Panel sends parental consent bill to House
BOISE – After more than two hours of public testimony, the House Health and Welfare Committee on Friday approved a bill to implement a new parental consent law for minors seeking abortion.
The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Bill Sali, R-Kuna, an ardent opponent of abortion, who told committee members that the bill is intended fix parts of Idaho law that were struck down by state and federal appeals courts in previous years.
Idaho had one of the most strict parental consent laws in the nation until it was struck down last year by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled Idaho’s provisions for emergency abortions on minor girls were constitutionally inadequate.
The court said Idaho failed to provide sufficient access to an abortion for minor women whose medical status necessitates one.
Sali’s proposal defines medical emergencies as conditions in which “on the basis of the physician’s good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
The bill also requires young women to have legal representation, which may be appointed by the court; and a special “guardian ad litem,” who will investigate the girl’s history and report any crimes that may have occurred; except statutory rape.
The bill was strongly supported by abortion foes, such as the Roman Catholic Church and Idaho’s conservative Cornerstone Institute.
“All parents deserve to know when any major procedure is performed on their daughter, especially an abortion,” said Julie Lynde of Cornerstone.
Most of those who testified at Friday’s hearing opposed the bill.
Marty Durand, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, said the rules requiring the guardian ad litem to investigate the girl’s situation and report any crime, except for statutory rape, could block most girl’s attempt to get an abortion. Durand pointed to Idaho’s law prohibiting “fornication” between unmarried people.
“Every young woman seeking judicial bypass will be unmarried and pregnant. Therefore, each and every bypass proceeding will reveal a violation of criminal law that must be reported to law enforcement,” Durand said.
During the committee’s debate, Rep. Margaret Henbest said she approved of the overall intent, but wanted to amend the language to omit potential pitfalls such as the one pointed out by Durand.
Sali was not amenable to the change, but asked for the official record of the committee to reflect that the law was not intended to prosecute violations of the fornication law.
The bill passed 8-4, and moves to the House floor.