Opinion Pieces Discuss Alaska Parental Notification Ballot Initiative

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 08 Jun 2010 - 4:00 PDT


An opinion piece and editorial in the Anchorage Daily News examined issues related to a parental notification initiative that will appear on Alaska's August ballot. The measure would require parental involvement for minors seeking abortions. Summaries appear below.

~ Cecile Richards, Anchorage Daily News: Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, writes that approval of the ballot initiative would create "serious concern about government intrusion into families' lives and … about the health and safety of our most vulnerable teens." Although "most of the time, parents are involved when their teens face unintended pregnancy, ... for the few teens who simply can't or won't talk with their parents, this proposed law won't help," Richards says, noting that "[n]ot all teenagers in Alaska -- or anywhere -- live in homes where open and honest communication is possible." According to Richards, "Teens don't need a judge; they need compassionate support, sound information and good medical care without delay." She continues, "Government intervention isn't the solution," adding, "The real solutions to teen pregnancy are caring adults; education that includes information about abstinence, contraception and healthy decision-making; and our commitment as parents to talk with our daughters long before they are faced with an unplanned pregnancy" (Richards, Anchorage Daily News, 6/4).

~ Anchorage Daily News: In a "cool-headed ruling" Wednesday, the Alaska Supreme Court " upheld state precedent giving citizen initiatives a wide latitude before striking them from the ballot," the editorial states. Although "a Superior Court did find the summary that accompanied the signature petitions was misleading for its omissions," it "also ruled that the summary could be corrected for both the official state election pamphlet and the primary ballot itself," the editorial notes. "The new summary should spell out the penalty" that physicians "who [do] not follow parental notification rules might face," it adds. However, the "central issue is parental notification itself," not "the question of penalties," according to the editorial. It continues, "The court rightly decided that 36,000 valid signatures trumped deficiencies in the summary and that voters knew what they were doing when they signed the petition to put parental notification on the ballot." The editorial adds, "If there's any doubt about that, remember that a signature is not a vote," concluding, "Voters will decide the issue in August, and all the information they need will be available" (Anchorage Daily News, 6/4).

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