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Source: Las Vegas Sun; April 14, 2003

Pro-Life Senator Reintroduces Child Custody Protection Act

Washington, DC -- Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) has reintroduced a pro-life bill that would ban non-parents from taking a teen girl across state lines for an abortion without parental consent or notification.

Ensign said dozens of states have laws requiring one or both parents to be notified before a minor has an abortion. Neighboring states that do not have such laws have abortion facilities that seek to attrack out of state teens for secret abortions, Ensign said.

The bill is aimed at preventing girls from crossing state borders to avoid the laws by targeting boyfriends, friends, other relatives or abortion facilities employeess who might drive them. According to the bill, drivers could be fined an unspecified amount or spend up to one year in jail or both. Parents could sue the driver for civil damages under the law.

Ensign authored the bill and introduced it Thursday with 22 other co-sponsors.

"Children can't go on a field trip or be given an aspirin in school without written permission from their parents, but nothing prevents them from being taken across state lines for an abortion without their parents' knowledge or consent," Ensign said.

Pro-abortion activists vowed to lobby against the bill. The legislation injects the government into the private medical decisions of young women, said Elizabeth Cavendish, legal director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. The bill is part of the larger pro-life agenda to eventually eliminate abortion, she said.

Nevada is among the states where parental notification laws are not enforced, but neighboring Arizona and Idaho enforce such laws, according to data from Ensign's office.