President Bush Urges Senate to Pass Parental Notification on Abortion 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 29, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — President Bush doesn’t comment on every bill that emerges from one chamber of Congress, but he’s making a public effort to get the Senate to vote on and approve a measure backing parents’ involvement in a teenager’s abortion decision.
He favors a bill that will uphold state laws requiring parental notification or consent but prohibiting anyone other than a parent from taking a teen to another state for an abortion.
Bush said the law would "protect the health and safety of minors by ensuring that state parental involvement laws are not circumvented."
"The parents of pregnant minors can provide counsel, guidance and support to their children and should be involved in these decisions," Bush said. "I urge the Senate to pass this important legislation and help continue to build a culture of life in America."
After the House overwhelmingly passed a parental involvement on abortion measure Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he hopes to be able to bring up the measure for a Senate vote this summer.
While the House has passed a version of the bill on three occasions, the latest on a very strongly bipartisan 270-157 vote, the Senate has never voted on it — in part because pro-abortion lawmakers have held it up.
Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, is the primary sponsor of the bill in the Senate, S.8/S.403. The measure has 38 co-sponsors, including 37 Republicans and pro-life Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Senate Republican leaders have placed the bill on their top ten list of key pieces of legislation to pass. However, Senate Democrats have been using procedural tactics to stall consideration of the bill — a tactic pro-life groups condemned.
"It is outrageous that the Senate Democratic caucus has thrown up procedural obstacles to block parental notification legislation, despite numerous polls showing 75 percent or more of the public supports requiring parental notification," National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson said.
Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the poll for the Fox News Channel and found that 78 percent favor parental notification laws and 72 percent support parental consent laws.
ACTION: Contact your Senators and urge a vote on the bill. Use the following links to find lists of members or call 202-224-3121.
Senate members – https://www.senate.gov
