Supporters Of Calif Initiative 'Dishonest' By Promoting Measure As 'Just Parental Notification,' Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Public Health;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 17 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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An initiative on California's November ballot that would require minors seeking abortions to obtain parental notification is written using a "maze of legal terms, clauses and subsections," Francesca Ratner, a volunteer on a campaign to defeat a similar parental notification measure in 2006, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. After "wandering" though the proposed legislation, Ratner writes that she "emerged with a clear notion that a heap of physicians' forms, consent, coercion and court appeals do not belong under the title of 'parental notification.'"

According to Ratner, an "honest" summary of the initiative should read, "Proposition to Curtail Abortion for Teenage Girls." She adds that the summary also should say that the measure would bar teens from getting abortions "behind their parents' backs"; create an "undue burden on physicians, with miles of red tape and severe repercussions for a misstep in filing notifications, reports, etc."; ensure "pregnant teens go through humiliation and exposure;" create a "pretext for taking the matter of abortion to court"; and add "vague clauses regarding 'court relief' and 'coercion,' which could warrant further litigation."

"Selling" the initiative "as just 'parental notification' is dishonest," Ratner writes, concluding, "Those who use such ploys should not be allowed to rewrite the Constitution" (Ratner, Los Angeles Times, 9/15).

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