The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, March 30, 19893
Abortioo issue attention
Bill requiring parental consent
for minors gets boost in N.C
By KARI BARLOW
Staff Writer
The N.C. House passed a bill last
week that would require girls under
1 8 to get parental consent for an
abortion, stirring further debate on
the abortion issue in the General
Assembly.
; Chances are "better than even" the
; bill will pass the Senate, said Rep.
Paul Stam Jr., R-Wake, chief sponsor
of the bill.
He was prompted to sponsor the
; bill after he received a phone call eight
; years ago from a mother whose
I daughter had had an abortion during
; a school day without consulting her,
;Stam said.
; Parents should be involved with
; their daughters decisions, especially
when she is a minor, Stam said.
The bill provides for a judge to
approve the abortion for girls who
, cannot turn to their parents.
; "If we don't pass (the bill), North
: Carolina will soon become the haven
'to which (girls) repair to keep from
telling their mamas in other states,"
Stam said.
Sen. Paul Smith, R-Rowan, said
he supports the bill without question
and that such an important decision
should not be left up to a child.
The opponents of the bill claim it
is unfair to take away the choice of
the girl and that the bill is
unnecessary.
"The majority of the girls do
involve their parents," said Margaret
Beck Odom, public affairs coordina
tor of Planned Parenthood of Greater
Raleigh. "The problem is you're
dealing with the other 10 to 20
percent."
Those girls who do not talk to their
parents have a real reason not to,
Odom said. Many are from dysfunc
tional families.
"The worst thing you can do is try
and force someone into a decsion they
don't feel comfortable with," Odom
said.
The provision of judicial approval
does not help the situation, she said.
"You're sending the girl under the
most amount of stress to court. They
are eoine to a iudee. and they're going
to discuss really intimate details in
her life."
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Rep. Anne Barnes, D-Orange, who
voted against the bill, said the court
process will not provide
confidentiality.
Stam and other supporters of the
bill said parents should give consent
in an abortion decision just as they
would in other health decisions.
"Being pregnant does not impart
a young woman with any great
wisdom," Stam said.
Odom said pregnancy is different
from other medical issues and not all
other medical issues require parental
consent.
"There are certain cases under
North Carolina law where the state
recognizes the fact that getting
treatment fast is more important than
getting parental consent," Odom said.
"Those situations are spelled out in
statutes."
Doctors and health care services
can require parental consent without
a parental-consent law, Odom said.
"We have a big sign in our office
that says 'We won't tell your parents,
but you should,' " Odom said.
If the bill passes, North Carolina
is regressing and is headed for the
days of back-alley abortions, said
Daniel Pollitt, a Kenan professor of
law at UNC.
"I think there are going to be
abortions whether anyone likes it or
not," Pollitt said."It's better if they
are sanitary and not unsanitary."
Sen. Wanda Hunt, D-Orange, said
the intent of the bill was good, but
it should not assume all girls have
a good rapport with their parents.
Hunt said out of the four female
senators in the General Assembly,
three were opposed to the bill. Their
arguments and the fact they are
female may persuade some legislators
to re-think their votes, she said.
Susan Hill, director of the Raleigh
Women's Health Organization, said
the bill was just one more attempt
to limit access to abortion.
Minors in North Carolina will
travel to states where no parental
consent is required to have an
abortion, Hill said.
"Laws don't make mothers and
daughters talk," Hill said. "You really
can't legislate good communication
between parents and children."
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Students attend a vigil to support women's rights to abortion
California
From Associated Press reports
SAN FRANCISCO A Munic
ipal Court judge set bail at $1 million
Wednesday for an American Indian
who is fighting extradition to North
Carolina, where he is charged with
14 counts of kidnapping in a protest
at a newspaper office.
A lawyer for Eddie Hatcher said
the order was "the court's way of
denying my motion for bail." The
lawyer, Harris Taback, said he would
ask for a reduction in bail sometime
in the next few weeks.
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judge sets bail for
Taback also said Hatcher's lawyers
will seek a hearing before Gov.
George Deukmejian, who must
decide whether to approve the extra
dition request when it arrives from
North Carolina. Hatcher says his life
would be in danger from law enforce
ment authorities in Robeson County,
N.C, whom he has accused of drug
dealing and corruption.
Hatcher, 31, was arraigned before
Judge Alfred Wollenberg two days
after the federal government dropped
an unlawful-flight charge and allowed
Chapel Hill" in Monday's DTH
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Activists for women's rights
to hold march in Washington
By KATIE WOLFE
Staff Writer
Over one-half million demonstra
tors plan to participate in The March
for Women's Equality and Women's
Lives, sponsored by the National
Organization for Women (NOW), on ,
April 9 in Washington, D.C. Repre
sentatives from more than 400 col
leges and universities, including
UNC, are expected to attend.
"The purpose of the march is for
justice," said Joy Osborne, Raleigh
Coordinator of NOW. "The two big
issues are the Equal Rights Amend
ment and reproductive freedom
not only access to safe, legal abortions
but for birth control to be available
to everyone."
"We would like to let the present
administration know we are not going
to put up with the harassing of
women's rights, like the former
administration," she said.
Activating Awareness for Choice
and Equality (AACE) supports the
march on the UNC campus, AACE
president Tania Malik said.
The march is in response to the
U.S. Supreme Court's decision to
hear the case of Webster vs. Repro
ductive Health Services in May,
according to a press release from
NOW. The case, based on a 2-year-old
Missouri law, prohibits the use
of public funds and services for
abortions that are not necessary to
save a woman's life.
"The case will probably not be able
to overturn the Roe vs. Wade decision
his case to be transferred from federal
to state court. The transfer lets Harris
fight extradition by alleging that he
would be in danger or could not get
a fair trial in North Carolina.
Hatcher and Timothy Jacobs, 20,
both Tuscarora Indians, were accused
of holding as many as 20 people
hostage for 10 hours in the offices
of The Robesonian newspaper in
Lumberton, N.C, in February 1988.
They said they were trying to draw
attention to their claims of official
corruption. A task force formed by
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but instead make the abortion issue
more restrictive," Osborne said. "The
Supreme Court doesn't often out-and-out
overturn a decision that has
already been made, but we believe this
decision could be the beginning of a
series to chip away at a woman's
reproductive freedom."
The march is scheduled only 15
days before oral arguments for the
Webster case begin in the Supreme
Court.
"The march will send a clear and
compelling message that we will fight
back to keep abortion and birth
control safe, legal and accessible,"
said Molly Yard, president of NOW.
"We will not give up until women are
included in the Constitution." No
pro-life groups have planned a
counterdemonstration.
"We simply see no reason to," said
Leonard Dinegar, assistant director
of public affairs for the National
Right-to-Life Committee. "A march
shouldn't have any effect on a
Supreme Court decision."
; "Their job is to interpret the
Constitution, riot represent the public
opinion as legislators. They should
not be swayed by a demonstration,"
he said.
The Right-to-Life Committee will
hold a press conference in Washing
ton, D.C., the day before the Missouri
case will be heard .
Anyone interested in attending the
march should contact the Chapel Hill
NOW chapter or AACE on campus.
Hatcher
Gov. Jim Martin concluded later that
the claims were unfounded.
Jacobs was atrested in New York
state and returned last week to
Lumberton, where bail was set at
$100,000. Hatcher was arrested in
San Francisco after unsuccessfully
seeking asylum at the Soviet consu
late March 10.
Taback said Hatcher "had no hope
that the Soviets were going to grant
him asylum" but instead had been
trying to draw media attention to his
reappearance and his plight.
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