ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: Because the General Assembly refused to pass parental notification, who pays for abortion? Who makes the arrangements? If complications set in, are parents responsible for the bill? E.E.C, Roanoke
A: The failure of the parental notification bill leaves the sources for abortion fees pretty much as they always were.
Typically, clinics require cash up front for abortions. Usually, a first-trimester abortion costs about $300.
Teen-agers have more access to money than many adults realize. They may work, baby sit, beg or borrow from friends - or resort to means that are even less ideal.
How are abortions arranged? If the patient doesn't tell a parent or another adult, they may talk to friends, visit a counseling center or look in the Yellow Pages.
Statewide in 1990, 32,000 Virginia residents had abortions; 2,900 were ages 12-17, according to the Virginia Center for Health Statistics. That's about 91 percent adult patients and 9 percent minors; the percentages hold true in succeeding years statewide and in the Roanoke Valley.
The following general information was provided by Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge:
Of the teen-age patients, more than half told their mothers first. A girl under 16 almost always tells a parent. If a minor chooses an abortion on her own, she's usually 17 and often has an independent source of money, Planned Parenthood officials say.
If complications result, either medical or psychological, follow-up care becomes essential. The responsibility for paying typically falls to the parents, their insurance company - or Medicaid if the teen-ager qualifies.
Ruth Fielder at the Crisis Pregnancy Center has counseled girls and parents after abortions.
Fielder and Planned Parenthood both advocate telling the parents before an abortion. "At least the parent can be aware of what the child is about to do and encourage the best medical care," Fielder said.
If parents are involved early on, they tend to be less angry than if they find out after the fact, Fielder said.
The popular vote
Q: Has there ever been a president elected by electoral votes instead of by popular votes? M.L.S., Roanoke
A: Yes, but not lately. And to be a purist, presidents always are chosen by electoral votes.
Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison in 1888 received fewer popular votes than their opponents, but they carried enough key states by close margins to win in the Electoral College.
In another election, 1824, President John Quincy Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives because the electoral vote was split among several candidates and none received a majority.
More recently, two presidents were elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote: Richard Nixon in 1968 and Bill Clinton.
Third-party candidates - George Wallace in '68 and Ross Perot in '92 - captured sizable chunks of the popular vote but didn't prevent an electoral-vote majority for the winners.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RoatimesInfi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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