Assembly Committee Considers Teen Endangerment Act
Emotional testimony from parents and health care advocates against bill
Madison, WI - The Assembly Judiciary Committee heard testimony today against the Teen Endangerment Act, AB 175/SB 97, which would eliminate important safeguards for abused or vulnerable teens facing an unintended pregnancy.
Current law requires parental consent for young women to have an abortion, with very limited protections for suicidal or abused teens. This bill would change existing law by eliminating the suicide exception, the incest and abuse exceptions, and eliminating the ability of clergy to assist young women in obtaining judicial bypass. Thus, a young woman could be forced to get notarized permission from a parent even if she is in foster care, abused, or a victim of incest.
Health care professionals and parents have expressed concern about bills such as this, which further isolate the most vulnerable young women and make abortion more difficult and dangerous.*
“This bill does nothing to eliminate teen pregnancy. It only isolates the most vulnerable young people from seeking assistance from caring adult relatives, clergy members, or medical professionals,” said Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. “How many teens’ lives are GOP leaders willing to risk to ‘fix’ a law that ain’t broke?”
Republican proponents of this bill do not support the very programs that have been proven to reduce teen pregnancy and thus reduce the need for abortion. In fact, anti-choice Republicans have introduced several bills assaulting birth control, family planning, and comprehensive sex education, despite the fact that such programs are extremely cost-effective and protect young people’s health.
Punitive, stringent laws limiting young women’s access to abortion do not reduce the number of abortions; they only delay the procedure, endanger teens’ safety, increase the health risks, and encourage desperate, harmful acts such as self-abortion.
• In Minnesota, the proportion of second-trimester abortions among minors increased by 18 percent following enactment of a parental notification law.
• After Missouri's parental consent law went into effect in 1985, the proportion of second-trimester abortions among minors increased from 19 percent in 1985 to 23 percent in 1988.
“NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin believes in a culture of freedom and personal responsibility. Parents and loving adults should be involved in the health care decisions of young people -- no one should have to go through an unintended pregnancy alone,” said Roys. “Wisconsin’s current law ensures that caring adults will be involved in every teen’s decision to have an abortion. This bill, however, forces the most vulnerable teens into dangerous situations with abusive parents. It is simply cruel and will only make difficult circumstances worse.”
* Selected list of national groups that oppose mandated parental involvement in abortion decisions: the American Medical Association, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the National PTA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National School Boards Association, the American Psychological Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Family Service America, the National Education Association. Selected list of Wisconsin groups that specifically oppose the Teen Endangerment Act: the American College of Nurse Midwives Wisconsin chapter, the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families, and the Wisconsin Public Health Association.
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