Senator Proposes National Parental-Consent Law

WASHINGTON—Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.) introduced legislation July 30 that would require a parental-consent nationwide before teenage girls could obtain abortions or contraceptive services.

Ashcroft's bill would apply to all hospitals, clinics, and other facilities that receive federal funds. It would nationalize the prior consent requirements on abortion that now exist in 20 states, and would for the first time apply in all states the same restrictions regarding access to contraceptives.

The new bill, dubbed “Putting Parents First,” would impose a new federal policy on the 30 states that do not require parental consent in the case of women younger than 18.

Ashcroft said that in the absence of nationwide rules, the efforts to enforce parental consent in states that have such laws would be thwarted by the absence of such laws in neighboring states. Federal action is also justified in this case because the public wants it, Ashcroft asserted. He cited polls suggesting that 74% of Americans favor a requirement of parental consent in the case of teenage girls seeking abortions.

“When you're talking about opportunities for parents to protect the interests of young people, it's always a good time,” he said. “The second point is that even if it weren't, I think that our responsibility for good governance exceeds our responsibility for politics.” (Pro-Life Infonet)

Pro-Life Nurses Granted Right to Sue Over Dismissal

ALBANY, N.Y.—Two nurses who claim they were fired for their religious opposition to abortion have a right to sue the hospital that dismissed them, an appeals court ruled July 30.

A New York state Supreme Court justice dismissed a suit filed by the nurses last July, saying that although health care employees may excuse themselves from participating in abortion procedures under state law, they do not have the right to file a civil suit if they are penalized for doing so. But the mid-level state Appellate Division modified that decision unanimously, saying that the part of their case alleging religious discrimination could go to trial.

The ruling determined that the nurses showed their opposition to abortion was a morally based belief, and they “have also sufficiently demonstrated that they were terminated due to these beliefs.”

Albany Medical Center maintained that the nurses were dismissed in November 1996 for refusing “to render patient care as directed” to a woman who needed an “evacuation procedure” after her unborn child had died.

Michael McDermott, who is representing the two nurses, Deborah Larson and Christine Thornton, said he was “ecstatic” with the ruling. It represents the first time challenge to a 1971 statute granting employees the right to opt out of participating in abortions, but no legal remedy if they are punished.

The New York State Right to Life Committee and the New York State Catholic Conference filed friend-ofthe-court briefs in the case, saying the case “involved is the protection of conscientious objectors to abortion.”

Catholic Conference Executive Director John Kerry said he hopes the case will “establish a precedent for laws that will prevent discrimination for abortion objectors, regardless of religion.” (Pro-Life Infonet)