Girls Lobby Against Abortion Notice Spokane-Area Teens Oppose Bills Requiring Parental Notification

A group of 13- and 14-year-old Spokane-area girls was probably the youngest lobbying the Legislature on Monday.

Seven teenagers, accompanied by three mothers, traveled across the state to try to persuade their lawmakers to oppose bills that would require physicians to notify the parents of a minor wishing to have an abortion.

Minors in Washington state currently can have abortions without the notification or consent of a parent.

The group dropped by the offices of most Eastern Washington lawmakers to talk to them in person or, in most cases, leave postcards encouraging opposition to the bills.

Cindy Fine, field organizer for the Eastern Washington chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, came with her 13-year-old daughter, Katie Taylor. It was their fourth annual trip to the Legislature.

Fine said the legislation was “an ill-advised attempt to solve social issues and family-communication issues.”

She said requiring parental notification is no different than asking for consent. Girls who are too afraid to tell their parents could travel to states without notification or consent laws, she said.

“Abortions are delayed; people travel farther, and some resort to illegal abortions,” she said.

Rosie Jablonsky, an eighth-grader at Freeman Junior High, agreed.

“If they were forced to tell their parents, they’d put it off as long as possible,” she said of pregnant teenagers.

Jenaline Pyle, a 13-year-old student at Cheney Middle School, said pregnant teenagers who don’t want to tell their parents can find support in their friends. Some kids are afraid of being kicked out of the house or otherwise being punished by their parents, she said.

Dina Hovde, media manager of the Washington Family Council, disagreed with the mother-daughter group. Hovde said parental notification is the “community standard.”

Kids currently need permission before they can get such a minor procedure as an ear piercing, she noted.

Two Senate bills (6338 and 6290) would require physicians to notify the parents or guardian of a minor’s intent to have an abortion. Senate Bill 6290 goes further, requiring parental consent.

Exceptions could be made in the case of a medical emergency or if the pregnant girl is from an abusive household.

Physicians violating the law could be charged with a gross misdemeanor, and parents found to have “coerced” their child into a decision to have an abortion could be charged with a misdemeanor.

People of any age who are deemed “incompetent” would also have to have their parents or guardians notified under the legislation.

Senate Bill 6338, co-sponsored by Eastern Washington Sens. Bob Morton and Bob McCaslin, contains a referendum clause, which means if it’s passed it would head straight to voters for final approval rather than to the governor’s desk.

The mother-daughter group briefly encountered McCaslin as he headed into his office. He said he was “pro-choice” even though he also wants parents notified.

The group also encouraged legislators to oppose two identical bills that would ban a late-term abortion procedure referred to as “partial-birth” in the legislation.

Rep. Mark Sterk, R-Veradale, introduced one such bill this session. A similar measure from Sterk failed last year.

, DataTimes