Proposition 85			00.00 10/05
	Opinion
	Submitted as: "Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection Initiative."
	We would like to vote for this Measure.
	Common sense says that NO doctor should be allowed to perform ANY significant medical operation upon a child without the parent's consent, or a legal decision that the parents are in some way not competent to give that consent.  That would be a worthy general principle to insert into the State Constitution, which 85 is trying to amend.  One of the terrible things about current law is that the special consideration given to abortion suggests to children that parents in general are in fact incompetent, and that in turn contributes in the child's mind to a transfer of authority from the family to government, a process which we oppose.
	Opponents of 85 claim that it puts too much of a burden on the child, to get involved in the court system and make a case to a judge.  Are we supposed to believe that it is easy, then, for this same minor to locate a doctor, make a case for her abortion, submit to the abortion, and arrange to pay for it?  Of course it's not; organizations such as Planned Parenthood make it their business to provide support to the child to do all of those things.  We don't believe that they would find it a great challenge to add a recently graduated lawyer to their staff, to guide the child through the court system in the same way.
	The legal involvement required by 85 is consistent with our perspective.  In theory, the child would need to already have a perception of the parent as being incompetent, perhaps abusive, in order to take the trouble to go to court.  And evidence would have to be produced to show the incompetence.
	Except.  85 contains a gaping hole.  If the judge fails to rule in the 3-day period assigned, the waiver of notice is automatically granted.  No proof of parental incompetence required, go ahead with the abortion.  But all the paper work required to get to this point remains.  We strongly suspect that is the real point of 85.
	Let's review.  We have, required to be captured on newly created government forms, and reported every year to county public health officials, members of the Legislature, the Governor, and the public, the following: From the minor:  the date of the abortion, the minor's birth date, the duration of the pregnancy, the type of abortion procedure, how many previous abortions and deliveries the minor has had, and the place where the abortion was performed. From the courts:  the number of petitions filed, the number of petitions granted in the three different ways, the number denied, and the number granted and denied upon appeal. From the Department of Public Health:  information on the numbers of abortions by month and county, the minors' ages, the duration of the pregnancies, the types of abortion procedures, the numbers of prior abortions or deliveries, the number of abortions performed after personal delivery of a notice; after presumed delivery of a notice by mail; after a waiver of notice; without notice because of a medical emergency; and after judicial waivers.
	This isn't effective abortion policy; it's consciousness raising, at the price of having the content for special forms described in, of all things, the State Constitution
	Vote No on 85.
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