Senate approves bill requiring parental consent
By John Moritz
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Austin Bureau) AUSTIN - Girls who are 17 or younger would need a parent's consent or a judge's order to terminate a pregnancy under legislation that won easy approval in the Texas Senate on Wednesday and is now on its way to the House. The passage of Senate Bill 1150, by Arlington Republican Chris Harris, tracks language approved by the House earlier this week as part of a bill to reauthorize functions of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. Because both chambers have weighed in on the topic, forces on both sides of the abortion issue said it's likely that a parental consent bill will win final approval before the legislative session ends May 30. Gov. Rick Perry has indicated he is eager to sign such a measure into law. "The governor says he wants a parental consent bill to reach his desk, and it's clear he's going to get one," said Sarah Wheat, director of public affairs for Pro-Choice Texas, an abortion-rights lobby group in Austin. Harris' bill piggybacks on the law enacted in 1999 requiring minor girls to notify a parent before seeking an abortion. The new legislation simply replaces references to "parental notification" with "parental consent." It leaves in place provisions in the current law that allow minors who believe that their safety might be jeopardized if the parents were aware that they wanted an abortion to seek a judge's approval instead. Joe Pojman, executive director of the anti-abortion Texas Alliance for Life, called the Senate's action a victory for parental rights and an additional protection for the safety of youngsters. He also rejected assertions from critics who warned that many minors who might be reluctant to seek a parent's consent might be tempted to explore unsafe ways to terminate a pregnancy. "We heard those same predictions when we had the debate over notification in 1997 and '99, and they didn't come to pass," Pojman said. "Instead, what we have seen is the number of abortions drop for girls 17 and under and the number of births drop for that same category each year since 1999." Wheat agreed that the dire forecasts by abortion-rights advocates did not materialize, but said that such occurrences may have gone unreported because teen-agers who might wish to terminate a pregnancy without notifying their parents are more likely to live on the fringes of society. "We are most worried about the girls with absentee, abusive or dysfunctional parents," Wheat said. "We don't always hear their stories." Wheat also said she remains concerned that the Senate bill might be weighed down in the House with amendments that would place further limits on legal abortions. But Harris said that he would withdraw the bill from consideration before he would let that happen. The measure passed the 31-member Senate with five dissenting votes. The opponents were Democrats Rodney Ellis of Houston, Juan Hinojosa of McAllen, Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso and John Whitmire of Houston, and Republican Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio.
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John Moritz, (512) 476-4294; jmoritz@star-telegram.com
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