob16 tained directly from a parent of the individual or other

17 compelling facts, that before the individual obtained the

18 abortion, the parental consent or notification, or judicial

19 authorization took place that would have been required by

20 the law requiring parental involvement in a minor’s abor21 tion decision, had the abortion been performed in the

22 State where the individual resides.

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

24 harm from a violation of subsection (a) may obtain appro25 priate relief in a civil action.
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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

2 section—

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

4 minor’s abortion decision is a law—

5 ‘‘(A) requiring, before an abortion is per6 formed on a minor, either—

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

8 a parent of that minor; or

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

10 ‘‘(B) that does not provide as an alter11 native to the requirements described in sub12 paragraph (A) notification to or consent of any

13 person or entity who is not described in that

14 subparagraph;

15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘parent’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) a parent or guardian;

17 ‘‘(B) a legal custodian; or

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

19 who has care and control of the minor, and

20 with whom the minor regularly resides;

21 who is designated by the law requiring parental in22 volvement in the minor’s abortion decision as a per23 son to whom notification, or from whom consent, is

24 required;
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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘minor’ means an individual who

2 is not older than the maximum age requiring paren3 tal notification or consent, or proceedings in a State

4 court, under the law requiring parental involvement

5 in a minor’s abortion decision; and

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

7 Columbia and any commonwealth, possession, or

8 other territory of the United States.’’.

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

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

11 inserting after the item relating to chapter 117 the fol12 lowing new item:

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

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

Union Calendar No. 118

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1218

[Report No. 106–204]

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit

abortion decisions.of laws requiring the involvement of parents intaking minors across State lines in circumvention

JUNE 25, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed