Ensign introduces bill on abortion

Benjamin Grove

Friday, April 11, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has introduced a bill that would ban non-parents from taking a minor across state lines for an abortion without parental consent.

Ensign said 44 states have laws requiring one or both parents to be notified before a minor has an abortion. But only 33 states are enforcing the laws, Ensign said.

The bill is aimed at preventing girls from crossing state borders to avoid the laws by targeting boyfriends, friends or other relatives who might drive them. The bill does not prohibit girls from driving themselves across state lines, Ensign aides said.

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 Senate GOP 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-choice 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 rights, 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.