The Ballot Measures: Prop 4

Over the next couple weeks, we at Skynet will be bringing you our suggestions regarding the 12 ballot measures that qualified for the November 4th election.

Prop 4 - WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY

Vote: NO

Sometimes people just don't get the message. This is the third time right wing religious zealots have put this measure on the ballot. It was defeated twice and hopefully it will be defeated again.

Family relationships are not something governments can legislate. Requiring a physician to notify a teenager's parents prior to performing an abortion puts teenage girls in danger. If these girls could talk to their family, the likely would have done so already. Girls who can't talk to their parents, for whatever reason, may opt for risky illegal abortions instead.

Worth noting from the LA Times:

The story behind "Sarah's Law" says a lot about it. "Sarah" was, according to Proposition 4 supporters, a 15-year-old girl who died from an abortion gone wrong 14 years ago, a death that might have been prevented had her parents been notified beforehand. Much of that is false. The girl's name wasn't Sarah; she lived in Texas, not California; and though she was 15, she already had a child and was in a common-law marriage, which means she wouldn't have been covered by the law Californians are being asked to consider.