Child Custody Protection Act Passes Senate

Update (October 1, 2006): The bill has died.


Update: Contact Senator Durbin! Ask him to allow the Child Custody Protection Act to go to Conference. If you are an Illinois citizen like me, I especially ask you to contact him. But, I ask all of my readers, if they can, to contact Sen. Durbin.

Original message: On Wednesday, July 26, 2006, the United States Senate voted 65-34 to approve a measure that would help uphold state's parental notification and consent laws (1). The Child Custody Protection Act makes it a crime for anyone other than a teenage girl's parents to take her out of state for an abortion. Thankfully the Senate passed this bill and President Bush has vowed to sign it (2).

The Senate rejected all amendments that would have weakened the bill. Here is one of them:

Members of the Senate voted 51-48 against an amendment to a bill that would uphold parental involvement laws on abortion. Opposed by pro-life groups and lawmakers, the amendment would promote teaching teenagers about birth control in an attempt to lower the number of teen pregnancies. Sponsored by pro-abortion Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, the amendment would force taxpayers to fund sexual education programs. Pro-life lawmakers regarded it as an attempt to weaken support for the bill and said it would counter abstinence education efforts that are helping teenagers.

Source: LifeNews

However, Senator Dick Durbin (D- IL) has used a proceural motion to prevent the bill from going to a conference committee after the vote (3). A conference committee is required to work out the slight differences between the Senate's passed version and that of the House of Representatives.

Let us hope that Senator Durbin stops worrying about abortion advocates and starts to support families and tries to get something done in the Senate. You can be certain that I will not vote for Senator Durbin when he runs for re-election.