Proposition 85 - Parental Notification & Waiting Period, Termination of Pregnancy for Minors

Read the proposition summaries, the pro and con positions, and skim the actual text of the proposition. Given the pro and con camps’ chosen language, how do you feel each side is intending to frame the proposition? How do they want it to appear and appeal to the voting public? As you read, what points raise red flags in your mind? And where do you feel both sides may be omitting or hiding important details that might change how a voter might view the proposition? In the end, do you think the proposition addresses important issues, i.e., the importance of parents understanding that their children are facing invasive surgical procedures? Do you think that the valuable points raised in the proposition are justified by the potential effects the proposition may have if passed? For example, do you think that a person’s right to have an abortion trumps a person’s status as a minor? In most instances, the United States Supreme Court has acknowledged that minors do not have the same full-fledged rights as adults. Why should this instance be an exception? Are the coercion “safeguards” enough? Keep today’s discussion in mind when we begin to cover Civil Liberties Law (Particularly Roe v. Wade) and California government and politics later this month. :D

Summary (VoteCircle.com)

Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy. A re-run of the parental notifications for abortions initiative that failed in the 2005 special election.

Detail (VoteCircle.com)

Amends California Constitution to prohibit abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent or legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver.

Permits minor to obtain court order waiving notice based on clear and convincing evidence of minor's maturity or best interests.

Mandates various reporting requirements, including reports from physicians regarding abortions performed on minors. Authorizes monetary damages against physicians for violation. Requires minor's consent to abortion, with certain exceptions.

Permits judicial relief if minor's consent coerced.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Potential unknown net state costs of several million dollars annually for health and social services programs, court administration, and state health agency administration combined.

Argument For Proposition 85

Yes on 85
(866) 828-8355
1703 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
janet@yeson85.net
www.yeson85.net

For real protection of a young girl,
it's common sense to notify a parent
before a major medical procedure.

In California, a young girl - even a 12 year old – can be taken by anyone – a school employee, a boyfriend, a sexual predator – to receive a secret taxpayer funded abortion, without a parent knowing and being able to protect her from further sexual exploitation. This is wrong.

No young girl should undergo any invasive medical procedure performed secretly by an unknown person at an unknown location.

Any other surgical procedure performed on a minor child requires not only the notification but the consent of a parent or guardian.

Proposition 85 will protect young girls from physical harm and sexual exploitation.

If Mom or Dad don’t know, they can’t get prompt care for dangerous or even fatal complications which their young daughter may be secretly suffering.

Protect our young daughters. Vote YES on Proposition 85.

Argument Against Proposition 85

Campaign for Teen Safety – No on 85
916-669-4802
555 Capitol Mall, Suite 510
Sacramento, CA 95814
info@noon85.com
www.noon85.com

What is Proposition 85?

- Prop. 85 would prohibit abortions for California teens until 48 hours after their parents have been notified.

The law would force scared, pregnant teens to tell their parents, even if they come from a troubled home of violence and abuse. While the proposed law would include a bypass provision for teens to seek help from a judge, a girl afraid to tell her parents isn’t going to march up to a judge in a strange courthouse to talk about her pregnancy. Pregnant teens don’t need a judge. They need a counselor and a doctor.

Why should you vote NO on 85?

- Prop. 85 delays the medical care and counseling pregnant teens need. We shouldn’t allow anything that could delay or deter teens from seeking proper medical care and counseling.


- Prop. 85 would put vulnerable teens in jeopardy. While many parents rightly want to be involved in their teenage daughters’ lives, in the real world, some teens can’t go to their parents - a major reason why Proposition 85 is wrong for California. Some teens live in dangerous homes of violence and abuse. They might be kicked out of their homes, beaten or worse. They would delay the medical care and counseling they desperately need.

Also:

- Good family communication cannot be imposed by government.

- When laws make teenagers choose between talking with parents or having illegal and unsafe abortions, some will delay critical medical care, turn to self-induced or illegal back-alley abortions, or even consider suicide.

- Doctors, nurses, and teachers strongly oppose proposition 85.

- Supporters of Prop 85 – including the Traditional Values Coalition, Evangelicals for Social Action and Right to Life of Central California – are the same people who want to overturn Roe v. Wade and ban all abortions. This is part of a clear strategy to eventually outlaw all abortions.

- The real answer to teen pregnancy is prevention and strong, caring families – not new laws that endanger vulnerable young women.

- Professional counseling and comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education that includes abstinence and birth control are more effective solutions to the problem of teen pregnancy.

