Voters in Florida passed a constitutional amendment permitting the state legislature to approve a bill that would require abortion facility staff to notify parents of teenage girls considering abortion. The amendment won 65 per cent to 35.
Twice the Supreme Court of Florida over-rode parental involvement laws claiming it violated the state constitution’s privacy guarantees. While the amendment does not bring a parental notification law into effect, it will allow new legislation to that affect to be upheld in court as constitutional.
“Parents need to know when someone performs surgery on their daughters,” said Robin Hoffman, president of Florida Right to Life. The organization vowed to work toward getting a notification law passed in 2005.
Eileen Roberts, founder of Mother’s Against Minors’ Abortions, an organization that helps parents whose children have abortion, applauded Florida voters. “If parents are responsible for their daughter’s physical and emotional consequences after the abortion,” Roberts explained, “then they should have the right to know before such a life and death decision is made alone by their minor aged daughter.”
“This law allows parents to put their arms around their daughters and say ‘we love you, we can work this out together,'” Roberts said.
In mid-October, a poll published in the Miami Herald found bipartisan support from both Democrats (65 per cent) and Republicans (76 per cent). Furthermore, there was no difference between support by women (67 per cent) and men (69 per cent).
-Paul Tuns
