On Wednesday, the house approved legislation that will make it a crime for any adult, with the exception of a parent, to help a young woman evade a state’s parental consent laws by transporting her to another state for an abortion.
The legislation passed by a 270 to 159 but fell 16 votes short of an expected veto from the President. The bill is also expected to languish in the Senate, like similar legislation last year that could not muster the necessary votes to overcome a Senate filibuster. (A filibuster is when a Senator gives long speeches to delay or obstruct legislation. Only the combined votes of 60 or more Senators can stop the speech.)
It appears that House Republicans forced a vote on the bill to appease anti-abortion constituents. The Bill is also expected to win the praise of pro-choice voters who do not want their daughter’s boyfriend’s to help orchestrate an abortion.
The house is apparently oblivious the concept of federalism, which is dictated by the 10th amendment to the Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Federalism allows and encourages states to enact different laws and then lets people vote with their feet, as many people do to skirt parental-consent laws.
Many congressional representatives condemned the bill because it does not allow teenagers to seek the help of other family members. “It is so narrow that it would prohibit a grandmother, an aunt, an older sister, or a religious counselor from helping out in a girl’s hour of need,” said Rep. Lowey. “In enforcing this, would we set up ‘granny checks’ at state lines to arrest grandmas who are helping their granddaughters?”
House Majority Leader Dick Armey countered by saying that other family members have “no right to intercede” in a parent-daughter relationship. “Grandma should honor the mother and father who’ve accepted the responsibility” of raising their child.
Both of these congressional representatives have no right to intercede the “daughter-daughter” relationship. A teenager should have the right to make decisions about her own body and then seek out the necessary means to get an abortion.
Bill Would Limit Your Right to an Abortion
The House and the Senate are considering new legislation that would make it a crime for someone to take a girl younger that 18 to another state for an abortion to avoid parental notification laws in her home state. Since Republicans are sponsoring the bill, the Democratic Party will claim that it is the only party which will defend a woman’s right to an abortion.
Don’t let the Democrats fool you with their PRO-CHOICE buttons. The Libertarian Party is the real party of choice.
Most Democrats will protect your right to an abortion but they also support curfews, the drinking age, the smoking age and the driving age. They might let you get an abortion but they won’t let you do it after curfew. Vote Libertarian and be pro-choice on everything.
- Review these slides
- Read this,
- review this diagram of US vs USofA,
- read these six PDFs,
- watch Richard McDonald's seminar intro
- learn to speak like a simple man
- If this site ever goes down, the archive is on the wayback machine.
If a fetus is alive, than being pro-life can still be a valid libertarian position