Proposition 73 is asking voters to amend the state constitution
so that parents of minors would have to be notified before an
abortion is performed. But the proposition fails to recognize that
family communication cannot and should not be legislated.
Regardless of age, abortion is something no one should have to
go through alone. But if family circumstances make it so that a
teen feels unsafe discussing the matter, it is not the place of the
government to step in and set guidelines for parent-child
communication.
It’s true that the proposition would allow minors to avoid
parental notification by obtaining a court order. But, in Texas,
which implemented a similar notification law a few years ago, the
exemption process is convoluted, takes time, and girls often
receive conflicting information from different clerks and judges,
according to the Los Angeles Times.
Furthermore, there was a 40 percent drop in the number of teen
pregnancies in California between 1992-2000, according to data from
teenpregnancy.org. This shows there is already a system in place
working to decrease the teen pregnancy problem.
If anything, teens should get better education to help them make
better decisions ““ not a restrictive law.