According to this latest poll, California Proposition 4, the Parental Notification for Teenage Abortions Act, is winning. With all the attention being drawn to Proposition 8, I'm afraid another horrible right-wing funded initiative might squeak in under the radar. It's the third time this tactic has been tried, and it must be fought back again.
Please donateto The Campaign for Teen Safety, and consider phonebanking, one of the best donations one can make. Phonebanking for an afternoon is like donating $400 that would have paid someone to do the same thing. Please spread the word to others about this anti-choice initiative!
Please mention No on 4 when you diary about No on 8! Not enough people know about this.
ADDED: Please Rec This Diary for the sake of promoting awareness! It is terribly under-reported.
Below the fold: How does buying wine help defeat the right of choice in California?
(First, credit is due to Airpowerfor his/her previous research on this topic, which I will now shamelessly crib. I'm not so much interested in doing original research as promoting the effort; Airpower did an excellent job with these facts and deserves kudos. However, that was days ago, so PLEASE REC THIS DIARY, because i haven't see this topic on the rec list once, and that's a shame.)
Table 1
Trend of voter preferences regarding proposition 4, to provide parental notification for abortion by minors (among likely voters)
Intend to Vote September July
Yes 49 48
No 41 39
Undecided 10 13
This initiative has been tried twice before, failing by single digits each time, hence the re-matches. The gist of this attempt is a provision to allow teens who fear retribution from abusive parents to get permission from the courts or an advocate. Of course, these exceptions are mere window dressing, and are in fact a terrible burden upon an extremely vulnerable youngster who may be in very serious danger for her life if her pregnancy is reported back to her family.
Remember, anti-abortionists are not above murder. Sarah Palin refuses to acknowledge that clinic bombings are terrorism. Such people cannot be trusted to have the interests of a teenage girl at heart. They would just as soon see her die at the hands of her parents as allow her freedom of choice. They don't want to help young girls, they want them to suffer, period.
To illustrate, (once again, courtesy of Airpower's excellent synopsis) here is the proposed law's exceptions:
Proposition 4 changes the California Constitution to prohibit abortion for minors (caution: large pdf file) until 48 hours after physician notifies the young woman’s parent or legal guardian. To make matters worse, it mandates reporting requirements, including reports from physicians regarding abortions on minors, and it authorizes damages against physicians for violations.
It gets worse for young women in potentially abusive situations. In this case, the physician would be allowed to skip the notification only if an equivalent notice has been delivered ...
... to an adult family member designated by the unemancipated minor and has made a written report of known or suspected child abuse concerning to unemancipated minor to to the appropriate law enforcement or public child protective agency. Such report shall be based on a minor's written statement that she fears physical, sexual, or severe emotional abuse from a parent who would otherwise be notified and that her fear is based on a pattern of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of her exhibited by a parent. The physician shall also include the minor's statement with his or her report and shall also retain a copy of the statement and the report in the minor's medical records. The physician shall also include with the notice a letter informing the adult family member that a report of known or suspected child abuse has been made concerning the minor and identifying the agency to which the report was made. The minor shall be informed that the notice and the letter will be delivered to the adult family member she has designated.
(proposed section 32(e))
A young woman facing the choice of an abortion is likely going through enough turmoil without having to ensnare her family into a child abuse investigation, especially if that family is dysfunctional.
The initiative-backers attempt to conceal their true intentions behind such terms as "medical emergency" or parental "waiver" (not attainable in many cases), and permitting courts to waive notice based on "clear and convincing evidence" of a young woman's maturity or best interests. But even the court proceedings are intimidating. The young woman
must appear personally in the proceedings in juvenile court.
Having to request permission from an older judge to get help is not what a young woman in distress needs. And it gets worse. Take a look:
Each court shall provide annually to the Judicial Council, in a manner to be prescribed by the Judicial Council to ensure confidentiality of the unemancipated minors filing petitions, a report of the number of petitions filed, the number of petitions granted ... deemed granted, .. or denied ... said reports to be publicly available ...
(emphasis added)
Why publicly available? So the wingnuts can try to intimidate and remove judges siding with young women who are seeking refuge in the courts.
There is also a provision for civil lawsuits of medical personnel and their assistants! It includes awarding of statutory damages of $10,000 by a parent "wrongfully denied notification" even if actual damages are much less. The proposed statue of limitation is four years afterthe young woman becomes an adult OR four years after a parent discovers a failure to comply whichever is later.
Now, about the wine:
As of September 27, 2008, the six largest donors to Prop. 4 are:
James Holman, $1,375,590. (Of this, $1.35 million is listed as a loan)
Don Sebastiani, $530,000
Knights of Columbus, $200,000
Life Legal Defense Foundation, $50,000
The Lenawee Trust, $100,000
The Caster Family Trust, $100,000
Airpower recommendsa boycott, and I agree; make it permanent while you're at it. No need to buy faux indie wines when there are hundreds of real indie wines to choose from.
Contact Sebastiani Wines. Let them know you are no longer buying their product ... and tell them why.
Don Sebastiani & Sons
Three Loose Screws Wine Co. (Smooking Loon, Pepperwood Grove, Wilson Vinyard, Aquinas Napa Valley, Mia's Kitchen, Mia's Playground, )
P.O. Box 1248
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 933-1704
The Other Guys (Hey Mambe, Plungerhead, The White Night, Lessee-Fitch, Moobuzz, Pennywise)
485 First Street West
Sonoma, CA 95476
(877) 996-8463
info@donandsons.com
Make a list of these wine brands and never, EVER buy them.
So Remember: Vote NO on 4, Volunteer or Donate, and talk this up with your friends and email in the usual manner. This measure MUST be defeated. Thanks for your attention, and please Rec to bring attention to the No on 4 effort. Thanks!
UPDATE: Well, this didn't make the rec list, but thank you all for your support. I hope we alerted some people to this initiative and generated some donations. Coming into the home stretch, it looks like it just might fail again. Keep up the good work!