- Republican state lawmakers are pursuing abortion “trafficking” to prevent pro-abortion advocates from circumventing state bans across the country and protect pregnant minors.
- Idaho, Texas, and now Tennessee are all pushing legislation on the issue, and Tennessee Republican state Rep. Jason Zachary told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he has a 14-year-old son. He said his bill was personal because he was “directly involved” with families. Her daughter had been taken away for an abortion without her knowledge.
- Katie Daniels, director of state policy for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told DCNF that it is unacceptable for an adult to take someone else's child somewhere without the parent's knowledge. It's got to be the easiest thing in the world.”
Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, Republican state legislators have proposed a variety of pro-life laws, and three states have renewed their focus on abortion “trafficking.” ing.
Following the Dobbs decision, Idaho became the first state to pass legislation in 2023 that would implement criminal penalties for individuals who “traffick” minors to other states for abortion purposes, and since then Texas and Tennessee have States are following suit at both the state and local level. . Republican Rep. Jason Zachary of Tennessee told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he introduced the bill. Monday Last year, after a 14-year-old girl was taken away to undergo an abortion without her parents' knowledge. (Related: CVS employee files lawsuit after company allegedly revokes religious exemption to avoid prescribing contraceptives)
“A 14-year-old girl from East Tennessee was taken to West Tennessee without her parents' knowledge, but they didn't know until she was taken to West Tennessee. The child called her parents and said, 'I I'm in West Tennessee and they're taking me to get an abortion.'' She was on the phone with her mom and dad. [who were] She cried and asked me what she could do to stop it. There was nothing I could do,” Zachary told DCNF.
Zachary's invoice Makes it a “criminal offense'' for someone other than a parent or guardian to remove a minor from Tennessee for an abortion, and “a civil offense against those who commit the abortion crime of trafficking a minor for wrongful death.'' It also provides for lawsuits.''According to the text, it refers to an aborted fetus. If passed, minors cannot travel with anyone other than their legal guardian to undergo a chemical or surgical abortion.
Anti-abortion activists hold placards outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC, June 24, 2022 – (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP, Getty Images)
Texas is taking a slightly different approach than states like Idaho and Tennessee, with several city councils enacting new ordinances that prohibit transporting residents on state highways to receive abortions. according to To the Texas Tribune. The Amarillo, Texas City Council is one of the most recent councils. consider The travel ban was included, but a vote at the Dec. 19 meeting was postponed for further consideration.
If passed, the Amarillo ordinance would allow private citizens to sue people for “aiding and abetting.”[s]According to the Texas Tribune, someone tried to use the highway to get an abortion. Similar measures have been proposed in other prefectures. lubbock, LlanoOdessa, Dallas, San Antonio, according to In the Washington Post.
According to the paper, some city council members have expressed concerns that the ordinance and its framework are too extreme.
“I hate abortion. I'm a lover of Jesus, just like everyone here,” Llano City Councilwoman Laura Almond said at an August meeting, according to the Post. She once picked up a friend of hers from an abortion clinic during her college days, but despite her personal beliefs on the matter, she said the law would put her at risk of a lawsuit. explained.
“This has gone too far,” Almond said during the meeting, according to the newspaper. “We're talking about people here.”
The Republican Party is I had a hard time The issue of abortion in the past few elections has been due to poor messaging and a divided base about how strong candidates should be on pro-life issues. Ahead of the presidential election in November, Katie Daniels, national policy director for Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, tells DCNF that she supports all types of abortion legislation, including anti-trafficking, for Republican candidates. He said it would be important to do so. He's not just about what he's against, he's “talking about what it's for.”
“It would be the easiest thing in the world to say that an adult should not be allowed to take another person's child anywhere without the parent's knowledge, let alone in another state for medical treatment that is illegal in that state. It goes without saying that we should go. That should be a real point of agreement, regardless of party,” Daniels said. “More than that, candidates should talk about what they're for. It's for the resources available to women and their children, it's for the pregnancy centers that support them, and it's for the mothers. and for the baby's life.”
Daniels claimed that polls show that “two-thirds of Americans” support parental notification and consent before minors receive chemical abortions by mail and by Rasmussen. poll A July 2022 survey found that 64% of Americans support notifying parents before their child undergoes an abortion.
“To the average person, this is a pretty common sense position. It's the politicians who have ties to the industry that seem to have a problem,” Daniels told DCNF.
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