Text of Initiative (Prop 85), Provided by Pro-85 Camp

INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED
DIRECTLY TO VOTERS

The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purposes and points of the proposed measure:

(Insert 100 word title and summary)

To the Honorable Secretary of State of California:

We the undersigned, registered, qualified voters of California, residents of the afore-described County (or City and County), on the signature page of this petition section, hereby propose an amendment to the Constitution of the State of California relating to parental notification and personal consent prior to the performance of an abortion on a pregnant unemancipated minor and petition the Secretary of State to submit the same to the voters of California for their adoption or rejection at the next succeeding general election or at any special statewide election held prior to the general election or otherwise provided by law. The proposed amendment reads as follows:

SECTION 1. Title

This amendment shall be known and may be cited as the Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection Initiative.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Findings and Purposes

The People of California have a special and compelling interest in and responsibility for protecting the health and well-being of children, ensuring that parents are properly informed of potential health-related risks and medical decisions involving their children, and promoting and enabling parental care and responsibility.

SECTION 3. Parental Notification

Section 32 of Article 1 of the California Constitution is added to read:

SEC. 32 (a) For purposes of this Section, the following terms shall be defined to mean:

(1) “Abortion” means the use of any means to terminate the pregnancy of an unemancipated minor known to be pregnant except for the purpose of producing a live birth. “Abortion” shall not include the use of any contraceptive drug or device.

(2) “Medical emergency" means a condition which, on the basis of the physician's good-faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant unemancipated minor 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.

(3) "Notice" means a written notification, signed and dated by a physician or his or her agent and addressed to a parent or guardian of an unemancipated minor, informing the parent or guardian that she is pregnant and that she has requested an abortion.

(4) "Parent or guardian" means a person who, at the time notice or waiver is required under this Section, is either a parent if both parents have legal custody, or the parent or person having legal custody, or the legal guardian of an unemancipated minor.

(5) "Unemancipated minor" means a female under the age of 18 years who has not entered into a valid marriage and is not on active duty with the armed services of the United States and has not received a declaration of emancipation under state law. For the purposes of this Section, pregnancy does not emancipate a female under the age of 18 years.

(6) "Physician" means any person authorized under the statutes and regulations of the State of California to perform an abortion upon an unemancipated minor.

(b) Notwithstanding Article 1, Section 1, or any other provision of this Constitution or law to the contrary and except in a medical emergency as provided for in subdivision (f), a physician shall not perform an abortion upon a pregnant unemancipated minor until the physician or the physician's agent has provided written notice to her parent or guardian personally as provided for in subdivision (c) and a reflection period of at least forty-eight (48) hours has elapsed after personal delivery of notice; or until the physician can presume that notice has been delivered by mail as provided in subdivision (d) and a reflection period of at least forty-eight (48) hours has elapsed after presumed delivery of notice by mail; or until the physician or the physician's agent has received a valid written waiver of notice as provided for in subdivision (e); or until the physician has received a copy of a waiver of notification from the court as provided in subdivision (h) or (i) or (j). A copy of any notice or waiver shall be retained with the unemancipated minor's medical records. The physician or the physician's agent shall inform the unemancipated minor that her parent or guardian may receive notice as provided for in this Section.

(c) The written notice shall be delivered to the parent or guardian personally by the physician or the physician's agent unless delivered by mail as provided in subdivision (d). A form for the notice shall be prescribed by the Department of Health Services. The notice form shall be bilingual, in English and Spanish, and also available in English and each of the other languages in which California Official Voter Information Guides are published.

(d) The written notice may be delivered by certified mail addressed to the parent or guardian at the parent's or guardian's last known address with return receipt requested and restricted delivery to the addressee. To help ensure timely notice, a copy of the written notice shall also be sent at the same time by first class mail to the parent or guardian. Notice can only be presumed to have been delivered under the provisions of this subdivision at noon of the second day after the written notice sent by certified mail was postmarked, not counting any days on which regular mail delivery does not take place.

(e) Notice of an unemancipated minorÕs intent to obtain an abortion and the reflection period of at least forty-eight (48) hours may be waived by her parent or guardian. The waiver must be in writing, on a form prescribed by the Department of Health Services, signed by a parent or guardian, dated, and notarized. The parent or guardian shall specify on the form that the waiver is valid for 30 days, or until a specified date, or until the minorÕs eighteenth birthday. The written waiver need not be notarized if the parent or guardian personally delivers it to the physician or the physician's agent. The form shall include the following statement: "WARNING. It is a crime to knowingly provide false information to a physician or a physician's agent for the purpose of inducing a physician or a physician's agent to believe that a waiver of notice has been provided by a parent or guardian." The waiver form shall be bilingual, in English and Spanish, and also available in English and each of the other languages in which California Official Voter Information Guides are published. For each abortion performed on an unemancipated minor pursuant to this subdivision, the physician or the physicianÕs agent must receive a separate original written waiver that shall be retained with the unemancipated minorÕs medical records.

