ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603080093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR AND SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITERS
What happened to the parental-notification bill Thursday proved that no issue is ever settled until the politicians go home, said an opponent of the legislation.
"The General Assembly doesn't end until Saturday, and to those of us dealing with abortion-related issues, Saturday is a long way off," said David Nova, public relations director of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge.
Nova's reactions seesawed along with those of groups on the other side of the issue Thursday as the legislature first passed, then killed, the bill.
In midafternoon, the head of a Roanoke Valley anti-abortion group heralded the Virginia Senate's passage of the bill.
"It's about time that minor daughters in Virginia are protected from abortionists who can prey on them to make decisions that they're not prepared for," said Andrea Sexton, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life's Roanoke Valley chapter.
Within hours, though, Sexton saw the protection she rejoiced in vanish.
Even groups who favor abortion rights agreed Thursday that teens need the support of their parents in times of a crisis, but they said they didn't believe a law could make it happen.
A law couldn't create communications in families that have none, said Dr. Willette LeHew of Norfolk, chairman of the 900-member Virginia chapter of the American College of Obstretics and Gynecology. The group, through its political arm, the Virginia Obstetrics and Gynecology Society, opposed parental notification on the grounds that it interfered with the doctor-patient relationship.
Involving the parent would be a "real problem in today's society where there are so many broken families," LeHew said.
LeHew, whose practice does not do abortions except for medical reasons, said he viewed the parental notification push as more about limiting abortions than helping teens.
Kathy Haynie, president of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, said the bill did not provide enough options for pregnant minors. The measure was no more palatable because it allowed for a minor to petition a court for permission to have an abortion without notifying parents, she said.
"Teen-agers don't read the law," Haynie said. "Teen-agers hear there's a parental notification requirement, and that is all they hear."
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB