The question of whether adolescents have privacy rights in their own health care was not asked or answered July 27 as the United States Senate passed a bill that, if it becomes law, will make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to accompany a minor young woman across state lines to have an abortion, if the minor’s home state has a law requiring parent notification of or consent to the abortion.

There were no figures on how frequently such out-of-state abortions occur, though supporters of the Senate bill charged that predatory older boy friends often attempt to avoid statutory rape charges by forcing girls into secret abortions, and opponents of the legislation cited caring grandmothers who would be prevented by the bill from aiding granddaughters terrified of controlling or incestuous fathers.

The Republican sponsor of the Child Custody Protection Act, Senator John Ensign (R-NV) made clear that the legislation "does not create a national parent notification law or force such a law on any state that does not have it," but he noted that 47 states have passed such statutes.

Acknowledging that there are incestuous fathers as well as loving and supportive families, proponents of the legislation agreed to an amendment that would prevent a father who had impregnated his daughter from suing anyone who accompanied her to an abortion, but the proposed law leaves in place the right of the father to accompany her.

Senators suggested that the bill, if it becomes law, would be found unconstitutional because it interferes with travel between states and because it singles out one group of citizens for restrictions not placed on the population as a whole.

Following passage of the bill, Democrats objected to a proposal to go to conference with the House of Representatives, which has passed a slightly different bill, thereby delaying further action and possibly shelving the legislation for this session of Congress.

The text and progress of the bill, S. 203, and other legislation can be followed on the Congressional Record website at http://thomas.loc.gov

See also: Teenagers Are Central Issue in ‘Morning After’ Pill, at http://www.healthinschools.org/ejournal/2005/sept1.htm