Contact: Lindsay Randall, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 105
WASHINGTON, July 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- Concerned Women for America (CWA) strongly opposes the adoption of the Menendez, Feinstein and Boxer Amendments to the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA), S. 403. If signed into law, the CCPA would make it a crime for minors to be transported across state lines for an abortion to circumvent parental notification laws. Unfortunately, three proposed amendments to the final bill seek to undermine the strength of the overall legislation. CWA strongly opposes any attempts to weaken the original intent of the CCPA. The Feinstein Amendment undermines parental consent by allowance for grandparents and members of the clergy, whereas the Boxer Amendment invalidates the bill in cases of incest.
“The three amendments of concern to CWA represent an attempt to undermine the principal intent of the legislation: defending a parents’ authority over their young child. The proposed amendments chip away at American parents’ right to protect their own children,” said Lanier Swann, Director of Government Relations.
Swann continues, “The Feinstein Amendment would allow clergymen to stand in for a parent in giving consent for a minor’s abortion. The issue is that while many clergy are trustworthy, well-intentioned individuals, the term “clergy” is far too broad and provides a loophole for anyone willing to spend the five minutes required by some sects to be ordained. Consider the Universal Life Church. It offers a free, quick and painless five-minute clergy ordination over the internet. So potentially, a boyfriend or perpetrator could become a clergyman in order to avoid prosecution under the CCPA’s guidelines.
“The Boxer Amendment does far more harm than good. It would eliminate protection of incest victims and in some circumstances doubly victimize them. For instance, if a young teen were raped by her adult brother, Sen. Boxer would let him transport his sister across state lines to terminate the pregnancy. He may never be held accountable.
“The Menendez Amendment undermines the strength of yet another issue so vitally important in the campaign to protect young women: authentic abstinence education. We firmly oppose adoption of this amendment because it promotes a mixed message to students regarding healthy and safe decisions about sex. Encouraging teens to delay sexual activity while providing condoms is a failed strategy that fiercely undermines authentic abstinence until marriage education. We hope Senators will recognize the contradictory language throughout this amendment and vote against it,” Swann added.
“We applaud Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada) and Senate leaders for championing the CCPA. We hope its significance is not cut short because of anti-parent and anti-abstinence amendments. We encourage the Senators to oppose these three weakening amendments and pass the CCPA,” concluded Swann.
Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization.
