Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- Two Republicans are leading a push by state lawmakers to change the Alaska Constitution so the state can require underage teenage girls to get parental consent to have an abortion.

Rep. John Coghill of North Pole and Sen. Fred Dyson of Eagle River are among 10 members -- or about 15 percent -- of the Alaska Legislature who say the state Supreme Court erred in ruling that girls 16 and younger can get abortions without permission from their parents.

"What this court decision did was put the parents out of the loop when it comes to the care, protection, nurturing and decision-making of the child," Coghill said Wednesday at a news conference. "The Legislature did everything it could to protect the privacy of a young child getting pregnant."

Clover Simon, head of Planned Parenthood of Alaska, said it is rare that a teen seeks an abortion without parental involvement.

"The reality is, almost every single teen we've seen come to Planned Parenthood for abortion services, are coming with a parent," Simon said. "The laws are not going to fix the problem of parent-child communication."

Lawmakers should focus on more pressing priorities -- ethics reform, oil taxes and future construction of a natural gas pipeline -- and let the Supreme Court's ruling stand, she said.

Friday's 3-2 decision by the Supreme Court ended a 10-year battle over the Parental Consent Act passed by the Legislature in 1997.

The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Dana Fabe, said the law "places a burden on minors' fundamental right to privacy."

The Alaska Constitution has a strong personal privacy provision.

In the ruling, Fabe said a measure requiring parental notification, but not consent, would probably pass constitutional muster.

In the dissent, Justice Walter Carpeneti wrote, "(S)ociety has long-standing and pervasive interests in protecting children from their own immaturity."

STRONG REACTION

The 3-2 decision riled many legislators, including Coghill and Dyson, who want to put the question before voters on next year's ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment. Lawmakers are now immersed in a special session over oil taxes, so no formal action can be taken until January when the Legislature returns for its regular session.

On Friday, Gov. Sarah Palin called the Supreme Court ruling "outrageous" and directed Attorney General Talis Colberg to file a request for a rehearing.

Palin supports putting the parental consent question on the ballot, said the governor's spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow.

At least two-thirds of the House's 40 members and Senate's 20 members each must approve a resolution to get the proposed amendment on the ballot.

"Parents must be able to control the medical care their children get," Dyson said. "Aside from how you view the abortion issue, this denigration of parental rights is absolutely unacceptable."

NATIONAL ISSUE

The issue of parental consent or parental notification for a teen to receive an abortion is playing out nationwide.

According to NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group, 43 states restrict young women's access to abortion with a parental notice or consent. But of those states, seven had laws ultimately ruled unconstitutional or unenforceable, including Alaska.

The results are wide-ranging.

• Voters in California turned back a notification measure, 53 percent to 47 percent, in 2005. The proposal would have required doctors to merely alert parents before performing the procedure on minors.

• In Idaho last spring, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed into law a bill requiring minor girls to get permission from a parent or guardian for an abortion. Teens can bypass their parents and received a judge's approval in cases such as incest, abuse or a medical emergency.

• In New Hampshire in 2006 Gov. John Lynch approved legislation to repeal a 2003 law requiring that parents be notified before a minor receives an abortion. Like Alaska's Parental Consent Act, New Hampshire's repealed law never took effect.

Daily News staff contributed to this story.