Maryland Conservatarian

I normally resist federal interference into matters that are best left to the states but the various state efforts to address parental involvement in their daughter’s abortion decisions have constantly met up with federal judicial enjoinment…which inspired the Child Custody Protection Act.

As you may have read, the Senate overwhelmingly passed this bill which would prohibit the transportation of minors across state lines for the purpose of obtaining an abortion in circumvention of state-required parental involvement laws. Not sure why anyone should be able to transport minors across state lines for ANY purpose without parental notification but… The House has passed similar legislature several times in the past so this should result in something for the President to sign.

Both sides use anecdotal evidence as to why this bill is or isn’t a good idea. On the “isn’t” side, the tragic story of Spring Adams has been a mainstay:

"In Idaho, a 13-year-old girl named Spring Adams was shot to death by her father after he learned that she planned to terminate a pregnancy caused by his acts of incest," Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said during House debate last year.” Senate revives abortion debate on rights of teens

“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.” Interstate Abortion Bill Clears Senate

“Enacting this legislation and forcing young women in these circumstances to notify their parents of their pregnancies will only exacerbate the dangerous cycle of violence in dysfunctional families. This is the lesson of Spring Adams, an Idaho teenager who was shot to death by her father after he learned she was planning to terminate a pregnancy caused by his acts of incest.” House Judiciary Democrats dissent to HR 748

But that’s not the whole story. Here’s how the ACLU described it:

“Although the young woman decided to have an abortion and arranged for an appointment, shecould not afford either to pay for the procedure or to travel to the abortion provider, who was more than six hours away in Portland, Oregon. The local social services agency would have refused to pay for her medical care because abortions are not covered by medical assistance -- even in rape or incest cases. Two Portland organizations arranged for a free abortion, a ride to Portland, and a place for Spring to stay overnight. But the morning before she was to leave for the clinic, Spring's father shot her to death with a .30 caliber rifle while she lay sleeping.” American Civil Liberties Union Pamphlet

So some Portland organizations were going to step up to the plate and get this young lady an abortion. Which means some adults knew of her situation…and yet Ms. Adams was still in the company of her father? Didn’t it occur to someone that maybe, just maybe, getting her away from her molesting father was at least as important as getting her an abortion. From ewtn:

“Doctors in the Boise area refused to do abortions past 12 weeks for free (Spring was 16 weeks along), although one abortionist told her he would do the procedure for $800. Since the family didn't have that kind of money, the Idaho Health Department called an abortion mill in Portland, Oregon, that specialized in late-term abortions.

“The call went out to Oregon's pro-abortion 'community' for help. Unfortunately, while this 'community' took two weeks to marshal its ballyhooed vast resources, Spring's father killed her with a shotgun and then shot himself.” (see Case #6)

Two weeks? And then the father not only shot and killed Ms. Adams and self; he also killed Ms. Spring’s mother who apparently is the one who confronted him on the matter. Suburban Guerrilla » Women’s Rights Circling the Drain Finally, the mother wasn’t informed because of some parental notification requirement - Idaho wouldn’t have such a law on the books for over a decade later, the enforcement of which has been judicially enjoined.

Bottom line: Parental notification laws didn’t kill Spring Adams, her father did. The recountings of this tragic story imply that her father did so only upon hearing of her intention to get an abortion but who can really believe it was his reluctance to countenance an abortion by his daughter that enraged him. Isn’t it more likely that he did so upon realizing he was about to be publicly exposed as the evil he was. Shouldn’t he have been confronted on this earlier? Isn’t using the memory of Ms. Adams in such a cynical way beneath contempt?