Yes!

I am so happy with the Senate that I could almost forgive them for being such jerks over off-shore drilling. They have done something to help parents out! How great is that?

The Senate voted yesterday to make it a crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge, handing a long-sought victory to the Bush administration and abortion opponents.

The bill would help about three dozen states enforce laws that require minors to notify or obtain the consent of their parents before having an abortion. It would bar people -- including clergy members and grandparents -- from helping a girl travel to another state to avoid parental-involvement laws. Violations could result in a year in prison.

I found this interesting:

Democrats are pushing back, accusing Republicans of trying to frighten and divide the electorate rather than tackle tough issues such as high gasoline prices and the Iraq war. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), an antiabortion Democrat who voted for the bill, will spend part of the summer stressing the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies, aides said.

They've been trying to do something related to gas prices for a while but you people keep blocking it! And haven't you guys voted several times (and just recently, as well) over this issue? We aren't leaving Iraq and there is no time table, isn't it time for you guys to just shup up about Iraq?

And this is the worst kind of argument:

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.

So, we should not have a law protecting children from adults who try to interfer in the parent/child relationship because there is one extreme case of a man killing his child? Parents have been given the responsiblity to protect their children from harm and the government should recognize that right and protect it. Thankfully, there are men like Sen. Mitch McConnell who get it.:

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hailed the passage of the abortion measure, saying: "What opponents of this bill forget is that no parent wants anyone to take their children across state lines -- or even across the street -- without their permission. This is a fundamental right, and the Congress is right to uphold it in law."

You want to talk about relity, this is it:

Proponents of the Senate bill said it would protect girls from being pressured by their boyfriends into having an abortion. "It's an affirmation of parental rights," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). "An underage child cannot obtain an aspirin at school without parental consent," he said, adding that parents' role in their young daughter's decision about abortion is far more significant.

Boyfriends pressuring their girlfriends to have an abortion is more of a reality then any parent harming their child because they want to have an abortion.

It is a sad irony that the two things feminists have been screaming about all these years, the independence of women to make their own decisions and the women's right to control her own body are actually at odds with each other. The reality of the situation is that men control this situation more ti than people realize (my husband worked in a Crisis Pregnancy Center).

Read the rest here.

(Link via Drudge Report)