ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 18, 1997 TAG: 9702180117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
A pregnant teen-ager who wants an abortion could tell her grandparents or adult siblings rather than her parents under a bill approved Monday by a House of Delegates committee.
The decision by the House Courts of Justice Committee put Sen. Mark Earley's bill on a collision course with Gov. George Allen, who has said he doesn't want parental notification broadened to include other relatives.
Earley argued that the changes made by the committee gutted the intent of the legislation. ``If you adopt this amendment, you defeat the entire purpose of this bill,'' he told the panel before it voted 12-10 to amend the measure.
The committee then sent the bill to the House floor on a 20-2 vote.
Earley's original bill required that girls under 18 inform a parent or guardian before an abortion. In cases of abuse or neglect, the notification requirements would be waived but the doctor would have to inform Child Protective Services. The girl could also ask a judge to waive the notification.
Earley's bill passed the Senate 26-14 on Feb.3, and Allen said he would sign it into law.
The version approved Monday by the House committee conformed Earley's bill to one passed 81-18 by the House on Feb.4. Allen vetoed a similar watered-down bill in 1994 and has indicated he will do so again.
Committee members argued that even a weakened bill that allows minors to notify family members other than a parent is better than nothing.
``I think we're crazy to be fighting over this thing,'' said Del. David Brickley, D-Prince William.
``The important thing is that a young woman has an adult she can turn to for advice,'' said House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton. ``I believe we have a statute that will probably work.''
The battle now moves to the House floor, where both supporters and opponents of the legislation predict a tough fight to remove the amendments tacked on by the committee.
Also on Monday, by a voice vote the committee sent a bill to the House floor that would make it illegal to help a person commit suicide.
The committee rejected making the ban apply only to licensed medical professionals.
However, the panel added one significant amendment: a provision requiring the General Assembly to approve the bill again next year before it becomes law. Legislators said they want to see how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on assisted suicide bans in other states.
The bill now goes back to the Senate, which passed it 27-12, for consideration of the re-enactment clause.
Earley's bill would allow the state attorney general to seek a $10,000 civil penalty against anyone assisting in a suicide. For a second offense, the penalty could be up to $100,000. A medical professional helping with a suicide could lose his or her state medical license for life.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB