National Abortion Federation Blog: Saporta Reporter

According to an opinion poll released this week, majorities in 17 out of 18 nations surveyed reject the use of criminal penalties such as fines or imprisonment, as a means to prevent abortion.

WorldPublicOpinion.org interviewed 18,465 respondents in 18 geographically and culturally diverse countries representing 59 percent of the world’s population. Respondents were from countries where abortion is legal including the United States and France, and also countries with highly restrictive abortion laws like Mexico, Poland, and South Korea. On average across all 18 countries, 52 percent of respondents favored leaving the matter of abortion to the individual.

“Clearly many governments around the world using criminal penalties to try to prevent abortions are out of step with their publics,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org.

WorldPublicOpinion.org is a collaborative research project of research centers from around the world, managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.

Labels: criminal penalties laws, illegal, Mexico, poll

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a Virginia abortion law on constitutional grounds. This is the second time the federal appeals court in Richmond has struck down this law ruling it would impose an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to obtain abortion care.

The 2-1 ruling affirms the same court’s 2005 decision to strike down the abortion ban, a ruling which prevented Virginia’s law from taking effect. However, last year the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning certain abortions. Following this decision, the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reexamine the Virginia law in light of the high court's ruling on the federal ban. Since the Supreme Court decision in April 2007, federal appeals courts have overturned state bans in Michigan and now Virginia, finding that they are broader than the federal abortion ban.

Like the federal law, Virginia’s act banned certain abortion procedures after the first trimester and lacked an exception to protect women’s health.

“Unlike the federal act,” Judge M. Blane Michael wrote for the majority, “the Virginia act subjects all doctors who perform” the more common procedure “to potential criminal liability, thereby imposing an unconstitutional burden on a woman’s right to choose.”

Labels: abortion bans, criminal penalties laws, Michigan

Last night NAF issued this press release:

Washington, DC - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that combines the Child Custody Protection Act, which was passed by the U.S. Senate this past summer, with provisions substantially similar to the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives last year. This callous legislation, more aptly called The Teen Endangerment Act, could endanger teens and violate their constitutional rights. Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, released the following statement condemning this harmful legislation:



Tonight, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives chose anti-choice politics over protecting the health and safety of our teens with their passage of the Teen Endangerment Act. This legislation would make it a federal crime for a person other than a parent to help a minor from certain states obtain an abortion in another state if the minor has not fulfilled the parental involvement requirements of her home state.

In many cases where a teen is not comfortable involving her parent, she reaches out to trusted aunts, sisters, grandmothers, or other friends as a resource. However, the Teen Endangerment Act effectively removes this alternative and prohibits anyone except a parent from taking a minor across certain state lines for an abortion if the teen has not already met her home state's parental involvement requirements. As a result, a teen may be compelled to pursue drastic alternatives in order to avoid involving her parents, or she may encounter dangerous delays as she attempts to navigate the legal system and obtain a judicial bypass.

The Teen Endangerment Act also places burdensome restrictions on doctors, and puts them at risk for criminal and civil liability. On behalf of health care providers, and the teens for whom they care, we condemn the House for passing this dangerous legislation.

Labels: anti-choice, criminal penalties laws, federal legislation, parental involvement

Here is the press release we issued today on the Teen Endangerment Act

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider a federal parental notification law that combines the Child Custody Protection Act, which was passed by the U.S. Senate this past summer, with provisions substantially similar to the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives last year. This callous legislation, more aptly called The Teen Endangerment Act, could endanger teens and violate their constitutional rights. Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, released the following statement condemning this harmful legislation:



In most instances, parents know about a teenage daughter's decision to terminate a pregnancy. However, the government cannot legislate good family communications, and parental involvement may not be a realistic option for teens who come from homes that are emotionally or physically abusive, or for those who are victims of rape or incest.

In many cases where a teen is not comfortable involving her parent, she reaches out to trusted aunts, sisters, grandmothers, or other friends as a resource. However, the Teen Endangerment Act effectively removes this alternative and prohibits anyone except a parent from taking a minor across certain state lines for an abortion if the teen has not already met her home state's parental involvement requirements. As a result, a teen may be compelled to pursue drastic alternatives in order to avoid involving her parents, or she may encounter dangerous delays as she attempts to navigate the legal system and obtain a judicial bypass.

The Teen Endangerment Act also contains onerous notification requirements that place an unprecedented burden on health care providers. Its requirements operate differently depending on the laws of the teen's home state, and compliance with this provision essentially would require doctors to become experts on every U.S. state's abortion laws. In addition, teens may be forced to comply with two different state's laws; in other situations, some teens may not even have the option of seeking a judicial bypass in lieu of informing their parents.

The Teen Endangerment Act threatens the welfare of young women by isolating them from trusted adults and creating delays and burdens that could endanger young women's health. Further, it places burdensome restrictions on doctors, and puts them at risk for criminal and civil liability. On behalf of health care providers, and the teens for whom they care, we are urging Representatives to oppose this dangerous legislation.

Labels: criminal penalties laws, federal legislation, parental involvement