FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2005
Contact: Karen England
Phone: 916-498-1940
SACRAMENTO - The initiative to require parents be
notified 48-hours before their minor daughter (under
the age of 18) is scheduled to have an abortion was
certified yesterday by Secretary of State McPherson.
This means, in the next election cycle, California
voters will have the opportunity to decide whether or
not parents should be notified about their daughter
making a major medical decision that would result in
harmful consequences for herself and deadly
consequences for her child.
A Zogby poll, published in June of 2002, showed that
71% of Californians favor parental notification when
their children want to have an abortion.
"This is a clear-cut issue of parental rights," said
Karen England of Capitol Resource
Institute. "Regardless of how a person views
abortion, it is outrageous for parents to be utterly
disrespected by being left intentionally unaware that
their daughter will undergo an abortion - a major
medical procedure."
"We are pleased that the citizens of California will
now have a chance to go to the polls and vote to
restore their parental rights to protect their own
children," continued England. "Current law renders
parents helpless to know about the abortions of their
children. How can parents be expected to help their
child physically, emotionally and psychologically when
they are completely left in the dark?"
This initiative, a constitutional amendment, needed
598,105 registered voter signatures to qualify.
Supporters of this initiative turned in more than 1-
million unverified signatures and reports from 49
counties projected the number of valid signatures to
be 682,131.
"Parents are tired of their rights to protect and
guide their own children being stripped away from
them," said England. "Momentum is building in the
state of California for parental rights. This initiative
is evidence of a turning tide. Parents are uniting and
forcefully sending a message that 'enough is
enough.'"
If Governor Schwarzenegger calls a special election
for this fall, voters will be able to decide this
important issue at that time. Otherwise, the Parents
Right to Know initiative will appear on the primary
elections ballot in June 2006.
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