News from the Senate Majority
Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

Leman Amendment Protects Rights of Parents

For Immediate Release: February 12, 1998 Contact: Mike Pauley, Assistant to Senator Loren Leman, (907) 465-3841.

Juneau – A proposed state constitutional amendment introduced today would protect the Legislature’s authority to require parental consent before a person can perform an abortion on a minor, according to bill sponsor Senator Loren Leman (R-Anchorage).

"The vast majority of Alaskans – almost 80 percent – believe that a parent should have the right to consent before an abortion is performed on a child," stated Leman, prime sponsor of SJR 37. "Last year the legislature voted by a wide margin to enact SB 24, which requires a parent or judge to grant permission before an abortion is performed on a minor under age 17. Yet today, that law is not being enforced because of a lawsuit against the state. When approved by the voters, this amendment will take this decision out of the hands of the court, and back into the hands of the people, where it belongs."

SJR 37 states as follows: "Notwithstanding any other provision of this constitution, the legislature may, to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States, grant a parent either the right to consent or the right to be notified before a person may provide an abortion to the minor child of the parent." Joining Senator Leman as cosponsors are Senate President Mike Miller (R-North Pole), Senate Majority Leader Robin Taylor

(R-Wrangell), Senator Rick Halford (R-Chugiak), Senator Lyda Green (R-Wasilla), and Senator Sean Parnell (R-Anchorage).

Leman predicted that approval of the amendment would result in a dismissal of the legal challenge to Senate Bill 24, known as Planned Parenthood vs. Alaska. "In the absence of my amendment, we cannot predict for certain the outcome of this case in the state courts," Leman commented. "But we do know this much: win or lose, the lawsuit will drag on for years, cost the state millions of dollars, and delay enforcement of the law. Why should we have to go through this ordeal to enact a policy supported by 80 percent of the voters? It’s a waste of time and money."

The proposed amendment is "non-self-executing," meaning that it grants no rights to parents other than what the Legislature chooses to create in legislation. "All this amendment says is that the decision should rest with the people’s elected representatives, not with liberal judges who are unelected and unaccountable," Leman noted. "I think people are tired of seeing popular laws struck down on the most specious grounds by our courts, as if we the people can’t be trusted to govern ourselves. This time we’re giving the people the chance to say to the court, ‘you’re overruled.’ Frankly, we shouldn’t have to resort to such means, but the court’s continuing arrogance on these matters leaves us little choice."

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