General Assembly News: Parental notification bill passes Senate

A bill to require a girl to tell her parents before she has an abortion won Senate approval last Monday over the opposition of all but one of the seven women in the Senate.

The bill passed 26-14 after surviving efforts the previous week that would have allowed girls to notify relatives other than a parent or legal guardian. Now, the measure heads to the House of Delegates, where passage also is likely.

Gov. George Allen, who vetoed a watered-down version of the bill in 1994, has indicated he will sign the measure into law. The General Assembly has considered parental notification bills every year since 1979, but none has ever become law.

“The governor held out for a pure bill, and barring something unforeseen in the House, he will get a pure bill,” said Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr.

Two other abortion-related measures met different fates in the House. A bill requiring licensing and regulation of abortion clinics was returned to committee on a 50-49 vote, killing it for this year. A bill toughening the law requiring a woman’s “informed consent” for an abortion gained preliminary approval on a voice vote.

Women were among the most outspoken opponents of the abortion notification bill. Only one woman, Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-Norfolk, voted for it, and the only Republican to oppose the bill was Sen. Jane Woods of Fairfax.

“This bill … is punitive to the young girl when she most needs help,” said Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax.

“This bill is so strict that it fails to allow for individual circumstances,” said Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, who warned that the bill would have “sad and tragic consequences.”

Beyer said he opposed the bill because of the strict limits it places on the people who can be notified. He said the bill as drafted would prohibit his 16-year-old daughter from notifying her stepmother–his wife–if she wanted to have an abortion.

“My daughter is a lot more likely to go to my wife than she is to me,” Beyer said.

The measure’s sponsor, Sen. Mark L. Earley, R-Chesapeake, said he was cautiously optimistic about the bill’s prospects in the House.

The House Courts of Justice Committee voted to endorse a parental notification bill. Also, the full House has overwhelmingly approved parental notification in the past.

The measure would require that a parent or guardian be told before abortions are performed on girls younger than 18. In cases of abuse or neglect, the notification requirements are waived but the doctor has to inform Child Protective Services. The girl also can ask a judge to waive the notification.

A doctor who performs an abortion on a minor whose parents have not been notified could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine.

The bill’s opponents say it will force young women to turn to illegal abortionists or to travel out of state for the procedure.

If Allen signs the bill in its present form, abortion rights activists will challenge it in court, said Karen Raschke, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood of Virginia.

Supporters say the bill will make young women turn to their parents during a time of crisis, possibly lowering the abortion rate.

Twenty-eight states enforce laws requiring parental notification or consent for minors’ abortions. Ten other states have such laws, but do not enforce them.
–Compiled from staff and wire reports