Gov. Sarah Palin and others want Alaska law to require the consent of a parent for any young woman under 17 to get an abortion. Their intentions are good. The proposal appears to make sense. Unfortunately what appears to be common sense does not recognize the dark side of such situations. So I propose we rename HB 35 the ''Papa Pilgrim'' bill.
Papa Pilgrim lived in the mountains near McCarthy. As reported in the Anchorage Daily News, he was a manipulative tyrant who twisted his Bible teaching to justify torture and the violent sexual abuse of his oldest daughter.
He so intimidated his family that neither the adult male children (who lived with him) nor his wife were able to prevent the abuse. Papa Pilgrim's daughter is an example of why Alaska law should not require parental consent for a pregnant teen to have an abortion.
Some would say this is an extreme case and it is. But similar stories don't make the newspaper. In fact, pregnant teens who don't tell their parent have a variety of valid reasons. One third of teenagers do not involve a parent because they fear family violence (in many cases because it has already occurred), or are afraid they will be forced to leave home.
Long-term studies of abusive and dysfunctional families reveal that violence escalates when a wife or teenage daughter has an unintended pregnancy. Forcing a teen to notify her abusive parent of a pregnancy can have dangerous, and even fatal, consequences for her and for other family members.
In Idaho, a 13-year-old sixth-grade student named Spring Adams was shot to death by her father after he learned she planned to end the pregnancy he caused.
The governor and our legislators need to examine the extreme cases carefully before enacting such provisions. Otherwise, we may all come to regret the results of the law of unintended consequences. Alaska has one of the highest rates in America of physical and sexual abuse in families.
The American Medical Association has long recognized that parental notification and consent deters minors from seeking necessary health care, putting the minor's health at risk. Desperate young women have attempted self-induced abortions some with severe, even fatal, consequences.
Teens who can talk to their parents do include them in their decision-making process. According to Family Planning Perspectives, in the absence of any legal requirement, most teens who are pregnant and seeking an abortion involve a parent in their decision. The younger the teenager, the more likely her parents are to know about her decision: 90 percent of adolescents fourteen or younger report that at least one of their parents knew of their decision.
We all want the good parents of this world to be involved in teens' lives, but making a law will not create good family communication. Good parents need to talk to their children throughout childhood about responsible sexual behavior and thereby foster an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and compassion that assures teens they can come to their parents with problems or questions.
In Alaska, a young woman can receive prenatal care and even have a cesarean section without parental consent. If she gives birth then she has "parental rights" over her own child, no matter her age. Actually, no state explicitly requires parental consent for contraceptive services; testing or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV; counseling and medical care for drug and alcohol abuse; or outpatient mental health services. Nor should they.
Ultimately this proposal is about unintended pregnancy. Bristol Palin, the governor's daughter who has received so much publicity concerning her pregnancy, recently said in a FOX interview that abstinence-only education is not enough to prevent unintended pregnancies. The Legislature should listen to her. Our teens need comprehensive, medically accurate sex education, not a law that drives them into court.
Theda Pittman is a longtime pro-choice activist who lives in Anchorage and works part time with the ACLU of Alaska. The views here are her own.
By THEDA PITTMAN