Senate Passes Interstate Abortion Law

The Middle East burns, military suicides are on the rise, gas prices have hit an all time high, as the number of people without healthcare continues to increase, they're the ones who pay the most for prescription drugs, and college graduates' wages dropped 5.2 percent since 2000. But hey, this is a pressing issue.

Fifty-one Republicans and 14 Democrats voted for the bill, while four Republicans, 29 Democrats and one independent voted against it:

The Senate voted yesterday to make it a crime to take a pregnant minor to another state to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge, handing a long-sought victory to the Bush administration and abortion opponents.

The bill would help about three dozen states enforce laws that require minors to notify or obtain the consent of their parents before having an abortion. It would bar people -- including clergy members and grandparents -- from helping a girl cross state lines to avoid parental-involvement laws. Violations could result in a year in prison.

Most states have passed such laws, but courts have invalidated at least nine of them, advocacy groups say. Maryland and Virginia have parental-notification laws; the District does not. The Senate voted 65 to 34 to approve the bill, which is similar to one the House has approved before, including last year.

Opponents said the Senate measure could threaten the safety of girls, saying parents might beat their daughters if they find out about plans for an abortion. The proponents' approach "is not to deal with the reality of young people" in troubled families, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). He cited the case of an Idaho man who impregnated his 13-year-old daughter and then killed her when he learned she had scheduled an abortion.

As Janusdog's diary on Daily Kos states, even good girls can't talk to daddy about sex:

So when I was date raped in college, and I was afraid I was pregnant, I didn't tell my father. I told my mother who went immediately into denial. She said, "We won't tell your dad, he'll kill everyone in sight." And then this peaceful look crossed her face and I knew she was busy forgetting what I had just told her.

I went to get EC for myself, by myself, and was verbally abused by the gynecologist. He told me that I couldn't have been raped because my underwear wasn't ripped (forget the 6" long bruise on my bicep) and that I should keep my clothes on next time. He bitched during the entire exam about how irresponsible I was.

During this tirade of his, I contemplated suicide, had a plan (and since they left me alone in the exam room for hours at a time while they apparently had coffee) I was saved only by the fact that I had once read a story about a woman who had committed suicide after a rape but turned out not to be pregnant after all. So I decided put off death to see if I was pregnant or not.

Did you get that? What saved me was not my parents' love, but READING and INFORMATION. My dad's rage would have been focused on his own sense of violation, the violation of his property, and not on the fact that I was violated. My mom couldn't deal with it. I don't even think she remembers the incident today.

It's also important to note that the majority of the Republicans in DC could care less about *preventing* unwanted pregnancies or providing women and girls with information that could possibly save their lives:

Senators voted 51 to 48 to reject an amendment drafted by Democrats that would have steered federal money to programs that educate teenagers about sexual abstinence and contraception.