Prop. 73

I received an email today asking me to help defeat a measure coming before taxpayers in November.

Proposition 73 would require girls under the age of 16 to obtain parental or judicial permission to receive an abortion. I was asked to help defeat this measure for fear that it would prompt back-alley, coat-hanger abortions of yesteryear.

I can not and will not work to help defeat this measure.

I am not prepared to live in a society where we have taken away a parent's basic right to know about his or her child's abortion. I am not prepared to give a child under the age of 16 the right to make the very grown-up decision of getting an abortion without first discussing it with her parents and who on earth are these people who disagree with that? Are we really prepared to give a 13-year old that much power? Who's in charge here?

If the measure passes, will there be backalley, coat-hanger abortions? Maybe but I honestly don't think the numbers will be at a level that we need to create legislature to prevent it and while I agree that even one child death to illegal abortions is one too many, I cannot support a measure that would allow hundreds or thousands of young girls to have a life-alternating surgical procedure without consulting their parents and getting their permission. Allowing that just to prevent the 5 or 10 illegal abortions of girls who don't want to consult their parents is like using a hand grenade to kill a fly.

Let me tell you something: if I'd popped up pregnant at 14, I would have had to tell my mother from the inside of a jail cell just to ensure that I wasn't within her arm's reach. Denise would have threatened to kill me, trust, but she would have gotten over it and she would have counseled me because she's my mother and that's what mothers do.

Beyond that, we are doing a disservice to young girls by not demanding they have their parents' permission. I understand abortion clinics counsel before the procedure but who will be there in future years should the young girl feel regret, guilt or confusion because of her decision? If a child isn't allowed to drive before the age of 16, how can we honestly say said child is cognizant or mature enough to make the decision to have an abortion?

We cannot continue to complain that children today are irresponsible, unruly or unfocused and at the same time push parents further out of their children's lives. Chldren are not adults until 18 and until that time that they are allowed to make their own decisions, parents have every right to know the intimate, life-altering events in their dependent's lives.

And for the record, I'm pro-choice but I'm even more pro-common sense.