L.A. Times Opinion Pieces Present Opposing Views On Proposed Parental Notification Measure

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 24 Oct 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday included two opposing opinion pieces on Proposition 4, a California ballot measure that would require parental notification before minors receive abortions (Los Angeles Times, 10/22). The initiative also would require a 48-hour waiting period before minors could receive abortions (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/25). Summaries of the opinion pieces follow.

~ Miriam Gerace: Gerace -- a spokesperson for the No on 4 Campaign for Teen Safety and director of communications for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles -- writes that Prop. 4 is opposed by several medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the California Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Gerace writes that she asked physician Curreen Warf -- an adolescent care specialist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles -- why he and many medical professionals oppose the proposition. According to Warf, most teens already talk to a parent in the event of an unplanned pregnancy, and most of those who do not talk to their parents involve another trusted adult, such as a grandparent. Among those who do not talk to a parent, about one-third already have experienced violence and fear a reccurrence, Gerace says. She writes, "Forced parental notification will not improve family communication -- but it will put teenagers at risk." Gerace writes that "experience from some states with parental notification laws shows us that teens will avoid doctors and delay getting an abortion later into a pregnancy -- sometimes into the second trimester," adding, "Some teens will panic, others will travel alone or out of state, others may take desperate measures to end the pregnancy themselves -- and some will die." Gerace writes that Warf said self-induced abortion was the leading cause of hospitalization for women before abortion was legal. Gerace concludes, "The two sides of the issue may not agree on everything, but we can agree that we want our teenagers safe" (Gerace, Los Angeles Times, 10/22).

~ Katie Short: Short -- co-author of Prop. 4 and legal director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation -- writes, "Yes, we can agree that we want our teenagers to be safe," adding, "Health care professionals know that young teens are safest when a parent is involved in their medical care." She writes that Prop. 4 "requires that a doctor notify a parent, or in case of parental abuse, another adult family member before performing a serious medical procedure on a minor. That's just common sense." She writes that Gerace and opponents of Prop. 4 are "misinterpreting" the study that showed most teens notify a parent before an abortion, adding that the study found "only 43% of minor girls told a parent themselves before seeking an abortion" and 55% under age 14 did. Short continues, "As for why teens don't tell, few teens say they fear abuse," adding that Bruce Lucero -- a physician who has performed 45,000 abortions -- wrote in 1998, "In almost all cases, the only reason a teenage girl doesn't want to tell her parents about her pregnancy is that she feels ashamed and doesn't want to let her parents down" (Short, Los Angeles Times, 10/22).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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