Abortion notification initiative appears headed for ballot
The Sarah's Law initiative campaign for a state constitutional amendment requiring family notification before ending a minor's pregnancy appears to have gathered enough names to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot.
The campaign submitted nearly 1.2 million signatures to county elections officials last week for verification. That number is expected to net a comfortable margin of valid names over the 696,000 needed to qualify.
The campaign involved extensive phone work, faxing and mailing to all 1,100 Catholic parishes throughout the state, campaign spokesman Jim Holman said in an e - mail. He said signatures came disproportionately from the southern four ( arch ) dioceses - San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles - but isolated parishes in every see contributed.
Evangelical churches - especially Calvary Chapel, First Assembly of God and First Baptist - provided two to three times as many signatures as they had in the campaigns for parental - notification Propositions 73 and 85 in 2005 and 2006. Both propositions were defeated by small margins.
"The other surprise was many more signatures from Hispanic, Vietnamese and Chinese voters than ever before," Holman wrote, noting that multilingual materials on the www.FriendsofSarah.com website might have played a role.
In a shift from Propositions 73 and 85, backers of the new initiative are focusing on the welfare of minors rather than on parental rights. The measure would require that a doctor notify a minor's family members, not just her parents, if parental abuse is reported. The change is designed to avoid the problem of abusive parents, as well as teens' exploitation by older men who use secret abortions to cover their crimes of statutory rape, according to the campaign's website.
Parental notification laws are in force in 30 states and have contributed to fewer pregnancies and abortions among minors, according to the website.
By Rick DelVecchio
