Yes on Proposition 4: Parents Should Be Told If Their Daughter Wants an Abortion
I support Proposition 4, the proposition requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortions.
In a September article, the Los Angeles Times quoted backer Don Sebastiani, who sums up my position well:
“It’s insane,” Sebastiani said. “I’m completely mystified that you need to get a mom’s permission to get an aspirin at school, you need to get a mom’s permission to go to a tanning salon, but you can go in and have your baby aborted [without notification]. Something is wrong.”
Indeed.
Previous measures have failed because of concerns that abusive parents could put young women at risk — especially if the dad is the father of the baby to be aborted. The Los Angeles Times article reports that this measure has been refined to address that concern:
[T]he latest proposal was revised to allow the required notification to be made to other adult family members, such as a grandparent or sibling, if the attending physician reports known or suspected child abuse by the parent to law enforcement or a child protective services agency.
It also would allow judges to waive the notice requirement based on evidence of the minor’s maturity or best interest in having an abortion.
A parent also could give a minor a written note ahead of time waiving notification, and waivers would be allowed in medical emergencies.
I don’t think you have to be a religious, fervent pro-lifer to vote for this proposition. I’m not religious, and I’m conflicted about abortion as a policy matter. But I don’t see why abortion should be uniquely free of parental involvement, and it seems to me that only pro-choice zealots can seriously oppose a common-sense measure like this.
Parents generally are able to offer wisdom to their children on important life issues. Abortion is no different. Parents have a perspective on life that immature teenagers simply don’t have. The state should not be in the business of driving a wedge between children and their parents, and indeed has a responsibility to ensure that doctors do not interfere in the parent-child relationship either.
Yes on Proposition 4.