THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By EDYTHE HARRISON
LENGTH: 65 lines
The anti-abortion movement recognizes that for the foreseeable future they will fail to make abortion illegal in the United States. Instead, their strategy is to reduce safe and legal abortions services, through legislation such as the bill recently introduced in the General Assembly by Sen. Mark Early. It is designed to harass and intimidate those under 18 for the purpose of preventing access to necessary medical treatment.
The members of this group of already victimized young women lack financial and political power and have been singled out by certain politicians because of their obvious vulnerability.
Parental consent or notification legislation should be renamed ``teen endangerment bills,'' and in many states where this legislation has become law it is known as a prescription for teen suicide.
The public must not be misled into thinking that this legislation is designed to protect young women. It is, in fact, a significant step backward to the time when women were forced to seek illegal, dangerous, ``back alley'' abortions resulting in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of women being left sterile.
How cruel it is for those supporting this measure to pretend that the realities of dysfunctional families would not have a disastrous effect on girls already traumatized by their life circumstances. Surely Senator Early and others know that girls whose families suffer from alcohol and drug abuse, emotional disorders, marital difficulties and physical abuse do not present the healthy environment a girl would need to discuss and gain permission concerning this personal issue. Most likely such a youngster runs the risk of being beaten, banished from her home or forced to carry a fetus against her will and against common sense.
The judicial bypass provision in the measure validates the reality that even though the majority of young girls do indeed go to their parents, an astonishing number simply cannot for fear of their safety or fear of disappointing parents who they believe they could never face again.
The bypass provision could fool the public into believing that it provides a reasonable alternative to having a responsible adult loved one helping with this awesome decision. Upon closer examination we see that the judicial bypass provision is designed to restrict access to abortion by forcing a girl to before a stranger, often in another county or city, wait for a hearing and plead her case knowing that her situation could become public. How many adults would feel comfortable doing this?
The proponents of this legislation pretend to have a girl's best interests at heart. Yet when they propose legislation that would force many girls in Virginia to carry a fetus against their will, we should ask this question: If the under-18-year-old is too immature to make a decision on abortion, why do we believe she is equipped to nurture, raise and support a child?
Unsafe illegal abortion or suicide become serious choices for a girl desperate for the right to make her own decision. A victim of rape or incest doesn't deserve death for her tragic predicament. She deserves the confidentiality presently afforded by the Code of Virginia. We should reject this devastating change in the law, which would deny her the right to reproductive medical treatment without parental or judicial involvement.
We have a choice in how we want to protect our daughters, granddaughters and sisters. Can even those of us who believe our own would come to us really be sure? Are we willing to risk their lives? I think not.
Let us uphold the Virginia tradition of liberty and justice for all. This punitive legislation will compound tragedy and add to the injustices of an imperfect world.
KEYWORDS: ANOTHER VIEW ABORTION JUVENILE