Now that the dust has settled on the primary election, I wanted to share some reflections on the Parental Notice Initiative, Measure 2, from Planned Parenthood's perspective.
Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest opposed this measure. We knew from the outset that our messages might not be understood or, worse, could be underestimated. Our biggest concern with these measures around the country is the safety of young teen women. Yet we heard from one focus group member that "most of the time if a girl gets beaten by her parents, she survives it and goes on."
Wow. Even if this view is not widely shared, there is a disconnect when it comes to abuse: Most parents would never abuse their children, so they cannot fathom that another parent would. But it happens more often than we like to think. Similarly, we heard that "no one in Alaska was really going to make doctors felons for failing to notify parents" -- even though it is in the law, and there are people inside and outside government who would use this law to close the practices of doctors who perform abortions.
The proponents of the measure framed it as an issue involving the "rights of parents to know what their children were doing so that they could support them." This message resonated here because parents rightfully want to be involved in important decisions their children make.
However, make no mistake -- that is not what the proponents had in mind. The proponents of Measure 2 at the Alaska Family Council are opposed to all abortions. Their goal is to make them illegal or, failing that, unavailable. Abortion is a constitutional right in Alaska, so in the end they will not succeed in ending a woman's right (including the right of a minor) to choose.
Instead, they will make young women wait longer to get an abortion, the procedure will be medically riskier, some even as risky as childbirth, and, most distressingly, they will risk the well-being of young women in bad situations as a result of family violence.
It is very important not to draw the wrong conclusion from the passage of Measure 2; Alaska remains a very pro-choice state on the issue of a woman's right to choose abortion. Alaska's libertarian ethic has most of the populace wanting to stay out of their neighbors' private business. The majority of voters who turned out for the primary did not see Measure 2 as being about abortion but rather as about loving and concerned parents' desire to be helpful in a stressful time in the life of their child. It makes sense that people believed knowing about the issue gives them a chance to do that. However, this does not change the fact that Alaska is more pro-choice than Washington, Oregon or California.
Planned Parenthood will do everything in our power to help teens in this situation connect positively with their parents, something we have always done, even without a government mandate. If a teen chooses not to involve a parent, Planned Parenthood will assist her in navigating a bypass. A young woman may have very good reasons, or not so good ones, for not telling, but we want to avoid backing her into a corner and making her desperate. We care about the health and safety of all our patients, not just the ones lucky enough to have caring and supportive families.
Passage of Measure 2 does nothing to prevent teen pregnancy or abortions.
What does? Medically accurate sex education, access to effective birth control and parents talking with their children about sexual health and their family values long before they think about sex.
This is the work that Planned Parenthood does every day and will continue to do long after this election. I hope you will join us in this work, as it is the most important thing we can do to protect youths in Alaska.
Clover Simon is Alaska vice president for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.
By CLOVER SIMON