Recently, Congress passed a pernicious, oppressive bill. It does not address Iraq, North Korea, or the Middle East conflict. It does not threaten to turn this country into a theocracy (yet). And yet, it is a misguided bill, one that will create as many problems as it purports to fix, crafted by either short-sighted or, more likely, self-serving politicians. It is called the “Child Custody Protection Act,” and it affects abortions.

The gist of the law, drafted by the usual suspects such as Rick Santorum and Bill Frist, is as follows: “(1) GENERALLY- Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever knowingly transports a minor across a State line, with the intent that such minor obtain an abortion, and thereby in fact abridges the right of a parent under a law requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion decision, in force in the State where the minor resides, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.” That is, if signed into law this bill would make it illegal for anybody to help a girl under 18 travel to a different state to get an abortion so as to avoid notifying her parents, as currently required by laws in certain states.

The fact that some states require pregnant girls and abortion clinics to notify parents of impending abortions is patently absurd to begin with. I don’t care that we are dealing with minors…have we never heard the term “medical confidentiality” in this country? Sure, it doesn’t matter when Unnamed Soccer Mom brings her 10 year old to Kindly Doctor So-and-So’s office for a flu shot, but what exactly are the benefits of forcing girls to reveal to their parents that they are pregnant? Sure it stinks, but why jeopardize a girl more than an underage, unwanted pregnancy already jeopardizes her? Besides, we all make mistakes, adults much more so than children; I am pretty sure there are plenty of congressmen, state or federal, who wouldn’t want their or their relatives’ medical records revealed to anyone.

This bill simply exacerbates the already-cancerous abortion issue. People who defend it, such as the group Concerned Women for America, claim that it would help keep teens from being “smuggled” across the state lines by “ill-intentioned adults who would like nothing more than to cover up their actions by covertly terminating a pregnancy,” in a statement made to CNS News. I would like to officially call for such groups to wake up and smell the real world. Restricting abortion in this fashion wouldn’t “protect” teens any more than not teaching Sex Ed in schools or outlawing abortion altogether. Anti-abortion groups seem to have a vision in their heads of the perfect and wonderful family unit, with understanding parents who want what is best for their children, while neatly and perfectly teaching their kids what is right from wrong and how to avoid dangerous situations. Naturally, only “ill-intentioned” outsiders could be the ones to disrupt this family circle. This image conveniently ignores 95% of families, if not more. What happens when a girl’s parents are drug addicts, or violent alcoholics, or have a pattern of abuse, and discovery of a girl’s pregnancy could lead to beatings or worse? What if the person involved in transporting the girl – “illegally” – is simply a Good Samaritan, is trying to help her out, rather than burdening her with a child, unfit parents, and a ruined future? No, the only exception described in this law is in the case that the life of the mother is in danger, a worthy one but hardly the only exception necessary in a law of this kind. Perhaps these politicians prefer to see more babies in dumpsters and toilets rather than safe, legal, abortions performed by certified doctors. And this “protection,” of course, does not even begin to broach the unpleasant but very real circumstances of girls impregnated by their own fathers. This bill makes no effort to prevent such parents from covering up the obscenity of what they’ve done.

This law simply demonstrates how out-of-touch some of our politicians are. They are willing to pass a simplistic, uncompromising bill with dubious benefits and grievous shortcomings to appeal to their conservative, anti-abortion constituencies. If this bill is signed into law, upheld, and implemented, it will just be another blow to the hard-fought rights of women over their own bodies.