Opponents of Parental Notification Measure Launch Television Ad
Opponents of Proposition 73 on Thursday will begin airing television commercials in select areas of the state that say passage of the initiative might lead to some teens ending pregnancies themselves or having illegal abortions, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Lucas, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/27).
Proposition 73, which appears on the Nov. 8 special election ballot, would amend the state constitution to require health care providers to inform a parent or guardian 48 hours before performing an abortion on an unmarried minor. Under the measure, a girl could seek a judicial bypass and would receive no-cost legal counsel, a confidential hearing and a ruling within three days on whether she could receive an abortion without notifying her parents (California Healthline, 10/26).
According to the Chronicle, the ad includes an actress portraying a mother who appears to be in her 40s saying, "If my daughter were to get pregnant, of course I'd want her to tell me, but Prop. 73 can't force teenagers to talk to their parents. Some teens just can't, and it could force them to have unsafe illegal abortions or even try to end pregnancies on their own."
Opponents of Proposition 73 -- including the California Medical Association, the California National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood -- plan to spend more than half of the $3 million raised to date to run the television ad.
The ad will run in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Monterey and Santa Barbara. According to the Chronicle, the decision to run the ad in those areas "appears to be a move to energize voters who oppose the proposition rather than lure voters in more conservative areas of the state like San Diego and San Joaquin Valley into supporting the measure."
Supporters of Proposition 73 have raised about $1 million but have not decided whether to pursue a television advertising campaign (Lucas, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/27).
KPCC's "KPCC News" on Wednesday reported on Proposition 73. The segment includes comments from Stan Devereux, spokesperson for the Yes on 73 Campaign, and Mary-Jane Wagle, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles (Keith, "KPCC News," KPCC, 10/26). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
Additional information on Proposition 73 is available online.