The Senate will be voting on the Teen Endangerment Act (also known as the Child Custody Protection Act, S.8) TODAY, Thursday July 20th! This bill jeopardizes the health of thousands of Latina teens by further restricting access to safe and legal abortion. A more harmful version of this bill has already passed the House and will likely be signed into law by the President. We must stop this harmful legislation from passing the Senate.

Contact your Senators TODAY and tell them to VOTE NO on the Teen Endangerment Act!

Use the tool provided by National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) at:

Link

See below for more background information from NLIRH:

What's At Stake:

What is the Teen Endangerment Act?
The Senate recently introduced a bill entitled the Child Custody Protection Act (S.8). This bill makes it a federal crime for any person, other than a parent, to transport a pregnant minor across state lines for purposes of obtaining an abortion without meeting the parental notification or consent requirements of the minor's home state. There is no exception in the bill in cases where the health of a teen is at risk unless it is a life threatening situation.

Why is NLIRH calling it the Teen Endangerment Act?
We are calling this bill the Teen Endangerment because it forces teenage girls to travel alone to obtain the abortion procedure. As any parent knows, legislatures can not legislate healthy families or healthy relationships between parent and child. Teens facing unwanted pregnancies who are in abusive family situations may believe that crossing state lines with a trusted friend or relative is the only viable option.

How will this bill affect Latinas?
NLIRH believes that parents and teens should have open and honest communications about sex and that pregnant teens should seek out a trusted adult. However, the reality is that for some Latinas, open and honest communication is not possible. Focus group studies have found that some Latino parents do not feel equipped with all of the information they need to discuss sex openly. In other families, religion and traditional cultural values are so deeply embedded that sex and relationships are not discussed. And sometimes Latina teens find themselves in violent family situations in which approaching a parent about their pregnancy is simply not an option.

For pregnant Latina teens who are not able to seek counsel in a parent, the court system may not be a realistic option, especially for Latina teens that are immigrants or limited English proficient. These Latinas need to know that they can turn to a trusted friend or adult in this distressing situation without fear of criminal penalty.

Latinas will also be significantly affected by the Teen Endangerment Act because many Latinas live in states with parental consent or notification laws. For example, Texas and Arizona have strict parental consent laws and are surrounded by states that do not enforce parental consent requirements. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos represent 32% and 25% of the population in Texas an d Arizona, respectively.

Is The Teen Endangerment Act Constitutional?
No. NLIRH believes that the Teen Endangerment Act violates the Constitution for a number of reasons. First, the Act has the effect of forcing individuals in one state to abide by the laws of another, which violates basic principles of state sovereignty. States have the authority to create laws for their residents as long as the law does not violate federal law. The Teen Endangerment Act effectively denies states the right to decide NOT to impose a parental notice law on teens living in that state.

Second, the law violates the Equal Protection Clause by treating women seeking a medical procedure differently based on their state of residency. There is no justification for treating a Latina teen from Texas differently than a Latina teen from California when they go to New York to obtain an abortion. All Latinas should have an equal right to access an abortion no matter what state they are from.

Finally, the law places an "undue burden" on teens seeking abortion in violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The Supreme Court has held that minors have a right to abortion and that no state can pass a law that creates a substantial burden on abortion access unless the purpose of the law is to promote a legitimate government interest, such as protecting the health of the mother. The Teen Endangerment Act creates a huge barrier for Latina teens and does not protect their health. If anything, the Act jeopardizes teen health because desperate Latinas will now be forced to travel alone to obtain an abortion. For these reasons, the Teen Endangerment Act should be held unconstitutional.





Jacinta "Jacy" Montoya
Executive Director
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
P.O. Box 201061
Denver, CO 80220
303-393-0382 phone
303-638-5921 mobile
303-316-7772 fax
jacy@colorlatina.org

The mission of COLOR is to organize a sisterhood of Latinas through education and advocacy for quality healthcare and reproductive rights.