I'm confused on Prop 4

[Mollis]

I think that parents should have a right to know if their daughter was going to get an abortion. It's a very emotional thing, and there are risks involved. It could end up with her losing ability to have kids, and I think that a parent or adult should know that the girl was going through something like that.

I don't really know much about the oppositions to it.

[pinto]

1. It is an emotional issue. Yet, stepping back from that, these folks oppose Prop 4 -

>American Academy of Pediatrics
>CA Medical Association
>CA Association of Family Physicians
>American College of Obstreticians and Gynecologists
>CA Teachers Association

[AndyTiedye]

2. What if Her Daddy is the Daddy?

[LeftyMom]

3. We can't mandate a healthy parent-teen relationship, and a law that assumes one would be harmful.

The simple fact is that in many homes, any parental notification provision (even if it's not marketed as a consent law) would eliminate a teenager's right to choose abortion rather than parenthood. In many cases, risk of violence is a real concern.

Moreover, the law's provision for handling abuse situations is very bad. A relative still has to be notified, and in many abusive situations (or families that aren't abusive, simply dysfunctional) there unfortunately isn't an adult relative who can be trusted. Considering that in some subcultures, there's a substantial risk of violence to a teenage girl who is revealed to have had sex, any familial notification could put many teenagers at risk.

Also, I think you're overestimating the risks involved in abortion. They are small (much smaller than those associated with teenage pregnancy) and for most women their emotional response to elective abortion is that of relief.

[melody]

4. There are so many young girls who are incested or raped who can't go to their parents

And most "authority figures" are required to report to their parents anyway.

[slackmaster]

5. Planned Parenthood told me that about 70% of the under-18 girls that come to them for pregnancy...

...counseling have already spoken with their parents about it.

Of the other 30%, there is often a good reason why the girl feels she cannot involve her parents.

If your teenage daughter is out having sex and getting pregnant, you have already lost whatever "control" you may have thought you had over her.

[proud patriot]

10. those stats sound about right

:) thanks for posting them

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. Think of all your young female friends

Do they all have the kind of relationships with their parents that they could tell them, "I'm pregnant and I want to have an abortion"? I'd guess the answer for some of them is "No," and they're the ones you need to consider. Prop 4 would force them into an unenviable decision on carrying the fetus to term — perhaps having to run away from home to hide the pregnancy from their parents — or having a potentially unsafe illegal abortion.

Certainly, under ideal conditions, parents should be informed — and involved, and supportive of their daughters' decisions. But then, under ideal conditions, no woman would get pregnant who doesn't want to.

Prop 4 is about government mandating fewer choices in a situation that already has too few.

[Kerrytravelers]

7. Try this:

A 17 year old lives in a small, rural town. The kind where everyone knows your business. But one thing people might not know is that she is getting raped at home- by her father. Now, she could go to the county sheriff's office and turn him in, but being in that small, rural town, some of the deputies may not believe her- especially if her father is the county sheriff. So, she finds a way to a safe place- a women's clinic. There, she will speak to people who will believe her because their paychecks don't depend upon them not believing her. She may opt to terminate the pregnancy, she may choose otherwise. But now, she is in a safe environment.


The world is a lot crueler place than many of us have ever had to experience.

Consider this carefully when you step into that voting booth.

Take care,
kt

[EFerrari]

8. I vote no. Young women need more control of their lives, not less.

[proud patriot]

9. if the teen feels safe , they will tell the parents ... I did ..

I needed the advice of my parents to help me through it .

But some very few can't tell their parents , I really
want those teens to be safe. If they can't trust their Doc.
to keep them safe from their parents . They will hurt
themselves or go to some under the table dirty back alley
monster.

Have faith that most will talk to their parents about it .

It is a very difficult issue .

[EFerrari]

11. These situations are difficult. I went into PP in a panic, thinking I needed

to have an abortion. The counselor said it sounded like I needed to think about it some more.

My mother was furious -- at the counselor!

My son is now his grandmother's favorite and I still remember that counselor.

lol

[xxqqqzme]

12. First, remember this is an AMENDMENT

to the state Constitution. Second, it places the burden of parental notification on the physician and imposes penalties on the physician if the parents are not notified. This proposition is designed to get physicians to stopped performing pregnancy terminations. This is also the THIRD general election this prop has been on the ballot. Enough already. Once a rop is defeated, it should not be on the ballot again for at least 10 years. in fact, I would like to see a constitutional amendment getting rid of initiatives. If there is an area in dire need of legislation, then the legislature needs to address it. That is why they are elected and why they receive a salary. This initiative crap is lazy legislation.