(f) Notice shall not be required under this Section if the attending physician certifies in the unemancipated minor's medical records the medical indications supporting the physician's good-faith clinical judgment that the abortion is necessary due to a medical emergency.

(g) Notice shall not be required under this Section if waived pursuant to this subdivision and subdivisions (h) or (i) or (j). If the pregnant unemancipated minor elects not to permit notice to be given to a parent or guardian, she may file a petition with the juvenile court. If, pursuant to this subdivision, an unemancipated minor seeks to file a petition, the court shall assist the minor or person designated by the minor in preparing the documents required pursuant to this Section. The petition shall set forth with specificity the minor's reasons for the request. The court shall ensure that the minor's identity be kept confidential and that all court proceedings be sealed. No filing fee shall be required for filing a petition. The unemancipated minor shall appear personally in the proceedings in juvenile court and may appear on her own behalf or with counsel of her own choosing. The court shall, however, advise her that she has a right to court-appointed counsel upon request. The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for her. The hearing shall be held by 5 p.m. on the second court day after filing the petition unless extended at the written request of the unemancipated minor, her guardian ad litem, or her counsel. If the guardian ad litem requests an extension, that extension may not be granted for more than one court day without the consent of the unemancipated minor or her counsel. The unemancipated minor shall be notified of the date, time, and place of the hearing on the petition. Judgment shall be entered within one court day of submission of the matter. The judge shall order a record of the evidence to be maintained, including the judge's written factual findings and legal conclusions supporting the decision.

(h) (1) If the judge finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the unemancipated minor is sufficiently mature and well-informed to decide whether to have an abortion, the judge shall authorize a waiver of notice of a parent or guardian.

(2) If the judge finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that notice to a parent or guardian is not in the best interests of the unemancipated minor, the judge shall authorize a waiver of notice. If the finding that notice to a parent or guardian is not in the best interests of the minor is based on evidence of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, the court shall ensure that such evidence is brought to the attention of the appropriate county child protective agency.

(3) If the judge does not make a finding specified in subdivision (h)(1) or (h)(2), the judge shall deny the petition.

(i) If the judge fails to rule within the time period specified in subdivision (g) and no extension was requested and granted, the petition shall be deemed granted and the notice requirement shall be waived.

(j) The unemancipated minor may appeal the judgment of the juvenile court at any time after the entry of judgment. The Judicial Council shall prescribe, by rule, the practice and procedure on appeal and the time and manner in which any record on appeal shall be prepared and filed and may prescribe forms for such proceedings. These procedures shall require that the hearing shall be held within three court days of filing the notice of appeal. The unemancipated minor shall be notified of the date, time, and place of the hearing. Judgment shall be entered within one court day of submission of the matter. The appellate court shall ensure that the unemancipated minor's identity be kept confidential and that all court proceedings be sealed. No filing fee shall be required for filing an appeal. Judgment on appeal shall be entered within one court day of submission of the matter.

(k) The Judicial Council shall prescribe, by rule, the practice and procedure for petitions for waiver of parental notification, hearings, and entry of judgment as it deems necessary and may prescribe forms for such proceedings. Each court shall provide annually to the Judicial Council, in a manner to be prescribed by the Judicial Council to ensure confidentiality of the unemancipated minors filing petitions, a report of the number of petitions filed, the number of petitions granted under subdivisions (h)(1) or (h)(2), deemed granted under subdivision (i), denied under subdivision (h)(3), and granted and denied under subdivision (j), said reports to be publicly available unless the Judicial Council determines that the data contained in individual reports should be aggregated by county before being made available to the public in order to preserve the confidentiality of the unemancipated minors filing petitions.

(l) The Department of Health Services shall prescribe forms for the reporting of abortions performed on unemancipated minors by physicians. The report forms shall not identify the unemancipated minor or her parent(s) or guardian by name or request other information by which the unemancipated minor or her parent(s) or guardian might be identified. The forms shall include the date of the procedure and the unemancipated minorÕs month and year of birth, the duration of the pregnancy, the type of abortion procedure, the numbers of the unemancipated minorÕs previous abortions and deliveries if known, and the facility where the abortion was performed. The forms shall also indicate whether the abortion was performed after personal delivery of a notice, pursuant to subdivision (c); or was an abortion performed after presumed delivery of a notice by mail, pursuant to subdivision (d); or was an abortion performed after receiving a waiver of notice, pursuant to subdivision (e); or was an abortion performed without notice, pursuant to subdivision (f); or was an abortion performed after receiving any judicial waiver of notice, pursuant to subdivisions (h), (i), or (j).

