Supporters of Parental Notification Back Updated Ballot Initiative
Backers of a parental notification law are again working to qualify a measure for the November statewide ballot that would require physicians to notify a parent or guardian 48 hours before performing abortions on girls under the age of 18, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Jim Holman, owner of the San Diego Reader, and Don Sebastiani, a winemaker, have donated $1.8 million to the effort so far.
Similar measures have failed twice previously in the past three years, and if the measure qualifies for this year's ballot, it would be the first time that California voters would consider the same measure three times in a four-year period.
Opponents of the measure said Holman, who has spent about $4.6 million on the ballot measures, is abusing the electoral process, and they predict another defeat, the Union-Tribune reports.
The new initiative adds a provision not provided in years past, permitting a physician to notify another adult relative over the age of 21 for girls who say they are victims of parental abuse.
Katie Short, a spokesperson for the effort, said the addition is intended to address voters' concerns about abusive parents.
Vince Hall, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside counties, said the new provision does not make the effort less troubling to his organization, adding that the measure is an attempt "to whittle away at Roe vs. Wade," the 1974 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide (Ainsworth, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/14).