Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Parental notification

The Oregon state house is expected to pass a bill that mandates parental notification for minors attempting to have an abortion. The bill mandates that parents be notified at least 48 hours prior to the procedure. It passed Judiciary committee along partisan lines, and since the house is Republican controlled, it should pass. But the Senate is Democrat controlled.
Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, said HB 605 would die in her chamber.

"The focus of our efforts should be on reducing the need for abortion and preventing unintended pregnancies," she said.

Great, Ms. Brown. And what exactly have you done to reduce the need for abortion or unintended pregnancies?
I imagine the same people that are against this bill are the people who would agree with the Supreme Court decision that minors don't have the sense of responsibility to be punished as an adult where the death penalty is concerned. Do you think, in this case, that minors have the capacity to understand how significant an abortion will be to their lives and the lives of those who care about them? Heck, I don't think I had the moral or emotional aptitude to understand the consequence of my actions at the age of 21, let alone 18.
In our society minors are responsible to their parents, and their parents are responsible for them. Not giving parents critical information about them, such as this, is irresponsible. I have a daughter myself, and I would be devistated if I learned she had an abortion behind my back, without giving me any opportunity to councel her.
House Bill 2605 would require that parents be notified at least 48 hours before their minor daughter undergoes an abortion. The bill has exceptions for medical emergencies and allows a teenager who does not want to tell her parents about her pregnancy to make her case to a Department of Human Services administrative judge.
I think that the Republicans have forged significant ground in the area of concessions here. It reduces the argument that the minor's parents sometimes aren't responsible enough for their children, or the child is on their own before they are 18, or there isn't time to contact the parent due to complications. It's more than the left got at the federal level regarding the late-term abortion bill.
Contact your state Senator. There's no reason I can think of not to sign this bill.

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