DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997                TAG: 9703280008

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   47 lines

PARENTAL NOTIFICATION PROS AND CONS OF LAW

An 18-year battle over the right of parents to be notified when their underage daughters seek an abortion is over. Those who have pursued this course are to be congratulated for their perseverance. They have acted in the conviction that the measure will both strengthen family ties at a difficult time and make teen-age girls more careful about their sexual behavior.

About 2,250 abortions were performed on girls younger than 18 in Virginia last year. No one knows how many parents were notified in those cases. Whatever the percentage was, it is certain to be higher now. It is reasonable to expect that in some - and perhaps many - instances parental involvement will produce a healthier result for all concerned.

Only time will tell whether the dire predictions of those who opposed the measure with equal passion will prove valid also. They believe that some young women will revert to the tactics used by their elders in the pre-Roe vs. Wade era, including dangerous self-abortions and out-of-state trips. And they fear for the well-being of young women from families that are abusive or may even include the father of the fetus.

It is reasonable to expect that some of these less desirable consequences will materialize as well.

The legislation includes two safeguards. A judge could waive parental notification if he or she deems that the minor is mature enough to make her own decision. Or a doctor could provide a bypass if convinced that abuse could result from notification. These are good ideas. Only real-world experience will tell us if they work.

A proposal to include grandparents and older siblings in the list of adults who might be notified would have increased the likelihood of girls being counseled by a loving adult. But it did not satisfy those who believe the chief issue is the right of parents to be informed about critical issues involving their children.

As lawmakers squabble over reproductive rights and parental rights, it would be nice if they could legislate sexual and parental responsibility as well. That extends to the fathers of these unborn children. In a fair world, the parents of underage fathers would also be notified. Adult males who impregnated underage girls would more frequently be charged with statutory rape.

Lawmakers should explore both possibilities. If all the responsibilities that pregnancy implies were met by parents and children, males as well as females, in most cases the rights would take care of themselves.

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