Abortion Ruling Dismays Clinic Workers

Health clinic workers reacted with dismay Thursday to the state Supreme Court ruling upholding a state law that requires consent for minors to obtain abortions, saying it will scare young women away from seeking badly needed prenatal care.

Executive directors of Planned Parenthood in Orange and Los Angeles counties said confidential abortions would continue to be provided to underage women until the law takes effect, which could take months. After that, they said, Planned Parenthood clinics would follow the law but continue to provide services.

“Once the law goes into effect we will help these women get whatever services they need because abortion will still be legal,” said Suellen Craig, director of Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles.

Under the 1987 state law, unmarried minors would need the consent of a parent, legal guardian or judge to terminate a pregnancy. Physicians who performed an abortion without consent could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and fined $1,000.

Craig said the law presents clinics with a host of complications. One issue to be resolved, she said, is how to guard against a teenager who lies about her age or about her parents’ consent. For instance, what kind of documentation will be necessary to prove parental consent and what kinds of steps will a runaway or homeless teenager have to take to obtain consent through the courts?

Workers at community clinics said minors most affected by the Supreme Court decision are often victims of parental abuse, incest or other problems that make seeking parental consent an unacceptable choice.

“The ruling is going to have a huge impact,” said Mary Rainwater, executive director of the Los Angeles Free Clinic, which treats 3,000 homeless and runaway teenagers a year, more than half of them young women. The clinic does not do abortions, but makes referrals to doctors who do on a confidential basis. “The kids we deal with may delay making a decision about their pregnancy, including whether they should go for prenatal care, because they are so afraid of their parents.”

Rainwater said many of her clients don’t have intact families or even know where their parents are. Although the court said that pregnant teenagers could appeal directly to the courts and bypass their parents, Rainwater said many teenagers living on the street won’t do that.

“We see homeless kids who are struggling for survival on the streets,” Rainwater said. “We go to great lengths with our outreach program just to get them to come into the clinic. How realistic is it to think they are going to seek out a judge?”

Jon Dunn, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Orange County, said, “Most teens who feel that they can comfortably and safely include a parent in this process already do. This creates an extra barrier for teens. It delays their ability to get an abortion and puts a whole new level of responsibility on an already overburdened court system.”

Vanessa Poster of the South Bay Free Clinic in Manhattan Beach said she fears that teenagers will “be afraid to come to the clinics.”

She said the clinic does not perform abortions but offers family planning services, counseling, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy and prenatal services. She said confidentiality is crucial to teenagers who are afraid to talk to their parents. Poster said Thursday’s ruling would place “another impediment” in the way of getting medical services to young women.

“They come to us because they have no one else to talk to,” Poster said. “We offer a free class to parents on how to talk about sex to their children. We had only 10 people come the last time. That class should have been full. If we are going to have laws like this, people should know how to talk to their children about sex.”

Like the Los Angeles Free Clinic, the South Bay clinic refers teenagers who want to terminate pregnancies to physicians or clinics who provide them, such as Planned Parenthood.

Clinics said they will continue to provide confidential counseling and testing to pregnant teenagers even after the law takes effect.

Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this story.