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Parental Notification Initiative Enters Circulation

Abortion Restriction. Parental Notification and Waiting
Period for Females under 18. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced that the proponent of a new initiative may begin collecting petition signatures for his measure.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

ABORTION RESTRICTION. PARENTAL NOTIFICATION AND WAITING PERIOD FOR FEMALES UNDER 18. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Changes California Constitution to prohibit abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician or other authorized medical professional notifies her parent/legal guardian in writing. Provides exceptions for medical emergency, parental waiver, or parental abuse documented by notarized statement from law enforcement, protective services, or certain relatives. Permits judge to waive notice if minor appears personally in court and proves maturity or waiver is in her best interest. Requires reporting of specific abortion information to State. Violating medical professionals subject to suit for 12 years. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government:Potential unknown net state costs, likely of several million dollars annually, for health and social services programs, court administration, and state health agency administration combined. (13-0019.)

The Secretary of State's tracking number for this measure is 1610 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 13-0019.

The proponent for the measure, John Smith, must collect signatures of 807,615 registered voters – the number equal to eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election – in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 150 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be collected by April 14, 2014.

The initiative proponent can be reached at john.smith.jsjs@gmail.com. No phone number was provided.

To sign up for regular ballot measure updates via email, RSS feed, or Twitter, go to www.sos.ca.gov/multimedia.

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