Posted on 08/02/2004 6:39:12 PM PDT by wagglebee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – ACLU and Planned Parenthood sued Monday to block a Florida ballot measure that would pave the way for a law requiring parents to be told when their minor daughters seek abortions.
The lawsuit argues that the ballot summary for the proposed constitutional amendment is misleading, leading voters to think they're preserving rights when, in fact, the measure takes them away.
State lawmakers voted this spring to put the proposed constitutional change before voters. The ballot summary says state lawmakers "shall not limit or deny the privacy rights guaranteed to minors" under the U.S. Constitution.
But the summary doesn't explain that the state Constitution gives Floridians greater privacy rights than the federal Constitution and that the proposed change would limit those state privacy rights for girls under the age of 18, according to American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and several Planned Parenthood chapters.
The measure was designed to allow state lawmakers to pass a law requiring that parents be told when their minor daughters seek abortions.
Lawmakers who want to pass such a law have to change the constitution first because last summer the state Supreme Court ruled that a 1999 parental notice law violated the state Constitution's provision on privacy.
"I think what the Legislature is doing ... is to jeopardize the health and the safety and sometimes the lives of young women on the altar of anti-abortion politics," ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon told reporters Monday.
Calls to the office of House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, who made the ballot measure a top priority, and Secretary of State Glenda Hood, Florida's top elections official and the named defendant, weren't immediately returned.
Byrd, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, and other supporters have argued that the measure is needed to restore the rights of parents to be involved in their children's lives.
Opponents say a parental notice law will interject the government into the most intimate family relationships and could endanger girls who are afraid to tell their parents they are pregnant, including girls who are the victims of incest.
It is appalling that the left is so afraid to let the people vote and accept the outcome, whatever it is.
The neo pagans continued their out reach programs...
Nazi Germany did the same thing...it enabled Hitler to come to power....
Moloch and Ishtar in their present avatars...got a death grip on our nation....
turds of a feather kill together
You should realize this plays right into liberal hands. By that I mean the state would prefer to be notified. But who are the parents to violate privacy laws? If they knew what was going on with their children they might be capable of advising or god forbid helping them,the leftists of this country want no distractions when it comes to them raising your children.Its almost the same with govt. schools who are the parents to say what should be taught abut sex,life,love, or life changing decisions. W
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) - http://www.aclj.org
Thomas More Law Center - http://www.thomasmore.org
Alliance Defense Fund - http://www.alliancedefensefund.org
Ping
Notice the ACLU opposes democratic votes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.