Abortion: Parental guidance suggested
by Kelly Pottinger
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

The U.S. Supreme Court decided that it was a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion in Roe v. Wade in 1973. In 1992 the court upheld that decision in the case of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. Parental consent or notification laws exist in 43 states, 32 of which have put the laws into effect. Seven states and the District of Columbia have no such laws.

Under current Texas abortion laws, a parent or legal guardian of an unemancipated minor must be notified 48 hours before the minor is to receive an abortion. Parental consent is not required; however, notification is.

The four exceptions to the law are: if the minor is legally emancipated, if the minor is legally married, if the abortion would protect the minor's life or health or if a judge finds the minor to be competent and mature enough to make her own decision.

The Supreme Court ruled that parental consent and two-parent notification laws are constitutional if they include an alternative, such as a judicial bypass procedure. In this process, a young woman must appear before a judge and prove that she is mature enough to decide to have an abortion or that permitting her to obtain the procedure without involving her parents would be in her best interest.

Supporters of mandatory parental involvement assert that such measures will protect the health and promote the best interests of young women and improve family communication.

"Historically, again and again, pro-life legislation has been sabotaged by a determined pro-abortion minority using arcane parliamentary tricks, this happened in Texas, in 1997, when at the last minute a pro-abortion state representative used a 'point of order' to kill a parental notification law, this time around parental notification/consent laws will go far," said Mary Spalding Balch, the National Right to Life state representative.

Opposing sides assert that these laws threaten the health and well being of young women, causing them a delay in necessary medical care.

"For some women, notification and consent are essentially the same, if a young woman is afraid to discuss her pregnancy and abortion choice with a parent, there is no difference between having to 'tell' her parents or being required to obtain their 'consent,'" said the Center for Reproductive Rights' Online Correspondent Amanda Walker.

In a study conducted in 1991 that was published in the Family Planning Perspectives magazine, 61 percent of the respondents said that they had informed at least one parent of their decision to have an abortion. The study also found that younger the woman is, the more likely she is to involve her parents in her decision, whether or not notification or consent is required by law. Healthcare providers routinely suggest that a young woman involve her parents.

When then Gov. George Bush signed the one parent consent notification/consent bill in 2000, he expressed his desire for an America where "unborn children are welcome in life and protected by law."

Bush declared that the new law "makes a simple, urgent point: when a child is in crisis, parents should have a role and a voice. They should be the first to help, not the last to know."

"Raising the requirement of parental 'notification' to 'consent' makes access to safe, legal abortion significantly more difficult for young women who have abusive, estranged of difficult relations with their parents," Perez said. "We oppose the bill, as we opposed the 'parental notification' law, because it puts an unnecessary burden on those minors who live in a home with a history of violence."

The law is still pending in the Texas Legislature. If approved, it will take effect immediately. The bill must pass with a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House in order to be instated.

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