The fight for Parental Notification before a minor can get an abortion is currently in a judges hand. A decision is due within the next few weeks and could drastically change the war against abortion in Alaska. The Catholic Anchor, the Archdiocesan paper from Anchorage has been chronicling the battle. The latest fight has been a challenge to the movement by Planned Parenthood to prevent the initiative by the Parental Rights group from getting the issue onto a forthcoming ballot.This is a very pivotal fight in the war against abortion.
This is the most recent article from the Catholic Anchor:
Upcoming ruling may impact parental notification initiative regarding minors’ abortions in Alaska
By STEVEN ERTELT
LifeNews.com
On Feb. 24, an Alaska court held a hearing on a ballot initiative proposal that would allow parents to be informed when their minor daughter is considering an abortion. The Alaskans for Parental Rights submitted signatures in January to get the measure on the ballot but Planned Parenthood filed suit.
If the measure makes it before voters and receives their approval, then abortion centers in the state would be required to tell the parents of a teenager before performing an abortion on her.
Advocates of the proposed law say it will give parents a chance to guide their daughter towards positive alternatives.
Planned Parenthood presented its case in court Feb. 24, saying the state should not allow Alaska voters to consider the measure to reduce abortions.
Jeff Feldman, the attorney for Planned Parenthood of Alaska, argued the language of the proposed ballot measure is misleading and confusing.
“It omits very significant details of the burdens that are placed on minors and physicians. It fails to inform voters immediately about the option for court representation. It talks about a minor obtaining a judicial bypass. Well, I don’t think very many lay citizens know what a judicial bypass is,” he said.
Kevin Clarkson, the attorney for the initiative’s sponsors, said Planned Parenthood is grasping at straws and assuming Alaska residents aren’t smart enough to figure out the details of the proposal.
“What they need to know is if this initiative goes on the ballot and it passes: What is the law going to be. That’s the main feature of the initiative. What it changed before is just nuance,” he said, according to a KTUU television report.
And Jim Minnery with Alaskans for Parental Rights, the group that sponsored the ballot measure, said the number of petitions the group turned in shows Alaskans want to vote on the pro-life measure.
“People are smart in Alaska. They knew exactly what they were signing. Should parents be engaged in medical decisions made by their teenage girls? And the answer was an astounding ‘yes’,” he said.
The judge in the case is expected to deliver a ruling by March 17.
The measure has broad support from pro-life advocates.
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz asked Catholics across the archdiocese to sign the petition, and he strongly encouraged all 32 parishes in the archdiocese to support the drive from the pulpit and in bulletins and Web sites — and to host signature-gathering volunteers at parishes.
Additionally, hundreds of volunteers from other Christian denominations also collected signatures statewide in more than 200 churches.
According to the latest statistics by the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics, 2,575 abortions have been performed on Alaska teens between 2003 and 2009.
In November 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court overturned a state law the legislature overwhelmingly passed in 1997 that required parental consent before an abortion on a minor girl. Elsewhere in the U.S., parental consent or notice laws are on the books in over half the states.
-Posted by: Joe
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