If enacted, the law will make it a federal crime for any person, other than a parent or guardian, to knowingly transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion, if the minor does not meet the requirements of the forced parental involvement law of her state of residence. The bill defines the term "parental involvement law" as a law "requiring, before an abortion is performed on the minor, either (i) the notification to, or consent of, a parent of that minor; or (ii) proceedings in a State court" which waive the requirement. State laws that permit notification to or consent of any other person, such as a grandparent or aunt, do not qualify as "parental involvement laws" under the Teen Endangerment Act. In addition, the Act will impose a federal parental notification and mandatory delay law when a young woman seeks an abortion outside her state of residence.

On April 27, 2005, H.R. 748, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act passed in the House of Representatives in a roll call vote of 270-157.

The Teen Endangerment Act In Your State

The Teen Endangerment Act will trap minors in a confusing maze of conflicting state laws. A young woman who seeks an abortion in a state other than her home state will be subject to multiple requirements, depending on where she lives, where she seeks the abortion, and whether she travels alone. In some situations, a minor will have to comply with the parental involvement laws of two states in order to obtain an abortion. If a minor who resides in a state that matches the Act’s definition of a "law requiring parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision" travels with a companion to any other state for an abortion, those who assist her may be liable under the Act, unless she complies with the parental involvement law of her home state. Thus, the parental involvement laws of those 26 states will follow a minor from her state of residence to the state where she obtains the abortion. But if the minor lives in a state with a parental involvement law that does not match that definition (such as those that allow a grandparent to give consent or receive notice), her state’s law won’t follow her when she travels out of state for an abortion.

In addition, if the minor seeks an abortion in any of the 24 states that do not have a parental involvement law matching the Act’s definition (or in the District of Columbia), she will be subject to a federal parental notification and mandatory delay requirement. It will be illegal for the physician to perform an abortion on a minor who resides in another state unless the minor has a court order from her home state authorizing an abortion or her parent is notified and the abortion provider waits -- 24 hours if the parent was notified in person or more than 72 hours if the parent was notified by mail -- before performing the abortion.

The effects of the Teen Endangerment Act will be felt in every state, as explained in State Impact sheets to which you can link below. Thirty-five states currently enforce parental involvement laws. These laws vary in their requirements, but, absent the Teen Endangerment Act, they apply only to minors receiving an abortion within the state.

• Twenty-six states have parental involvement requirements that fit the Teen Endangerment Act's restrictive definition of a "parental involvement law:"

  Alabama Arizona Arkansas Florida Georgia Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi

  Missouri Nebraska North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Wyoming

• Nine states have parental involvement laws that do not limit the notification or consent requirement to a parent exclusively, but allow involvement of some other adult, such as a grandparent or other relative, or physician waiver of the state's notification requirement:

  Colorado Delaware Iowa Maine Maryland

  North Carolina South Carolina West Virginia Wisconsin

• Nine states have enacted parental involvement laws that are not enforced within the state due to court rulings or Attorney General opinions:

  Alaska California Idaho Illinois Montana

  Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico

• Six states and the District of Columbia have not enacted forced parental involvement laws:

  Connecticut Hawaii New York Oregon

  Vermont Washington District of Columbia