The Teen Endangerment Act, also called the “Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act” (CIANA) or the “Child Custody Protection Act” (CCPA), will harm young women who face unwanted pregnancies. The Teen Endangerment Act (H.R. 748, S. 8, 396 and 403) is currently under consideration by Congress. If enacted it will result in a confusing maze of requirements designed to isolate teens and leave some with no safe options. The Act will do so by severely restricting most young women’s ability to obtain an abortion outside their home states. It contains no exception for when an abortion is necessary to protect a teen’s health. It requires a 24-hour waiting period and written notification even if a parent accompanies his or her daughter to an out-of-state abortion provider. It criminalizes grandmothers and other compassionate adults who are trying to keep teens safe. And it forces teens from troubled families into dangerous situations.
What is the Teen Endangerment Act?
The Teen Endangerment Act will create two federal crimes. The first section of the law makes it a federal crime for any person, other than a parent or guardian, to knowingly transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion, if the minor does not meet the requirements of the forced parental involvement law of her state of residence. People who assist the young woman – including healthcare providers – will risk both civil and criminal liability, including imprisonment for up to one year and fines of up to $100,000, or both.
Currently, 26 states have parental involvement laws that require parental consent or notification or court authorization before a minor can obtain an abortion. Under the Teen Endangerment Act, if a young woman living in one of these states travels with assistance to another state to undergo the procedure – for any reason – she must either go alone or comply with her home state’s law, as well as any law of the state in which she seeks the abortion. The other states, and the District of Columbia, have no parental involvement requirement, or allow someone other than a parent (such as a grandparent or aunt) to receive notice or provide consent or allow a ohysician to waive the parental notice requirement.
The second section of the Act will impose a federal parental notification and mandatory delay law. This section will make it a federal crime for a physician to perform an abortion on a minor who resides in another state unless the minor has a court order from her home state authorizing an abortion or her parent is notified and the abortion provider provides federal notice (explained below) before performing the abortion. The bill does not provide any way for a minor to obtain a judicial waiver of the federal notice and delay requirement if her home state does not have a judicial bypass procedure. The requirements of this Section apply if the non resident minor obtains an abortion in any of 24states or the District of Columbia.
In order to provide the federal notice required by the second section of the bill, the physician must try to provide “actual notice” – which is defined as written, in person notice to a parent – and then wait 24 hours before performing the abortion. Therefore, even if the minor comes to the clinic with a parent, the physician will have to wait 24 hours before performing the abortion. If, after making a “reasonable effort,” the physician is unable to provide actual notice, the physician must provide “constructive notice,” which means that a period of over 72 hours will have to elapse before the abortion may be performed.
An Example of the Teen Endangerment Act in Action:
- Joanne, a 17-year-old from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, can’t tell her father she is pregnant because she is scared that he’ll beat her if she does. Instead, she decides to tell her older sister, who agrees to take her to nearby Mobile, Alabama to get an abortion. She gets a court order from an Alabama court, which enables her to get an abortion legally in Alabama. However, on her way back to Mississippi, her sister is arrested because, under the Teen Endangerment Act she has broken the law. Joanne had neglected to get a second court order from Mississippi.
How Does the Teen Endangerment Act Harm Young Women?
- It forces young women to rely on potentially abusive and dysfunctional parents: Family communication is desirable and most parents know when their daughters undergo an abortion, even when their involvement is not mandated by law. Unfortunately, not all young women are in situations where they can communicate openly with their parents. Those who avoid parental involvement in the decision to have an abortion often do so out of fear of abuse, pressure to carry the pregnancy to term, threats of being thrown out of the house, or other negative repercussions. The Act imposes its restrictions regardless of the family situation that a young woman may face.
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- It makes it riskier for young women to exercise their right to reproductive choice: By criminalizing assistance from trusted relatives and friends, the Act will force some young women—already struggling physically and emotionally with unwanted pregnancies—to travel alone. Those young women will be deprived of the benefits of trusted companionship before and after their medical procedure, isolating them from adults who are best able to help them. Moreover, by imposing a mandatory delay period, even in situations in which the minor needs a prompt abortion to protect her health, the Act will endanger the health of some young women.
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- It imposes governmental interference with the parent-daughter relationship: The Act will impose a mandatory delay even in situations in which the parent supports the daughter’s decision to have an abortion. A delay of 24 hours is imposed even if the minor and her parent(s) go to an out-of-state abortion provider together and a longer delay is imposed even if the parent consents to the abortion but does not accompany his or her daughter to the physician.
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- It will trap minors in a confusing maze of conflicting state laws: A young woman who seeks an abortion in a state other than her home state will be subject to multiple requirements, depending on where she lives, where she seeks the abortion, and whether she travels alone. If she travels with assistance, those who assist her may risk criminal and civil liability under one section of the law unless she complies with the laws of both her home state and the state to which she travels.
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- It fails to recognize the importance of other family members and trusted adults in young women’s lives: Some young women have trusted adults in their lives, other than their parents, whom they voluntarily consult in their life decisions. This legislation discourages such helpful relationships, forcing young women to choose between forgoing needed assistance from these adults and exposing them to criminal liability.
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- It ignores geographic and economic realities and flaws in the judicial bypass system: Young women decide to obtain an abortion outside of their state of residence for a variety of reasons, including lack of a nearby abortion provider in their home state, the presence of supportive loved ones in another state, difficulties in securing a judicial bypass, recommendations from trusted relatives or friends, or for financial reasons. The Act requires young women to grapple with the laws of two states, plus a federal notice and delay requirement, regardless of why they cross state lines to obtain an abortion.
In each of these ways, the Act promotes an anti-choice agenda over a teen’s well-being.
How Does the Teen Endangerment Act Violate the Constitution?
- It imposes a parental notification requirement without providing any judicial waiver option.
- It places an undue burden on young women’s access to abortion.
- It fails to provide an adequate medical emergency exception.
- It infringes upon constitutionally protected rights to equal protection and interstate travel.
- It endangers the health of young women by making it more dangerous for them to engage in constitutionally protected conduct.
