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Dear Friends,

Before leaving Washington for election season recess, the Senate met to vote on cloture regarding vital legislation and the outcome was cruel news for minor girls and parents around the country. The Child Custody Protection Act, S. 403 (CCPA), needed 60 votes to invoke cloture, ending debate and allowing for a vote towards final passage. The final roll call vote on cloture Friday night was 57-42, killing the move to final passage by only three votes. This loss is even more heartbreaking considering the overwhelming support for parental notification laws in Congress and around the country.

CCPA aimed to criminalize the transportation of minors across state lines for the purpose of abortion without the knowledge of their parents in order to evade parental notification laws. Poll after poll shows that 80% of the American public supports a parent knowing before their daughter undergoes the life threatening, life changing medical procedure of abortion. The House agreed and passed its own version of parental notification legislation twice, most recently on September 26 in a 264-153 vote. Likewise, the Senate passed its version in July by an impressive bipartisan vote of 65-34, but Democrats blocked a move to conference that would have allowed final passage.

In order to move past the hurdle of Democratic obstruction, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) displayed courage by filing for cloture early last week. Even so, the Democratic caucus pushed 8 of the 14 supportive Democrats into the opposing column and ended any hope of making CCPA law before the close of the 110th Congress.

Take Action!

Listed below are the eight Senators who switched their earlier supportive vote on CCPA to the negative on Friday evening. If you live in one of these states, please let your elected officials know that you object to their political games.

Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana)
Senator Thomas Carper (D-Delaware)
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota)
Senator Herbert Kohl (D-Wisconsin)
Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida)
Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colorado).

Additionally, the full roll call vote can be found at: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00263

If your Senator was one of the 42 members who voted against ending cloture, let them know of your disappointment.

Senate Switchboard:
202.224.3121

Despite this loss, the Senate did pass on Friday evening strong anti-Internet gambling legislation, and already the $6 billion industry is severely threatened. S. 4411 was attached to a bill to increase port security, and now will go before the President for his signature. Please thank your Senator for passing this important bill.

Dear Senator,

As a concerned citizen, voter and one of the 500,000 members of Concerned Women for America (CWA), I would like to express my extreme dismay that you changed your original vote in favor of the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403) and voted against cloture on September 29. By voting against S. 403, you voted against the issue of parental notification in abortion that is supported by 80% of the American people. Minor girls cannot get their ears pierced without the knowledge of their parent, but by not allowing this bill to go for a final vote, the Senate communicated that a minor girl can be taken across state lines for a life-changing, life-threatening abortion without her parents ever knowing. This is a tragedy, and I hope that if S. 403 presents itself in the future that you will vote to support parents and protect minor girls.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Sincerely,

Support CWA Please make a tax-deductible contribution! $25 $75 $150 $500 $   (Ex: Enter 100.00 to contribute $100.00) Interested in joining Capitol Hill Partnership or direct monthly giving? Click here.

The Legislative Department
Concerned Women for America

P.S. As always, we thank you for also considering CWA for your strategic financial support. With you, we're fighting on key issues like "gay marriage," abstinence, pornography and abortion. We need you. If you can help us today, please go to www.cwfa.org/support_cwa.asp and enter your most generous donation.

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