Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9301300284
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
ABORTION FOES RESIST NOTICE BILL
ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS wonder just what Dick Cranwell is up to with his "parental notice" bill.
A long-running abortion battle may be turned upside down in the General Assembly next week, as House Democrats press for a "parental notice" bill calculated to force anti-abortion Republicans to cast what might be seen as a vote for abortion rights.
The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, would require unmarried girls 15 and under to notify a parent, legal guardian or counselor before getting an abortion.
But anti-abortion activists, who have dubbed the proposal a "counterfeit bill" and a political sham, say it includes loopholes that would allow a girl to have an abortion after simply notifying a nurse or doctor's assistant at the abortion clinic.
In a year when all 100 seats of the House of Delegates are up for grabs, a vote for the measure could help Democrats court the majority of voters who, polls indicate, believe Virginia should require unmarried minors to consult with their parents before an abortion.
Likewise, the bill has the potential to put hard-line, anti-abortion Republicans on record as opposed to a parental notice proposal.
The bill will have its first hearing next week before the House Courts of Justice Committee. Two Republicans running for statewide office this year, Dels. Clinton Miller, Shenandoah and Steve Agee, Salem, sit on the committee.
"This is the sneakiest, lowdown thing they've ever tried," said Anne B. Kincaid, legislative director of The Family Foundation, an anti-abortion group. "It's clever. It's Mr. Cutesy. But Dickie Cranwell is not going to get away with this."
"It's an attempt to totally dupe the parents of this commonwealth, and in doing so, be a political gain for the Democrats who have voted against [parental notice] in the past," said Kincaid. "It does worse than nothing."
Kincaid finds herself on the same side of the issue as her usual nemesis. Karen A. Raschke, government relations counsel for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia and the state's most prominent abortion-rights lobbyist, says she also opposes Cranwell's bill.
"We don't believe any bill is necessary," Raschke said. "Parental notification bills do not help family communications. They never have. We don't want to hurt young women; we want to help them."
Cranwell denied that political considerations played a part in drafting the bill.
While most young women talk to their parents before an abortion, some cannot, Cranwell said. His proposal would allow them to get guidance from some other adult while preserving their right to an abortion.