THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230317
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 87 lines
Abortion rights activists will lose an 18-year legislative battle this year, they said Wednesday, resigning to defeat even as they rallied the capital on the anniversary of the court decision legalizing abortion.
Certain that state lawmakers will soon require minors to tell a parent before getting an abortion, Planned Parenthood is already drafting a legal challenge to file when the bill passes.
``I expect the governor to sign it and I expect to be in court a few days later,'' said Karen Raschke, Planned Parenthood's lobbyist and Virginia's chief abortion-rights advocate.
``As far as the General Assembly goes, we don't expect to change anyone's mind.''
Anti-abortion legislators have tried to require parental notification since 1979, always failing in the legislature or fetching a veto from the governor.
But this year, Gov. George F. Allen promises to sign the bill, and a majority of senators and delegates are on record supporting it.
The bill, sponsored by Chesapeake Sen. Mark L. Earley, would apply to women younger than 18. Opponents say they will attempt to lower that age, an effort that failed in both houses last year.
Earley's bill also allows juvenile court judges to override the law if the young woman would be in danger or face extraordinary hardship by telling her parents she is pregnant. Opponents will likely try to broaden the notification requirement to include other relatives or friends.
But because of a legislative technicality that placed the bill before a new committee this year, Raschke and others said they are focusing more on what to do after the bill passes.
Assuming Allen signs the bill into law, abortion rights groups plan to challenge whether it meets the legislative requirements of the state constitution. The question: if it conforms to a rule that the subject of a bill ``shall be expressed in its title.''
Earley's bill doesn't suggest abortion in the title, a point that is significant beyond any legal challenge it might provoke. Bills mentioning abortion are historically assigned to the Education and Health Committee, which killed parental notification last year.
Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar assigned Earley's bill to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, which is expected to approve it this Wednesday. Anti-abortion legislators purposely wrote the proposal as a juvenile courts issue, so Schaar would send it to the friendly committee.
``I can't believe anyone misunderstanding this bill,'' Earley said.
But even Schaar did not know the bill was about abortion until a reporter told her Monday night. She then reassigned it to Education and Health, but put it back in Courts of Justice after studying the precedence for bills affecting laws about juvenile courts.
``I think we have the bill drafted, pretty confidently, in good shape,'' said Earley.
The veteran Republican would say only that he is ``cautiously optimistic'' about the issue's chances, even as lawmakers on both sides talk about parental notification as if it were already on the books.
Versions of the measure passed both the Senate and the House of Delegates last year, but technicalities about its committee assignment kept it from becoming law.
Earley's bill was placed on the docket for a vote in the Courts committee Wednesday afternoon. Members voted to wait a week to allow public comment.
Coincidentally, activists rallied in Richmond Wednesday to note the 24th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
The parental notification bill has been debated in the Virginia General Assembly since Fairfax Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr. introduced a version in 1979. Gartlan, a Democrat, is now chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee.
``The fact is that the women in the legislature feel very, very strongly that this bill should not be law,'' said Fairfax Sen. Janet Howell, a Democrat. ``But, unfortunately, there aren't enough of us.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
BACKGROUND
Since 1979, anti-abortion legislators have tried to pass a bill
requiring minors who wish to get an abortion to notify their
parents. But the measure always failed in the legislature or was
vetoed by the governor.
WHAT'S CHANGED?
The new bill, which would apply to women younger than 18, was
written as a juvenile courts issue, which caused it to be sent to a
friendly committee. Historically, bills mentioning abortion are sent
to the Education and Health Committee, which killed parental
notification last year.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997 LAWS
ABORTION PARENTAL NOTIFICATION