250 word REBUTTAL to Argument Against Proposition 73, the
PARENTS’ RIGHT TO KNOW and CHILD PROTECTION
initiative
to appear in the OFFICIAL VOTER INFORMATION
GUIDE
for the SPECIAL STATEWIDE ELECTION,
______________________________________________________________________________
THE OPPONENTS JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND:
1. How parental notification laws work.
2. How the juvenile court system works.
3. How the abortion industry works.
Opponents say that “in the real
world” notification laws “just put teen-agers in real danger.” But OVER THIRTY STATES already have such laws, and THEIR REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE SHOWS THESE LAWS
REDUCE MINORS’ PREGNANCY AND ABORTION RATES WITHOUT DANGER AND HARM TO
MINORS.
If an abused minor does not want a parent notified, Prop 73 requires strict confidentiality and an appointed guardian to assist her in juvenile court proceedings, usually informal and in judges’ private chambers. The judge will decide whether it is in the girl’s best interest to involve a parent, or whether she is mature and well-informed to decide -- and will report evidence of abuse to a child protective agency so abuse problems will be addressed. The opponents' solution allows a secret abortion and return to the abuse.
Opponents say that parents “must make sure” their daughters “get safe professional medical attention” from “caring doctors.”
BUT HOW? PARENTS WHO ARE KEPT IN THE DARK CAN'T ENSURE ANYTHING FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS. Minors getting secret abortions don't seek out “quality counseling” and “caring doctors.” They are shuttled through abortion clinics where no one knows them or has their medical records or history.
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES REPORTED MANY ABORTION
BUSINESSES ARE “CHOP SHOPS” WHERE SUBSTANDARD CARE RESULTS IN INJURIES AND
DEATH.
PARENTAL NOTIFICATION WORKS.
FOR OUR DAUGHTERS’ SAFETY, HEALTH, AND
PROTECTION, VOTE YES on 73 !
PROFESSOR TERESA STANTON COLLETT, J.D., National
Authority on Parental Notification and Involvement
Laws
JANE E. ANDERSON, M.D., FAAP, Clinical Professor of
Pediatrics,
KATHERINE R. DOWLING, M.D., FAAP, FAAFP, Associate
Professor
Emeritus, Family Medicine, University of Southern