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Democrats Kill Parental-Rights Bill as Senate Session Adjourns

(AgapePress) - Pro-life groups are lamenting the demise of a piece of legislation they say is supported by 80 percent of Americans -- a bill that would have required a minor girl's parents to be informed before she had an abortion, and that would have punished individuals who transported a minor across state lines for an abortion in order to circumvent parental notification laws in the girl's home state.

Senate Majority Bill Frist did all he could to bring Senate Bill 403 to a vote before that chamber adjourned this session -- but a cloture vote on the Child Custody Protection Act fell three votes short on Friday, falling victim again to Democratic-led efforts to prevent the bill from being sent along to the White House. (See earlier article) Frist had hoped the procedural move would force a vote on a bill that the Senate had passed earlier on a 65-34 vote -- and the House had passed 264-153 -- but his filing of cloture required at least 60 votes. On Friday, he could only muster 57; fifty-one Republicans and six Democrats (see roll call vote).

The bill will now go without a vote in this Congress, much to the dismay of pro-lifers who had praised both the House and Senator Frist for their efforts to get the bill ushered through Congress. "It is remarkable," says Douglas Johnson of National Right to Life, "that only six out of 45 Senate Democrats voted to require a parent to be notified before an abortion is performed on a young daughter in some other state." Some pro-life supporters are suggesting that several of those voted earlier in favor of the bill were strong-armed into the opposing column.

"We commend [Frist] for fighting to the end to free this legislation from the grip of a Senate minority -- a minority that has preserved the ability of profiteering abortionists to keep parents in the dark," Johnson adds.

Concerned Women for America echoes Johnson's comments, calling the bill's death "an enormous loss" for children's safety and parental rights. Lanier Swann, CWA's director of government relations, blames "partisan antics" for the cloture result on Friday.

"The Senate chose to disregard the American public's wish to see this bill implemented," Swann states in a press release. "Apparently they are more dedicated to divisive partisanship than to the American public for whom this issue is overwhelmingly popular."

Swann evidently also sees the vote as a victory for child predators. "There are many ill-intentioned adults who would like to cover up their actions by silencing an impregnated minor," she remarks. "The Child Custody Protection Act would have prevented this heinous crime from happening by requiring parental consent in states that already have laws in the books."

The U.S. House had passed the Senate version earlier last week, calling their measure the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) and adding a provision that would require abortion providers to notify parents of a minor seeking an abortion at least 24 hours before it takes place.