Protect Choice! Vote NO on Prop 85!

Young people, as a minority, have very few rights. They cannot vote, nor do they have a say in many other decisions that affect their lives. They are criminalized and locked up, though statistically young people are the most law abiding of any age group. The two rights young people do have (at least in California) are power over what they say, and power over their bodies. Are we going to allow one of these rights to be stripped away?

Proposition 85 mandates parental notification + waiting period for minors to terminate a pregnancy. Sound familiar? Last year, thanks to some smart CA voters, Prop 73 (which posed the same threat to teens) was defeated. For the second time in one year, anti-choice zealots have put a so called "parental involvement" initiative on the ballot.



Why vote no on 85?


*Parents rightfully want to be involved in their teenagers' lives, but laws can't mandate family communication. In the REAL world, some teens live with violent or sexually abusive parents. Prop 85 endangers California's most vulnerable teens by requiring parental notification prior to abortion. Rather than going to an abusive parent, some teens will resort to back-alley abortions or even consider suicide.

*Prop 85 won't reduce teen pregnancy. Notification laws haven't reduced teen pregnancy in other states. The REAL answer to reducing teen pregnancies is strong caring families, and comprehensive sex education. California has reduced teen pregnancy rates by 46% over the last ten years without parental notification laws.

*Studies show that a vast majority of teens involve their parents in decisions about pregnancies. Prop 85 is unsafe, unrealistic, and unneccesary.

*Make no mistake. Prop 85 is part of a larger strategy to restrict choice. Look who's backing 85: Traditional Values Coalition, Evangelicals for Social Action, and Right to Life of Central California--all anti-choice groups whose real agenda is to outlaw abortion.

Here is what the San Jose Mercury News had to say about the issue earlier this summer:

"Studies show that more than three out of every five teens already tell their parents before deciding whether to have an abortion. Further studies show that most who don't have a very good reason: fear for their own safety. These are teen-agers who risk being thrown out of their homes, or worse, face a violent response. They are also the girls who may be victims of incest or rape and may consider more extreme, dangerous measures if forced to notify their parents, such as running away, heading for toher states without parental notification laws, or taking matters into their own hands...California voters should also understand this debate over a relatively small number of girls is also part of a larger strategy to chip away at legalized abortion in the United States."