Senate Passes Bill Requiring Parental OK for Abortions

The Senate, without a vote to spare, Monday passed legislation requiring minors to obtain parental consent or a court order before receiving an abortion.

“This bill means more back-alley abortions, more runaways, more problems,” protested Sen. Gary Hart (D-Santa Barbara), one of the opponents.

Debate on the controversial issue, however, was kept to a minimum, in sharp contrast to previous floor fights over parental-consent abortion bills. The measure’s floor sponsor, Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier), simply asked his colleagues for a yes vote.

Senate passage paves the way for a major showdown later in the Assembly, where an earlier parental-consent bill authored by Montoya recently died in the Judiciary Committee after being approved by the Senate.

Three Republican committee chairmen were fired by Democratic Speaker Willie Brown after they tried to force an Assembly floor vote on the controversial issue.

‘Liar’ Charges Traded

Brown and Montoya subsequently traded “liar” charges over an alleged agreement to let the bill go to the full Assembly. The three GOP chairmen voted for an unsuccessful motion to try to withdraw the measure from the committee, a move that was considered to be a challenge to the power of the Speaker.

By a 21-10 vote, the exact majority required, the Senate on Monday passed a second-parental consent bill that Montoya created by amending it into another measure by Assemblyman Norm Waters (D-Plymouth) that related to sexual assaults.

The new bill, which now lists Assemblyman Alister McAlister (D-Fremont) as the main author, went back to the Assembly for concurrence in Senate amendments.

Montoya said he thought that he had a “better chance” this time in the Assembly because the bill did not have to go to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

But Susan Jetton, a Brown press spokeswoman, said the amendments appeared to be substantial enough to mean that the bill would have to be sent back to the same Assembly committee after all.