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Planned Parenthood Challenges Parental Notification LawCurrently parents and guardians must be notified of abortionRelated ContentANCHORAGE - Planned Parenthood, of the Great Northwest, is continuing its legal challenge to a law that more than half of Alaska voters agreed on in August 2010. It requires a doctor to notify a parent or guardian of a girl before she has an abortion if she is under 18-years-old. Planned Parenthood is trying to prove that the notification law is unconstitutional. The group said the law violates a minor's privacy rights and denies minors equal protection under the law. The Anchorage Superior Court heard from two witnesses brought up from the Lower 48 by Planned Parenthood. Dr. Philip Darney, who is a professor or gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, told the court he believes minors are entitled to the same access to health care as everyone else and that requiring parental notification is a way to restrict access. Darney said he's against the notification law because in his experience some girls are afraid they'll face violence from their family or partner if they tell them about the pregnancy or about the wish to have an abortion. Darney added girls might be forced to have the baby even if they don't want to. The second witness brought forward by Planned Parenthood was Dr. John Santelli from the School of Public Health at Columbia University. Santelli told the court he believes it's important for parents to be involved in adolescent health, but making it mandatory creates problems. According to Santelli, when adults go to the doctor they expect confidentiality and if teenagers aren't provided confidentiality they might not disclose what is really going on. The parental notification law has bypass provisions that help girls in certain circumstances. The law has protections for minors living in abusive situations and for girls who can't inform a parent of an abortion. In these circumstances the girl has to prove her case before a judge before an abortion is performed. Since the law was enacted 14 months ago there have been seven requests from minors to use the bypass provision in Alaska. Judges granted the bypass six times. The superior court trial is expected to last more than two weeks.
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Thomas Alex said on Monday, Feb 13 at 10:00 PM
The law is clearly unconstitutional and should be overturned.
81342291Parentof4 said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 12:42 AM
Parents have the right to be notified! A child is just that "a MINOR" and the legal age of 18 applies to them being responsible for themselves and not the parents and until then they are not.
81344529Mike McB said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 9:36 AM
The child is a minor. Like all other issues, the minor is ill equipped to make informed decisions. The child lacks the emotional founding and the intellectual grasp to deal with all of the ramifications. That is why a minor is limited in what they may or may not do. Now Planned Parenthood, in their god-like wisdom, has decided that parents are arcane and should not are more likely to abuse their children rather than to nurture them. We might actually get inbetween our daughters and Planned Parenthoods goal of turning our little girls into tramps and trollops having sex as freely as dogs in heat. My adult daughter prouldly has said no and is waiting for marriage. Her choice. Stay out of our families Planned Paretnhood!!
81362499BobD said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 10:25 AM
If parents are legally responsible for their children's actions until they are 18 , then the rest is " common sense " , which seems to have died in America. Planned Parenthood should , like the U.N. , go away from this issue. Looks like " the majority rules " has also died..
81365269Rachel said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 11:50 AM
A minor can't get a tooth pulled without parental consent. Yet they want to have the child make a deeply emotional, permanent, potentially dangerous procedure without notifying her parents? Digusting.
81370227coach said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 12:07 PM
If planned Parenthood is a "NON-PROFIT" organization, then who is paying for this lawsuit? Surely not the taxpayers... Does anybody really care what some professor from Cali has to say? This is an Alaskan Law that WE Alaskans voted for,PP needs to stay in there office and out of our homes.
81371294footballmom1 said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 12:48 PM
As soon as a minor gets pregnant she is no longer a minor - she is now a mother and decisions regarding her baby are hers.
81373647Ethel said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 1:34 PM
Keeping the parents in the dark continues the already divide between parents and minors as it is. The parents have the right to know before the child moves forward with this HUGE decision. Not all parents are going to be angry. But one thing for sure, PP is not there for the CHILD after this procedure. The parents are then left wondering what's wrong with the child and then THE PARENTS are left having to deal with a CHILD who had this procedure. PP is not looking to maintain the unity in the family but a quick fix. Leaving the parent out leaves the child alone. I know TOO many women who had this procedure in the past and are now regretting it. This is not a decision a CHILD has the maturity to make. The CHILDREN need the parents.
81376443parentof4 said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 1:59 PM
No just because a child gets pregnant doesn't make them a mother or an adult,some girls don't know what to do,who do you think should be there, more than likely it WON"T be the father or her friends..she would prob hope she can go to her parents!!! Yeah you the one that really don't want to be there, make it easy and exclude yourself!!!
81377719parentof4 said on Tuesday, Feb 14 at 2:14 PM
Complications can easily happen with pregnancy, and also with abortion,some cases the mother and/or baby's health and/or life is at risk,And if something were to happen or go wrong..Oh NOW it's time to call who? The parents who has been in the dark regarding the situation! We're talking birthing unwanted babies, or killing them, It's a life long decision to be left with and shouldn't go through it alone!
81378398Anonymous said on Wednesday, Feb 15 at 6:12 AM
As the article clearly states this lawsuit has nothing to do with the childs constitutional rights, that provision is already in the law. This has to do with the rampant killing and destruction of our children.
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