Page 5 - ARUBA TODAY

A5
U.S. NEWS Monday 8 april 2019
Florida abortion bill would require

minors to obtain consent

By ELLIS RUA
MIAMI (AP) — Stepha-
nie Loraine Piñeiro was 17
when she discovered she
was pregnant for the sec-
ond time.
She says her parents were
livid about her first preg-
nancy a year earlier,
though she never dared
tell them she was raped.
Her father took her to a
clinic for an abortion. On
the way home, she says, he
threw birth control pills from
the clinic out of the car
window and ordered her to
abstain.
A year later, the circum-
stances were different. She
said she became pregnant
after having sex with a boy-
friend, and was afraid her 72 hours by certified mail. in favor of the measure. The out of the loop in the form
parents would force her Many clinics allow parents bill is slated to come be- of a judicial bypass, a hear-
to continue an unwanted to sign a notification waiv- fore a Senate Health Policy ing in which a judge de-
pregnancy if she told them. er in order to bypass the Committee on Monday. cides if it’s in the best inter-
She sought but was denied mandatory waiting periods Although a similar law was est of the minor to not have
emergency contraception before a procedure is per- deemed unconstitutional their parents involved. The
from a pharmacy. formed. by the Florida Supreme judge also determines if a
“I felt like I was being forced A bill proposed by Vero Court in 1989, Republican minor is mature enough to
into parenthood,” she said. Beach Republican Rep. Gov. Ron DeSantis has also make such a decision.
She still had options for an Erin Grall would flip Flori- publicly voiced support for In 2018, Florida minors filed
abortion, but situations like da’s status as a notifica- the bill. 193 petitions, 182 of which
hers might become more tion state to a consent DeSantis, when asked were granted, per state re-
difficult under several bills state, where legal guard- about the measure at an cords. In 2017, judges ap-
before the Florida Legis- ians have deciding power event last month in Miami, proved nearly 92% of peti-
lature that could restrict over an abortion. It would called the measure a mat- tions.
access to the procedure, require physicians to obtain ter of “common sense”. Loraine Piñeiro learned
including a measure to re- notarized written consent “If you’re a minor and you about the judicial bypass
quire minors to get consent and government-issued have to get consent to when she was desperate,
from a guardian before ter- proof of identification from do almost anything else, researching methods to in-
minating a pregnancy. a parent or legal guardian to me, that’s very reason- duce a miscarriage. A law-
Sensing a shift in the U.S. before any procedure. able,” DeSantis said. yer took on her case and
Supreme Court, conserva- Grall said in a House Com- More than 60% of minors they won.
tive lawmakers across the mittee meeting that she in notification states dis- Without a ruling in her fa-
country have introduced suspects many parents are cussed their decision to vor, her parents would
hundreds of anti-abortion left in the dark about their have an abortion with their have been notified ahead
measures into state legis- children’s decision to have parents, according to a of the abortion, and un-
latures this year that could an abortion, and that they Guttmacher Institute study. der Grall’s bill their consent
spark challenges that need to be involved. Dr. Sarah Stumbar, a phy- would have been required.
eventually may prompt the “It is my belief that paren- sician who works with pre- Now 27, Loraine Piñeiro
top court to revisit Roe v. tal notification does not go dominately low-income works as a social worker
Wade. More than half of far enough. It does not give families in Miami, said she and advocate for repro-
U.S. states require consent parents the opportunity to is concerned about the ductive rights in Orlando.
from at least one parent or weigh in the decision that percentage of minors who She said judicial bypass in-
legal guardian for a minor child is making,” Grall said. don’t notify their parents. formation is notoriously dif-
to obtain an abortion, ac- “I believe that parents “That’s due to their home ficult to find, leaving many
cording to the Guttmacher have a fundamental right situation,” said Stumbar, minors unaware of their op-
Institute, which supports in the upbringing of their who opposes the bill. tions. “There’s no consensus
abortion rights. children,” Grall said. “This “They’re concerned about across the state on where
Florida, a state that pro- really seeks to put the focus physical violence, emotion- to go and what to do,” she
vided 1,472 abortions to back on the family in such al violence, sexual abuse . . said.
minors in 2017, is one of the an important decision — a . about getting kicked out The Associated Press gener-
few states that require a decision that cannot be the house and becoming ally does not identify those
parent or guardian to be undone.” homeless.” who say they’ve been sex-
informed 48 hours before Recently, a House Health Florida law provides an al- ually assaulted, but Loraine
the procedure in person, Quality Subcommittee and ternative for minors who Piñeiro tells her story pub-
over the phone, or within Judiciary Committee voted want to keep their parents licly as an advocate.q