California Initiative That Would Require Abortion Parental Notification Qualifies for Next Ballot

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 21 May 2005 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

A California initiative that would require physicians to notify the parents or guardians of minors seeking abortion has qualified to be included on the next election ballot in the state, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson (R) announced on Monday, the... Sacramento Bee reports. The proposed constitutional amendment would require an abortion provider to notify a minor's parents or guardian at least 48 hours in advance of performing the procedure and report all abortions performed on minors to the state, which would track them. Under the initiative, failure to comply with the regulations could result in possible civil fines (Delsohn, Sacramento Bee, 5/17). The measure would allow for exceptions in cases of medical emergencies or when parents or a judge sign a waiver (Rau, Los Angeles Times, 5/18). Supporters of the initiative in April submitted more than 950,000 signatures to county election officials throughout the state in order to qualify the measure for a special election, which could be set for this fall by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/14). Schwarzenegger said he will call a special election for November if he is unable to reach an agreement with state Democratic legislators on three other proposed initiatives (Sacramento Bee, 5/17). If he does not call a special election, the parental notification measure would appear on the June 2006 ballot (Los Angeles Times, 5/18). Schwarzenegger said he supports the "general idea" of parental notification, but he has not indicated his position on the proposed initiative, according to the Bee (Sacramento Bee, 5/17).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations