Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 26, 1990 TAG: 9006260343
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
David Nova, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Virginia, said at a news conference the decisions were "surprisingly negative" even though he had expected that some form of parental notification would be upheld.
He said he was particularly distressed that the court upheld Minnesota's "strict and severe" requirement that both biological parents be notified, even if they were not the people who were responsible for the child's daily care.
Annette Mariano, co-chairwoman of the Roanoke Valley chapter of the Virginia Society for Human Life, was "thrilled" with the decisions, saying they should help facilitate communication in families.
Although Nova and other abortion rights advocates contend that the rulings endanger the health of girls whose parents might react violently to news of their daughter's pregnancy, Mariano said there are "very few" such cases. "Whether there is a law or not, it is going to be painful" for some children to talk to their parents about a pregnancy, she said.
While upholding laws requiring notification, the court also ruled that states must provide some option, called a judicial bypass, in which the pregnant minor can seek the permission of a judge without having to go through her parents.
Viola Fapiano of the Roanoke branch of the American Association of University Women contended at the joint news conference of abortion rights advocates that it was unreasonable to expect a 13- or 14-year-old to be able to initiate and follow through on such a judicial appeal.
In addition to Nova and Fapiano, representatives of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association, YWCA of Roanoke Valley and League of Women Voters appeared at the Planned Parenthood offices to express their displeasure with the ruling and to urge Virginia legislators to leave state law alone.
Currently, Virginia law treats pregnant minors as adults, allowing them to make decisions about abortion without notifying their parents. Efforts to enact some sort of parental notification law has failed in each of the last 10 years, Nova said.
Earlier this year, the Virginia House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved a bill that was similar to an Ohio law requiring that one parent be notified that was upheld Monday. The measure died in the Senate Education and Health Committee, however.
"I don't know whether I can say I'm optimistic for the '91 session. Hopefully this might change some of these senators' minds," Murphy said.
Statistics from the Roanoke Medical Center for Women, the only clinic providing abortion services in Southwest Virginia, show that the center performed 248 abortions for minors in 1989, according to a fact sheet provided at the press conference. That was 12 percent of the total of 2,065 abortions.
In the first six months of 1989, slightly more than 60 percent of the 111 minors who received abortions there said they notified one or both of their parents. Another 10 percent said they told another adult about their decision. The remaining 30 percent said they told no one.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on June 27, 1990\ Correction
Because of a reporter's error, a story in Tuesday's editions incorrectly described the involvement of the YWCA of the Roanoke Valley in reaction to a series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
At a news conference at Planned Parenthood of Southwest Virginia, a statement from YWCA of the Roanoke Valley was released, but no representative of that organization appeared to protest a ruling that limited minors' access to abortions.
The statement represented the national postion of the YWCA and did not reflect the position of the YWCA of the Roanoke Valley, according to Wendy O'Neil, the organization's executive director. The Roanoke Valley organization is not bound by the positions taken by the national YWCA, she said, and has gone on record as welcoming members from both sides of the abortion issue.
Memo: correction