Senate panel hears Padden abortion bills

OLYMPIA – Doctors would not have to tell expectant mothers about life-threatening conditions in an unborn child that could lead her to choose an abortion, under a bill aired Monday in a state Senate committee.

The bill, and another that would require pregnant minors to prove they’ve notified their parents before getting an abortion, received hearings in the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, is the prime sponsor of both and the committee chairman.

Lawyers who support the doctor notification bill told the committee it’s partly aimed at protecting doctors from lawsuits regarding a child born with disabilities. Doctors could not be sued for medical malpractice for withholding that information unless preventive treatments are available.

However Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, argued the bill would allow a doctor’s prejudices to influence medical treatment.

“This also suggests the only reason a mother would want to know her baby suffers from an incurable birth defect would be to terminate the pregnancy,” Nelson, the Senate Democratic leader, said in a prepared statement. “As a mother and grandmother, I can’t even begin to describe how horrifying an assertion that is.”

Padden’s parental notification bill would make Washington the 18th state to require that minor girls inform their parents or guardians when seeking an abortion. About 20 other states require parental consent. An identical bill passed out of the committee last year but did not make it to the Senate floor.

“The logical advocate for these unmarried women, these teen girls, is their parents,” said LeAnna Benn, the executive director of Teen-Aid, Inc., a Spokane-based organization.

State law requires parents be notified when schools give their children aspirin and when minors want to use tanning beds. Abortion should be treated the same way, Padden said.

Opponents said such a law would endanger young women who lack parental support or come from abusive homes. The legislation would allow pregnant teens go to court for a waiver, but opponents argued no one should have to explain an abortion decision to a judge.

“A judicial bypass is a cruel thing to place between a young woman and the medical care she needs,” said Trina Stout, a hotline volunteer for the Seattle-based Community Abortion Information and Resource Project.