Should both parents have to be notified before their minor daughter gets an abortion?

6/5/14

Check out an article from LifeLine, Spring 2014, newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance

NPLA Members Push for Parental Notification and Intervention Act
Bill Would Save Lives by Giving Parents the Right to Intervene Before an Abortion

     With the Parental Notification and Intervention Act, National Pro-Life Alliance members continue to increase their efforts to give parents in all fifty states the right to stop an abortion on their minor daughter.
     This bill, drafted by the National Pro-Life Alliance and introduced in the 113th Congress by Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01), has been called the "toughest, most comprehensive pro-life parental rights legislation ever drawn up."
     It would protect parents' rights to intervene and stop an abortion from being performed on their minor daughter in all 50 states.
     At the core of the bill are two provisions.
     The first is a requirement that not just one but both parents be given official notification with at least a four-day waiting period.
     Secondly, it would give either parent the right to intervene and stop an abortion on their minor child.
     Support for the Parental Notification and Intervention Act continues to grow.  As this issue of LifeLine goes to press, NPLA members continue to add additional cosponsors since the beginning of March.  Among them are Congressman Paul Broun  (GA-10) and Congressman Steven Palazzo (MS-04)
Studies Prove Parental Intervention Saves Lives
     Numerous studies reveal that parental advice and involvement drastically decrease teen abortions.
     A study by Dr. Michael New demonstrated that parental intervention laws have produced a 15% decline in minors' abortions, and up to 30% in some states.
     "Of course, the waiting period also gives the girl time to rethink, with counsel from parents or other trusted adults, whether or not she even wants to go through with an abortion," said NPLA Executive Director Jenni Harris.
     States with similar parental involvement laws already in place have in fact seen drops in teen abortion rates.
     In Minnesota, for instance, their teen abortion rate dropped by 28%.  Texas saw their rate drop by 30%.  Virginia, likewise, saw a 20% decrease in abortion overall.
     "However," says Harris, "since the NPLA-drafted Parental Notification and Intervention Act is much stricter than any state laws yet in effect, we feel certain that even more lives will be saved than in any of these cases."
     Of course, nationwide parental intervention is a scenario the abortion lobby dreads. 
     Knowing the effect of parental involvement, abortionists try to undermine the parent-child relationship by getting to adolescents first.
Parental Intervention Laws Increasingly Popular
     Limiting the unfettered right of abortionists to prey on minors has long been a popular cause.
     According to a January 2014 Marist poll, 80% of Americans support requiring a parent to be notified before their underage daughter is allowed to have an abortion.
      Jenni Harris pointed out, "the time has never been better to push for a strong federal Parental Notification and Intervention Act.  The fact is, although state parental notification laws can reduce abortions within their respective states, the protection ends at the state line."
Parental Notification and Intervention Act Would Punish Abortionists   
     In contrast, under the Parental Notification and Intervention Act introduced by Congressman Gohmert, there would be no wiggle room for abortionists who would otherwise take advantage of the lack of parental notification laws in neighboring states.
     Violations by abortionists could land them a $100,000 fine, a year in prison, or both.
     Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the nation's principal opponent of parental involvement legislation is also the nation's largest abortion provider - Planned Parenthood.
     Of course, another reason current state parental involvement legislation has frequently fallen short of its goal has been activist, pro-abortion judges who have exploited ambiguous judicial bypass loopholes in various state parental notification laws.
Bill Stops Activist Judges from Exploiting "Judicial Bypass" Loopholes    
     The Supreme Court currently requires some sort of judicial bypass to provide a supposed "safety net" to avoid parental notification.
     Yet most existing laws allow judges to bypass the parental notification by ruling that they believe the pregnant minor has sufficient "maturity", or some such vague reason, to make the life-and death decision on abortion without their parents' knowledge.
     Naturally, it is well known among abortionists which judges routinely grant such bypasses.
     For example, in Florida a recent law would require minors to provide more information about why they are seeking a judicial bypass of the parental notification law that is already in place.
     Yet the abortionists frequently abuse the law by judge shopping; seeking activist judges who are lenient on approving a parental bypass for pregnant girls.
     In contrast, the Parental Notification and Intervention Act requires "clear and convincing danger of physical abuse of the minor by the parent"  for the notification requirement to be waived.
     This requirement is both clear cut and represents a substantial tightening of the judicial bypass provisions.
 NPLA Urges Members to Turn Up the Heat on Congressmen
     In light of the record number of cosponsors for the Life at Conception Act this year, NPLA Executive Director Jenni Harris is calling on NPLA members to further ramp up pressure on their Congressman and Senators to cosponsor and demand action on the Parental Notification and Intervention Act as well.  By building support for this bill, pro-lifers will be taking another important step toward the ultimate objective - the elimination of all abortion-on-demand.
     "When we turn up the heat on Congress on this important legislation, the politicians will be forced to choose between supporting common-sense pro-life, pro-parent laws, or suffer the consequences in the next election," Harris concluded.
     Members should call their Congressman at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to support and cosponsor the Parental Notification and Intervention Act.

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