Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 7, 1992 TAG: 9203090174
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Anti-abortion forces won a key victory when the state Senate voted 23-17 for legislation that would require single girls under 18 to tell their parents or a judge before they terminated a pregnancy. The House had approved the bill on Thursday.
Shortly after the vote, Wilder refused to say whether he plans to sign, amend or veto the bill. "I'm going to take a careful look at the legislation," he said. "I don't think anyone who has been around the legislative halls knows what I'm going to do with this."
The Senate decision "is a victory for families and teens," said Andrea Sexton, spokeswoman for the Roanoke affiliate of the Virginia Society for Human Life. Kathryn Haynie, executive director of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, said it only increased her anxiety over the health of pregnant teens.
"I'm so excited. I feel as though finally the will of the people of Virginia has been heard and enacted," Sexton said. The best thing about the action, she said, is that "minor girls will no longer be left at the mercy of abortionists who simply want to sell them a dead baby."
Sexton predicted that if the bill is signed into law, there will be an immediate decrease in teen pregnancies. "This will do more to diminish teen pregnancies that a hundred sex-ed classes."
Haynie said that by discouraging some teens from talking with counselors or health-care providers about their pregnancies, the law actually may scare them away from "opportunities in which we would encourage parental involvement."
"This causes the rumor mill to say that your parents are going to be called even if you just call us - or anyone else - to talk about being pregnant."
Both women said they and other activists will begin writing letters and making phone calls right away encouraging the governor to live up to what they perceive as his campaign promises.
For Haynie, that means asking Wilder to be faithful to a platform supporting abortion rights. For Sexton, it means keeping a promise to support parental notification if judicial bypass was included.
Wilder's razor-thin victory in the 1989 gubernatorial race largely has been attributed to his advocacy of abortion rights. But while pledging to veto any restrictions on women, Wilder stressed his support for parental notification laws for teens. As a legislator, Wilder voted on both sides of abortion issues.
Until this week, the Senate had a long tradition of favoring abortion rights. On Wednesday, the chamber voted to require girls under 16 to notify their parents or a judge before having an abortion.
Anti-abortion advocates were not satisfied with that measure because an estimated 75 percent of the minors who have abortions are 16 or 17.
Thursday, the House insisted on its version of the bill, which applied to girls under 18. The Senate agreed to the higher age Friday when three Republicans changed their earlier votes. Seventeen of 18 Republicans voted for the final bill, while six of 22 Democrats supported it.
Sixteen states have parental consent or notification laws for minors seeking abortions.
Abortion rights advocates pledged an all-out court fight over its constitutionality if Wilder signs the bill.
"This is the first step of the anti-abortion people to take away all women's right to choice," said Karen Raschke, an attorney for Planned Parenthood of Virginia. "Young girls who are afraid to tell their parents will suffer horrible things. I fear for them."
But the leader of the Senate effort, Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, said the bill was designed to assure parents that their daughters will receive proper abortion counseling and medical care.
Although Earley said he would favor banning abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is in danger, he added: "I have no plans to do that at this time. Whether I do that in the future, I don't know."
Earley, a lawyer, said courts have upheld notification laws as long as they have provisions letting girls seek permission from a judge if they feel they cannot tell their parents.
Under Virginia's bill, a Juvenille and Domestic Relations Court judge can authorize an abortion if he determines the girl "is mature and capable of giving informed consent." Judges would be required to grant a hearing no later than four days after they were petitioned.
Physicians who perform abortions without notifying parents or a judge would be subject to a $500 fine.
Staff writer Cody Lowe contributed to this story.
YEA OR NAY\ ON HIGHER PARENTAL-NOTIFICATION AGE\ IN FAVOR: Sens. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke; Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount; Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle; William Wampler, R-Bristol\ OPPOSED: Sens. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville; Frank Nolen, D-New Hope; Jackson Reasor, D-Bluefield; Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
by CNB