Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act
CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2005)
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AMENDMENT NO. 1 OFFERED BY MR. SCOTT OF VIRGINIA
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, the bill makes it a Federal crime to transport a minor across State lines with the intent that the minor obtain an abortion if the parental-involvement laws of the State were circumvented.
Now, transport is not defined in the bill. But it obviously includes taxicabs, buses, ambulance drivers and others that may transport a minor across State lines to get an abortion or return from an abortion under the bill. And it makes them criminals for the simple task of doing their job, transporting someone between two places.
Now, the bill also makes conspiracy and accessory after the fact criminal violations, so a nurse or receptionist or sorority sister who calls the cab could also be prosecuted for the Federal crime.
That is why, Mr. Chairman, I have introduced the amendment, which says that the prohibitions of this section do not apply with respect to the conduct of taxicab drivers, bus drivers, nurses, medical providers or others in the business of professional transport.
Now, even if a prosecutor uses commonsense prosecutorial discretion and does not prosecute a cab driver or a sorority sister in this situation, there are other problems with the bill, because a technical violation of the bill, such as one committed by the taxicab driver, automatically exposes that taxicab driver or the sorority sister who calls the cab, did not even go on the trip, to civil liability. That means that the parents can sue them for what they did.
The civil liability provisions of the bill create a blanket Federal cause of action for a parent that suffers "legal harm," compounding the massive intimidation effects of the bill. Based on the language of the bill, the cab driver, receptionist, sorority sister could be held civilly liable for helping to provide safe and legal transportation assistance to the minor.
Moreover, based on the agency principles, not only is the cab driver exposed to civil liability, but the entire cab company is similarly exposed.
Now, you may say that the cab driver probably did not know. But what happens when the passenger gets into the cab and says, take me to the abortion clinic which happens to be across State lines. And during the trip, he hears the minor discuss with a friend where she is going and why. It becomes clear what the deal is.
Now, in prior discussions with the amendment, it has been suggested that the bill will immunize someone who may be a taxicab driver and also a sexual predator.
Let us not insult each other. If someone is a sexual predator, and the prosecutor evidence of that, this will be the last code section that they will be looking at because these are misdemeanors. The code is full of felonies for sexual predators.
And so if the parent finds out that the minor went across State lines by taxicab and gets mad, and the child has to explain what happened, how they got to the clinic, and what was said in the cab, obviously, the parent can sue the cab driver.
Now, an overwhelming portion of minors already discuss the situation with their parents. This will not reduce teen pregnancy. This will not increase the number of children that discuss the situation with their parents. This will make no exceptions for dysfunctional families. It will just make criminals out of friends and relatives and allow the parents to sue them.
I just do not think, Mr. Chairman, that the taxicab drivers ought to get caught up in that controversy and that is why I hope the amendment is adopted.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my team.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, let me read the operative language of the bill. "Whoever knowingly transports a minor across a State line with the intent that such minor obtain an abortion," clearly covers a taxicab driver who knows where he is going and has heard the discussion behind him.
I just do not think the bill ought to apply to the taxicab driver. If the others do not think it applies, then just pass the amendment. I think it is a commonsense amendment. The taxicab driver ought not get caught up into an interfamily dispute over who did what and he get sued and the cab company get sued because he did not know it was illegal to take the fare to the nearest abortion clinic which happened to be across the State line.
The taxicab driver could clearly know and he could hear the discussion about where they were going and why. That would make him guilty, the taxicab company guilty, the sorority sister that called the taxicab guilty for conspiracy.
This is a commonsense amendment. I do not think the taxicab driver ought to be part of this discussion, ought not be sued by a mad parent, and I hope we will adopt the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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AMENDMENT NO. 2 OFFERED BY MS. JACKSON-LEE OF TEXAS
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I support the amendment, but I also wanted to point out that at the end of the last debate the chairman of the committee suggested that there needs to be a criminal intent for the evasion of the parental consent laws, but we do not need intent for that. If, in fact, you have circumvented the parental consent laws, then there is a violation. You do not even have to know you violated them if, in fact, you did; and I think the chairman would acknowledge that.
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