Abortion has become a major hot-button issue in recent months, with multiple states drafting—and sometimes passing—legislation that critics say restrict women’s right to choose how to manage their own bodies. Similar legislation has rarely been seen in Congress, until this week.
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted to pass the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. The vote was 13 for, 10 against. CIANA, or House Rule 2299, was written in 2011 by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
According to the bill, the author seeks to “prohibit taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.”
“Whover 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,” the bill said.
If passed into law, CIANA would also punish the doctors who performed the abortion with up to a year in prison and fines, as well as open them up to potential litigation.
This comes on the heels of the passage of the so-called “Personhood Act,” Senate Bill 1433, in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The Personhood Act aims to define life as beginning at conception.
The author of SB1433, Sen. Brian Crain of Tulsa, has said that the bill is simply a symbolic measure, and would not ban contraceptives.
Critics of the legislation, like Oklahomans Against the Personhood Act, say the bill paves the way for more restrictive legislation in the future. This includes House Joint Resolution 1087, which would put a measure on the November ballot banning contraception outright.
Oklahomans Against the Personhood Act member Ashley Skinnell, of Oklahoma City, responded to the news of the act’s passage in the House, and offered her condolences to pro-choice people across the state.
“I can’t help but get emotional when I listen to the recording released of today’s meeting of the Public Health Committee,” Skinnell said. “My legislators have undermined the control I have over my own body, and to the Oklahomans who feel the same way—I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry that your voice was not heard by those we put in office to protect us. I’m sorry you’ve been failed,” she added. “Our fight doesn’t end here; it cannot end until the rights of all Oklahomans are protected, until our bodies are no longer battlegrounds.”
The next step for the Personhood Act is Gov. Mary Fallin’s office, where she will either sign it into law or veto it. There will be a “Unite Against the War on Women” march on April 28.