Parade Of Values Awaits Lawmakers’ Review Religious, Social Conservatives Deluge Legislature With ‘Pro-Family’ Agenda

Religious and social conservatives are papering the Legislature with bills that run the gamut from putting prisoners on chain gangs to banning third-trimester abortions, from outlawing gay marriage to eliminating no-fault divorce.

Bills to require parental consent and notification before an abortion is performed on a minor child also have been filed.

Spokane lawmakers were among dozens of anti-abortion legislators who braved a sullen rain Friday to speak at the 19th annual March for Life in Olympia and lead the charge to roll back abortion rights.

They are most optimistic about passing a bill to ban third-trimester abortions.

“It’s such an abhorrent thing,” Rep. Duane Sommers, R-Spokane, told the crowd. “A little baby is just inches away from something illegal: infanticide.”

Even abortion-rights lawmakers may be turned off enough by late-term abortions to support a ban, predicted Rep. Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, chairman of the House Law and Justice Committee.

Conservatives hope the fact that Democratic Gov. Gary Locke is about to become a father will help him see the abortion question differently.

Locke is a longtime supporter of both abortion and gay rights.

But if the Lockes have a daughter, “I hope he would want to know what procedures are being performed on her without his knowledge and consent,” said Sen. Harold Hochstatter, R-Moses Lake, chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Abortion rights groups are opposed to the parental notification and consent bills, as well the proposed ban on late-term abortions.

Abortions during the third trimester of pregnancy are exceedingly rare, and performed only to save the life or health of the mother, said Marilyn Knight of Planned Parenthood of Washington.

Knight said parental notification or consent laws also are a bad idea because they can be dangerous to young girls.

“They could panic and have an illegal abortion. And fear of having to tell their parents causes delay. The further off you push the abortion the more risk there is.”

Teens who don’t tell their parents they are pregnant also “usually have a good reason for not doing so. Most minors do involve their parents.”

Rep. Joyce Mulliken, R-Ephrata, filed a so-called parents’ rights bill, HB 1034, to require parental involvement in every major decision their children confront, including abortion.

To conservatives like Mulliken, government has intruded way too far into private family decisions.

“The time has come to stop efforts to replace mom and dad with Big Brother,” Mulliken said at a press conference last week convened by the Pro-Family Alliance.

The alliance represents conservative groups from across the state ranging from the Christian Coalition to the Eagle Forum that support parents’ rights, oppose gay marriage and want to restrict abortion.

The parents’ rights bill is a broad measure that requires schools to obtain written permission from parents before any student can participate in sex education classes.

It also requires parental permission before drug and alcohol treatment, mental health counseling, or any medical procedure including abortion on children under the age of 18.

“Right now our 13-year-olds can abort our grandchildren and we have no right to know about it,” said Sandra Swanson of the Central Washington Family Alliance in Yakima.

Parents also would have to be told the results of any test for sexually transmitted disease.

Conservatives say the bill is needed to ensure parents participate in the education and protection of their children.

Public health professionals are mortified by the bill, which they say would scare the most vulnerable kids away from crucial treatment and counseling when they need it most.

The bill includes exceptions for kids who show visible signs of physical or sexual abuse. But that won’t protect the most vulnerable children, opponents say.

“Kids who are victims of abuse don’t come in and reveal it. And I hate to think of what a visible sign of sexual abuse looks like,” said Robert Lehman of the pediatrics department of the University of Washington Medical Center.

“Most sexual abuse is invisible. The scars it leaves are emotional.”

Conservatives also are pushing hard for a ban on gay marriage, a top priority this session, said Cathy Mickels of the Washington chapter of the Eagle Forum.

Rep. Bill Thompson, R-Everett, filed HB 1130, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Thompson and other proponents say the bill is needed so Washington won’t have to honor marriages of gay people if they are allowed in other states, such as Hawaii.

That state is in the middle of litigation over gay marriage and could be the first state to legalize the practice.

GOP control of both houses of the Legislature has some conservatives more optimistic about passing bills on social issues this year.

“We have a lot better chance of passing the things we care about,” said Rosalia’s Sheahan.

But even in his own committee, passage of the bills is not certain. “In both the House and Senate it’s going to be close,” Sheahan said.

Then there is Locke to consider.

“With Gary in the governor’s mansion it’s going to be difficult,” said Rep. Larry Crouse, R-Spokane. “I don’t expect it to be any easier this year. We have less Republicans in the House than last year. It’s going to be very difficult to get these measures through and into law.” , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SOCIAL-ISSUE BILLS These are the top social-issue bills on tap in Olympia. HB 1034: Requires written consent by a parent or guardian before providing drug or alcohol treatment, or mental health counseling to a child under 18. Requires parents to be told if their child is tested for sexually transmitted diseases, and requires written parental consent before an abortion on a minor child. Requires parental consent before students may participate in sex education or classes on euthanasia or suicide. Prohibits schools from asking students about their family’s religion, politics or personal problems without written parental notice or in some cases written consent. HB 1031: Bans abortion in the third trimester of pregnancy or when a fetus is capable of living outside the womb, except to save the life of the woman. HB 1130: Affirms that the only marriages the state of Washington officially recognizes are between one man and one woman. HB 1036: Requires parents to be notified 24 hours before an abortion on a minor child.