N.H. OKs Parental Notice on Abortions

The Associated Press ^ | 5/22/03 | Stephen Frothingham

[LdSentinal]

CONCORD, N.H. - New Hampshire's Senate narrowly passed a bill Thursday that would require parental notification before girls under 18 can get abortions, moving a step closer to giving the state its only law regulating abortion.

The bill, which passed 12-11, was similar to one that cleared the House in March by six votes. Senate President Tom Eaton, a Republican, declined to vote on the measure.

The Senate's amended version now heads back to the House.

The Legislature has regularly defeated parental notice or parental consent bills for about 20 years. Republican Gov. Craig Benson's opposition to abortion encouraged supporters of the parental notification bill this year, as did gains by Republicans in both houses of the Legislature last fall.

If it becomes law, "the state of New Hampshire will be mandating how family members interact, and the way young women make what is one the most difficult and personal choices a person ever has to face," said Rep. Peter Burling, a Democrat.

Benson would sign the amended bill, a spokeswoman said.

The bill would require minors to notify a parent 48 hours before getting an abortion or get permission from a judge as an alternative.

State Sen. Robert Clegg, a Republican who voted for the bill, opposed amendments that would have made it easier for girls to get permission from a judge.

"No one wants to stand in front of their parents and say I did something wrong and I'm sorry," he said. "So if you give them an avenue to get away from telling their parents, they will take it."

Two of four women in the Senate voted against the bill. "There are only four of us here who understand," said state Sen. Jane O'Hearn, a Republican. "Please be careful in what you do to our daughters."

[goldstategop]

New Hampshire will get a parental notification bill. Its common sense. With teenage daughters, schools and hospitals are required to get permission from parents before the young women can take an aspirin tablet, but they can get an abortion which by definition is an invasive surgical procedure without any one finding out about it. Abortion has risks and a teenage girl may have a medical condition she may not even know about that makes getting one inadvisable. Let's put it this way: who loves one's child better: the parents who have her best interests at heart or the abortion clinic that will take her money and then never see her again? N.H has taken a major step towards ensuring the safety of young women no matter what the NOW NAGs and Planned Parenthood abortion evangelists might pretend to the contrary.

[LiteKeeper]

Pro-life SPOTREP

[HiTech RedNeck]

If it becomes law, "the state of New Hampshire will be mandating how family members interact, and the way young women make what is one the most difficult and personal choices a person ever has to face," said Rep. Peter Burling, a Democrat.

Dance dance dance around the gore.