(m) The physician who performs an abortion on an unemancipated minor shall within one month file a dated and signed report concerning it with the Department of Health Services on forms prescribed pursuant to subdivision (l). The identity of the physician shall be kept confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

(n) The Department of Health Services shall compile an annual statistical report from the information specified in subdivision (l). The annual report shall not include the identity of any physician who filed a report as required by subdivision (m). The compilation shall include statistical information on the numbers of abortions by month and by county where performed, the minors' ages, the duration of the pregnancies, the types of abortion procedures, the numbers of prior abortions or deliveries where known, and the numbers of abortions performed after personal delivery of a notice, pursuant to subdivision (c); the numbers of abortions performed after presumed delivery of a notice by mail, pursuant to subdivision (d); the numbers of abortions performed after a waiver of notice, pursuant to subdivision (e); the numbers of abortions performed without notice, pursuant to subdivision (f); and the numbers of abortions performed after any judicial waivers, pursuant to (h), (i), or (j). The annual statistical report shall be made available to county public health officials, members of the legislature, the governor, and the public.

(o) Any person who performs an abortion on an unemancipated minor and in so doing knowingly or negligently fails to comply with the provisions of this Section shall be liable for damages in a civil action brought by the unemancipated minor, her legal representative, or by a parent or guardian wrongfully denied notification. A person shall not be liable under this Section if the person establishes by written evidence that the person relied upon evidence sufficient to convince a careful and prudent person that the representations of the unemancipated minor or other persons regarding information necessary to comply with this Section were bona fide and true. At any time prior to the rendering of a final judgment in an action brought under this subdivision, the parent or guardian may elect to recover, in lieu of actual damages, an award of statutory damages in the amount of $10,000. In addition to any damages awarded under this subdivision, the plaintiff shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees. Nothing in this Section shall abrogate, limit, or restrict the common law rights of parents or guardians, or any right to relief under any theory of liability that any person or any state or local agency may have under any statute or common law for any injury or damage, including any legal, equitable, or administrative remedy under federal or state law, against any party, with respect to injury to an unemancipated minor from an abortion.

(p) Other than an unemancipated minor who is the patient of a physician, or other than the physician or the physician's agent, any person who knowingly provides false information to a physician or a physician's agent for the purpose of inducing the physician or the physician's agent to believe that pursuant to this Section notice has been or will be delivered, or that a waiver of notice has been obtained, or that an unemancipated minor patient is not an unemancipated minor, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.

(q) Notwithstanding any notices delivered pursuant to subdivisions (c) or (d) or waivers received pursuant to subdivisions (e), (h), (i), or (j), except where the particular circumstances of a medical emergency or her own mental incapacity precludes obtaining her consent, a physician shall not perform or induce an abortion upon an unemancipated minor except with the consent of the unemancipated minor herself.

(r) Notwithstanding any notices delivered pursuant to subdivisions (c) or (d) or waivers received pursuant to subdivisions (e), (h), (i), or (j), an unemancipated minor who is being coerced by any person through force, threat of force, or threatened or actual deprivation of food or shelter to consent to undergo an abortion may apply to the juvenile court for relief. The court shall give the matter expedited consideration and grant such relief as may be necessary to prevent such coercion.

(s) This Section shall not take effect until 90 days after the election in which it is approved. The Judicial Council shall, within these 90 days, prescribe the rules, practices, and procedures and prepare and make available any forms it may prescribe as provided in subdivision (k). The Department of Health Services shall, within these 90 days, prepare and make available the forms prescribed in subdivisions (c), (e), and (l).

(t) If any one or more provision, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this Section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is found to be unconstitutional or invalid, the same is hereby declared to be severable and the balance of this Section shall remain effective notwithstanding such unconstitutionality or invalidity. Each provision, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this Section would have been approved by voters irrespective of the fact that any one or more provision, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or word might be declared unconstitutional or invalid.

(u) Except for the rights, duties, privileges, conditions, and limitations specifically provided for in this Section, nothing in this Section shall be construed to grant, secure, or deny any other rights, duties, privileges, conditions, and limitations relating to abortion or the funding thereof.