Last week, the House passed an atrocious piece of legislation that makes it a crime to take a minor across state lines to have an abortion without parental consent (even if the person transporting is a grandparent, sibling, member of the clergy, etc, or the child is a victim of incest). The bill also makes a doctor have to get parental approval - in person - for any minor from a parental notification state or face arrest.
This was bad, but what happened on the floor was yet another example of an out-of-control GOP majority.
Democratic amendments were described in the official Congressional Record as protecting "sexual predators".
More after the jump.
Judiciary committee Democrats offered a number of amendments to the bill in committee to exempt adults from prosecution if they were grandparents, other close relatives, members of the clergy, etc. These were all rejected by the GOP majority. No surprise there that they wouldn't want to show a little compassion for minors in horrific situations.
But when the bill hit the floor, Democrats got a huge surprise. The summaries of those amendments had been written up by the majority to make it seem as if each of those amendments were protecting "sexual predators". For example, a Nadler amendment in reality:
"A Nadler amendment to exempt a grandparent or adult sibling from the criminal and civil provisions in the bill"
That same amendment, described by the GOP:
"Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have exempted sexual predators from prosecution under the bill if they were grandparents or adult siblings of a minor."
Judiciary chair Sensenbrenner refused to correct the record when called on it last week. Today, the House Dems will fight back and introduce a bill that directs Sensenbrenner to do the honest thing and correct the (taxpayer financed) record.
The bill will likely be defeated as Republicans can not have any check on their abuses of power, but we should all alert our representatives and the media about this instance. There is nothing to keep the Republicans from distorting democratic amendments in the future - Pravda-style - if they aren't called on it now.
Amazingly, almost no reporters who covered the abortion bill last week wrote about this issue, but with debate focused on this gross misuse of power, we have to make sure it won't go ignored again!