Voters yesterday in Alaska approved an anti-abortion measure that requires parents to be notified before their teenage daughters can receive abortions. A campaign against the measure argued that it was unnecessary government intervention that dictated communication between families. What it clearly does is curb the rights of teenage girls: most already involve parents, but the chances a teenager will misunderstand this measure and think she can no longer have an abortion is high. It also places the notification burden on doctors, who could be charged with a felony if they don't notify parents.
The new law, which observers speculate was bolstered by heavily financed campaigns and by conservatives who turned out to vote in the Republican Senate primary, serves mostly to make abortion seekers and providers hesitate out of fear of retribution. But besides curtailing the rights of young women, these measures also serve to reinforce fictions about abortion in the U.S. There are a certain number of scared teens who seek abortions but, for the most part, abortion opponents try to milk that image to portray abortion providers as those who would take advantage of scared teens who know no better. The decision to have an abortion may be tough, but it's often reasonable and responsible, even when the seeker is under 17. That's what abortion foes can't deal with: the idea that a women can actually have all the information and options before them and still decide that abortion is best.
-- Monica Potts
