Proposition 73 -- recommend voting "no"
This proposed legislation is designed to add an additional parental notification step before a minor can undergo an abortion procedure. The introductory language presents the legislation as an effort to keep parents "informed of potential health-related risks to their children" and promote "parent-child communication and parental responsibility."
In fact, it's another effort to place more roadblocks in the way of abortion.
Some salient points:
Following delivery of notification, there's a required 48-hour reflection period. Notifications must be sent by signature-restricted, certified mail with return receipt. That's quite a barrier on its own.
Abortion without parental notification is allowed in case of a medical emergency or for emancipated minors. Should the doctor screw this part up, the resulting civil case has a bonus penalty for the doc in question -- the parent or guardian can simply choose to recover $10,000 "any time prior to the rendering of a final judgment." There could be a growth industry in "clinic-chasing" lawyers just going for the $10,000 hit.
An otherwise "unqualified" minor can attempt to petition for permission to have an abortion without parental notification. This represents a series of roadblocks, of course. First, there's the ability to make it away not only to a clinic, but also to the courts. Imagine a girl stuck in an abusive or restrictive home trying to make her way to the center of local civil government, walking down the halls past people she or her parents may know, for her "confidential" hearing. What if she's in a small town where her family knows the judge? What if she's in a conservative community where a judge places family, even abusive family, above her freedom? What if she lives on a farm in the Central Valley and would need a car to make it to the appropriate courthouse? The petition concept is a weak attempt to make borderline voters feel like Proposition 73 is a good idea.
The definition of "abortion" refers to a procedure that will "cause the death of the unborn child, a child conceived but not yet born." This is an effort to enshrine in law a definition of life and what constitutes a child.
Overall, I feel that this is an unethical attempt to slowly increase barriers to abortion. I refer to it as unethical not because it attempts to restrict abortion, but because it does it in an underhanded manner, trying to slip in restrictions in the guise of "protecting" young women. It says something important that those who are attempting to make people's decisions for them try to gain that power by misrepresentation.