Rob Portman Tries to Make Abortion Impossible for Some Without Parental Consent
Portman’s bill would make it illegal for non-parental consent states to give an abortion to a minor from a state with parental consent laws.
Ohio and most other states require a parent’s consent or notification before they will allow a minor to have an abortion. Minors can get around this if they get a court order, or what’s known as “judicial bypass.”
But minors have another option — one that abortion opponents consider dastardly but that abortion rights activists defend as necessary sometimes. The minor can go to an abortion provider in one of 12 states that have no parental-involvement laws.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, wants to make it harder for non-parental adults to help minors bypass these state laws. Some of these adults do not have a girl’s best interest at heart when they transport her, say supporters of this effort, including Ohio Right to Life.
So on Jan. 24, Portman announced the latest version of a bill long sought by abortion opponents. He would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion if it would circumvent a state law requiring parental involvement.
More: PolitiFact Ohio