ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
Next Tuesday, voters will head to the polls for the Aug. 24 primary. One of the issues voters will decide is Ballot Measure 2, which would require that parents be notified if their underage daughter wants to get an abortion, or that a judge provide consent.Planned Parenthood, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, backed the opposition group Alaskans Against Government Mandates, also known as No on 2. Campaign manager Rhiannon Good says the measure would hurt teens who don't have a good relationship with their parents or are in an abusive relationship.
"When people first hear about it they think, ‘I want my teen to come to me,' and the good news is most teens do, and that's pretty standard," Good said. "For those teens who can't go to their parents, this law does not help them, and those are the teens we are concerned about."
Bernadette Wilson runs Yes on 2, or Alaskans for Parental Rights.
According to Wilson, the law does take into account children in abusive situations by providing for a judicial bypass, in other words, allowing a young girl to get consent from a judge.
"Not only is it a parent's right to know, but also for the health and safety of that child if something comes up as the result of this abortion that could be performed, that a parent is there to help and guide through it," Wilson said.
No on 2 has raised significantly more money than Alaskans for Parental Rights, about $700,000 to $100,000.
Contact Megan Baldino at mbaldino@ktuu.com
