A Tennessee Republican hopes to establish an “abortion trafficking” felony for adults who help pregnant minors get an out-of-state abortion without parental permission, an effort reproductive health advocates argue will run afoul of constitutional rights such as interstate travel.
Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, filed House Bill 1895 on Monday. The legislation would establish a new Class C felony, which could carry three to 15 years in prison, for an adult that “recruits, harbors or transports” a pregnant minor for the purposes of receiving an out-of-state abortion or for getting abortion medication.
Actually, from a legal standpoint, I think that they’re on solid legal footing. I know that people may not want to hear that, but it is the truth.
You cannot take a minor across state lines to engage in an activity that is illegal in their home state, even if it is legal in the state they travel to. A 20 year old guy cannot, for example, take a 15 year old girl to a state where the age of consent is 14 in order to have sex with her. The same line of reasoning would apply here.
Now I’m not saying it’s right by any stretch of the imagination. Applying this law under similar reasoning will do exponentially more harm than good for teenage girls in the state. But looking at it from a strictly legal standpoint, this law would be valid. Immoral, but valid.
I’m gonna need a legal citation for this claim.
https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-2002-transportation-minors-18-usc-2423
Section 2423(a) of Title 18 prohibits anyone from transporting any individual under the age of 18 years in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent that the minor engage in prostitution or any criminal sexual activity. It imposes a maximum 15 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine under Title 18.
That’s the most on-point that discusses the issue. But try bringing a minor out drinking across state lines, or gambling, or any other illegal activity and see how quickly charges get tacked on for the involvement of a minor. Sex is one of the few cases where laws vary so greatly from state to state, and abortion is probably the next biggest thing now.
If anyone has an example of where it’s currently perfectly legal to bring a minor across state lines without parental consent to engage in an activity that is illegal in their home state, I’d love to hear it.
This only seems to specify, “…with the intent that the minor engage in prostitution or any criminal sexual activity.” So I would be lead to believe this law only covers “prostitution or any criminal sexual activity”. I don’t believe one could expand this law to cover any activity that is illegal under the original state’s laws as your original comment stated.
Criminal sexual activity such as getting an abortion after they got pregnant from rape and need lifesaving abortion wich is illegal in their own state.
You conveniently ignored the part where I also said that engaging in other activity with a minor such as drinking, gambling, etc. are also illegal and will result in charges for involving a minor as well.
And for all the downvotes I get, I have yet to see anyone cite an example of where it’s perfectly legal to actually bring a minor across state lines to engage in activity that is illegal in the home state, especially without a parent’s permission. Because it seems that the downvotes are less about the validity of the statement and more because it’s something people just don’t want to hear. Try bringing a minor across state lines for any activity that is not legal for them in their home state. When you get released from prison, remember to let me know how that worked out for you.