Florida Senator Bill Nelson votes to put the lives of young women at stake - WITHOUT EVEN UNDERSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF THE LAW

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Today, Orlando NOW activists arrived at a rally for Senator Bill Nelson to demand an answer as to why he voted for the harmful, “Child Custody Protection Act.” This act is more appropriately labeled the “Teen Endangerment Act” or the “Grandmother Incarceration Act,” since the bill will lead to more unsafe and now illegal abortions for minors who are most at risk and seeks to incarcerate caring relatives, clergy and other adults who are reaching out to help young minors escape unjust laws on their bodies.

The law states that a relative or clergy member may not transport a minor out of state to obtain an abortion unless they have met the parental involvement requirement of their state. As many of you know, Florida has a harmful parental notification for abortion law in place (which Bill Nelson supported). However, many states now have parental consent laws, meaning that a minor may not obtain an abortion unless her parents say she may. In that case, a minor may be forced to carry her pregnancy to term and may now not seek to escape refuge from this unjust law by going to another state with a trusted relative or clergy member. The law is punishable by up to 1 year in prison and $10,000.

When asked why he supported this so-called “Child Custody Protection Act,” Florida Senator told elected NOW Orlando President, Jenna Cawley that he supports parental notification but opposes parental consent. Ms. Cawley repeatedly asked why he supported a bill which does not allow minors to escape consent requirements if he believes they are unjust and he stated to Ms. Cawley that the CCPA enforces notification laws only and not consent laws and that Ms. Cawley should “go back and read the act again.” Senator Nelson further condescended Ms. Cawley by asking “how old are you?” and then stating that he has been in politics for 34 years and has always supported women’s rights, since “before you were born.”

We would like Senator Nelson to know that we have read the CCPA and we understand what it says. It says that if a young girl cannot get her parent’s permission to have an abortion, that she is held captive in her state and cannot get help from a relative to obtain an abortion. It says that parents can force their children to carry pregnancies they do not want. This law enforces consent requirements, and from our conversation with Bill Nelson, it became abundantly clear that he had not even read this law nor understood its provisions.

Because Senator Nelson implied by repeating “I support parental notification but oppose consent” and because he further stated that his understanding of the CCPA was that it only enforces notification requirements, Orlando NOW is requesting that Florida Senator, Bill Nelson, publicly apologize for his misguided support of the CCPA and further that he vow to uphold a woman’s right to choose when given another chance. It is clear that Senator Nelson did not understand this act when he voted for it, and we should hold our elected officials to a higher standard than mistakenly voting for laws which put young women’s lives at risk.

Please call or write to Senator Nelson to express your disappointment at him for putting women’s lives at risk.

Phone: 202-224-5274
Email: senator@billnelson.senate.gov

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