Our view: Parental notification before abortions sounds good, but courts a poor substitute when kids can't depend on their parents

Most parents would want to know whether their daughters are contemplating having an abortion. But not every daughter considering an abortion has a supportive parent. A few have dangerous parents.

In a nutshell, that's why California voters should reject Proposition 85, a statewide initiative on the Nov. 7 ballot that would require a minor's parents to be notified before she can have a legal abortion. The state's laws aren't just there for the girls from good homes with loving parents; they are also supposed to protect the ones who are in danger.

The right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy can't be contingent upon a parent's involvement or knowledge, because there are some cases where the interests of a child and her parent are not the same. Yes, in most cases we trust that a girl's parents would act in the best interests of the child. If every girl could count on such parental support, California would have fewer abortions, an outcome that should please both sides of this bitter and important debate.

But the hard truth is that every girl in this state can't turn to Dad because, in rare cases, Dad is also the father of her unborn child. Sometimes, telling her parents means risking a beating, or worse.

Teen pregnancy rates have plummeted in California in the last decade, and teen abortion rates are likely down as well. Every major medical agency in the state opposes Prop. 85, indicating that the alternative the initiative offers isn't more safe abortions under parental guidance, but rather more "back-alley" abortions performed without the medical supervision and counseling now provided by clinics such as Planned Parenthood.

Proponents say a pregnant teen would be able to seek a judicial waiver if she has good reason to avoid notifying her parents. But this proposal is impractical at best, and deceptive at worst. In the most dangerous cases, teens aren't going to wait until they have the urgency of an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy to find their way to a courthouse so they can tell a judge about their dangerous home life, knowing that telling the judge will likely bring the law down upon her parents.

We may wish more teens in such a tight spot would turn to the courts for help, but wishing won't make it so. Instead, it seems far more likely that teens will make their pregnancies "go away" in quieter, more dangerous ways.

Parents shouldn't rely on laws to force their daughters to confide in them in their hour of need. Rather, open, trusting communication is the surest bet to foster the kind of relationship wherein a pregnant teen will talk to her parents about her options, including adoption and abortion.

Talk to your kids. Let them know that you'll be there for them should they ever be faced with such a terrible, momentous choice.

Then vote no on Prop. 85. The last thing children not as lucky as yours need when they're pregnant is another bureaucratic barrier forcing them into the shadows.