Little Notice, but a Lot of Emotion

SACRAMENTO — Tina Jacobson has a close relationship with her teenage daughter. Shireen Miles and her daughter are close too.

Jacobson believes her teen, Karissa, would come to her for help if she became pregnant. Same goes for Miles.

But that's where the common ground ends for these two California mothers, who stand on opposing sides of what may be the most emotional -- and littlenoticed -- measure on the state's Nov. 8 special election ballot.

Proposition 73 would require physicians to notify parents of girls under 18 before performing an abortion. Only those facing a medical emergency, or obtaining a waiver from a judge, would be exempt.

Supporters, who include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, say the measure would reduce the teen abortion rate and protect girls by ensuring that they receive a parent's advice when faced with an unintended pregnancy.

Jacobson, 38, a legal assistant in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, shares that view. At 18, she became pregnant and had an abortion. It was a difficult time, she says, adding: "I could not have gotten through it without my mother standing by."

Foes of the measure, including Planned Parenthood and many of the state's large medical organizations, say no law can compel healthy communication between parents and children. They predict that teens fearful of disclosing their pregnancies -- those who live in abusive homes, for example, or are victims of incest -- could be driven to seek unsafe abortions.

Miles, a 57-year-old school administrator, said personal experience helped her come down on the no side. Pregnant in her early 20s, before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion, she felt she could not confide in her parents and was forced to get permission for the procedure from a panel of psychiatrists at a local hospital.

"It was the most intrusive experience of my life," recalls Miles, who lives in the Sacramento County town of Carmichael. "My feeling is, when it comes to scared teenagers, we shouldn't put barriers in the way of them getting the medical care they need."

In 1987, the California Legislature passed a law requiring parental permission, or the approval of a judge, for teens seeking abortions. Then-Gov. George Deukmejian signed it, but a legal challenge kept it from taking effect.

After almost a decade of litigation, the state Supreme Court upheld the law. But foes asked for a rehearing, and a year later the court reversed itself, with two newly appointed justices joining others in declaring the law unconstitutional.