SJR 14-CONST. AM: PARENTAL CONSENT TO ABORTION  1:35:34 PM CHAIR COGHILL announced the consideration of SJR 14. 1:36:07 PM SENATOR DONNY OLSON, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of SJR 14, provided a summary of the legislation speaking to the following sponsor statement: Parents alone have the sole duty and responsibility of raising their children, providing for their education, sustenance, and spiritual wellbeing. Any legal provision, guideline, statute, or ordinance infringing upon that fundamental principle and right of parents should be changed. Senate Joint Resolution 14 proposes an amendment to the Alaska Constitution creating a new section allowing the legislature OR the people through the initiative process to have the option to require notice to and the consent of the parent or the legal guardian of a minor before the minor's pregnancy is terminated. It is a well-established principle that before treating a patient, a physician or other healthcare provider must obtain the consent of that patient. This proposition becomes less clear when treating minors and physicians are often faced with the question of just who may consent to treatment and under what circumstances? This resolution is a first step to clarify this vital issue. SENATOR OLSON advised that the resolution is the first step toward putting the question of amending the Alaska Constitution for this specific purpose before the voters. He cited Article I, Section 2 as the authorizing authority. He noted that the resolution is a response to the 2010 [Alaska Parental Notification Initiative] that the Alaska Supreme Court struck down. He emphasized that political power is inherent in the people, not the five judges that everyone looks up to and greatly respects. 1:43:37 PM JIM PUCKETT, Staff, Senator Donny Olson, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, stated that SJR 14 provides that Article I, Constitution of the State of Alaska, would be amended by adding a new Section 26 titled "Notice and Consent before Termination of Minor's Pregnancy. This section could be implemented by the legislature or by initiative. The amendment proposed by the resolution would be placed before the voters at the next general election. 1:44:53 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what happens in the circumstance of a child who is a ward of the state. MR. PUCKETT replied it could be handled the same way that the state currently handles the situation of a pregnant foster child, although he did not know what that was. CHAIR COGHILL pointed out that the resolution provides that the section would be implemented by law. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how the resolution defines a minor. MR. PUCKETT said the state defines a minor as a person age 18 or younger. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if a married 17-year-old would need parental consent to obtain an abortion. MR. PUCKETT replied that will be addressed should the amendment be put in place. SENATOR OLSON offered his understanding that a minor who is married would be emancipated. CHAIR COGHILL added that a 16-year-old can be emancipated. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he was trying to frame the extent that a parent has rights over their minor child's body. He asked if a parent could force their 15-year-old child to have an abortion. MR. PUCKETT replied, "We're dealing with the consent, not the parents forcing them to do something." He added that in school a parent must consent to their child seeing the school nurse or going on a field trip. SENATOR COSTELLO recalled a proposition that said a child who was pregnant and could not go to their parents could appear before a judge. She asked if the legislature would need to work out the details, should this pass. 1:49:09 PM MR. PUCKETT said Ballot Measure 2 allowed the minor to go to court to authorize an abortion without giving notice to the parent or guardian. It also made it a felony for a doctor to notify the parents of the minor's intent to have an abortion. CHAIR COGHILL added that the issue of judicial bypass could again be up for debate should this question get to the people of Alaska. SENATOR COSTELLO asked if the legislature would handle the regulatory details if the constitution is changed. SENATOR OLSON replied that is his understanding, but he would prefer to delay any discussion of the details until after the people have spoken about what they want in the constitution. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked the intent regarding the type of notice and consent. Is the notice verbal or written and is the consent from the parent to the child and the doctor? MR. PUCKETT said those details would be worked out later, but it seems reasonable that the consent would be written. 1:52:10 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if a doctor would be subject to criminal penalties if he/she performed an abortion without parental consent. MR. PUCKETT replied that detail would be worked out in the future. 1:52:35 PM SENATOR KELLY pointed out that the resolution says the legislature shall implement the section by law in a manner consistent with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. The details are left to the legislature to work out. MR. PUCKETT agreed and read the legislative oath of office. He said legislators will take care of the details that arise as a result in the change to the constitution. SENATOR KELLY it's also important for the legislature to realize that the constitutional amendment regarding privacy also says that the legislature shall implement this by law and that has mostly been ignored by the courts. MR. PUCKETT said the sponsor's intent is for the people to have an opportunity to make their will very clear. 1:54:59 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI disagreed that all the details would be decided by the legislature in the future. He said he interprets the entire first sentence as a fundamental change in the state constitution. Thus, the legislative history on what is notice, what is consent, who is a legal guardian, and what is a minor is very relevant and will override the second sentence. He said things that are defined in this room are critical because that legislative history will inform the court when these issues come up in court cases, which they undoubtedly will. He asked if a minor has constitutional rights to decide when and if they want to start a family. MR. PUCKETT replied, "I believe, in Alaska there is an age where they can legally go get married on their own." SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if a 15-year-old has parenting rights over her child or if that minor's parents have parenting rights over their grandchild. CHAIR COGHILL suggested the sponsor respond. 1:57:44 PM SENATOR OLSON said he didn't have answers to all the details. He wants the people of Alaska to decide if they want parents to consent to this surgical procedure. CHAIR COGHILL said he wanted the sponsor to hear the first line of questions so he could begin to think about the language and how it might be challenged. The questions are appropriate because the definitions are something that will need to be fleshed out. He said he generally agrees that the people should reinforce what the legislature is trying to define. He asked Senator Wielechowski if he had anything more for the committee and sponsor to consider. 1:59:39 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI questioned whether this should just be limited to the termination of pregnancy. If not, he asked if Section I should say that notice and consent is required before any medical procedure is done. MR. PUCKETT replied, "It's already a reality that just about any other type of medical procedure that needs to be done on a minor needs consent from a parent." SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI replied that is false and directed attention to AS 25.20.025. MR. PUCKETT named abortion, treatment of sexually transmitted disease and noted there is a third item. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI read paragraph (1) and part of paragraph (2) of Sec. 25.20.025(a). He questioned saying a minor must get consent to terminate a pregnancy, but not for anything else, including major surgery. MR. PUCKETT said he stands corrected; he didn't think about the exceptions in current law. He asked Senator Wielechowski to restate the original question. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked the reasoning for singling out this one medical situation. 2:01:45 PM SENATOR KELLY said the answer is that the courts have singled out abortion as having special rights to the point that parents do not have rights. In other situations, the courts have been fairly reasonable about requiring the consent of the parent. The resolution seeks to put abortion on that reasonable list of things to which parents should give consent. CHAIR COGHILL asked the sponsor to do a little research on the areas where there is an exception to the parental consent rule and the litigation that followed Roe v. Wade. The idea is to understand the line of thinking that makes this resolution necessary. SENATOR OLSON said he understands that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land and SJR 14 is not an attack on that. He continued to say: This is the idea that I as a parent who has children that are younger girls but more importantly that I as an Alaskan, whether I'm in the legislature or not in the legislature, have got the ability to make sure that if a majority of us have an idea and we want something done, that there is a constitutional protection that if we vote a certain way, we want this done this way that the courts don't have the ability to overturn it. We've got a five-judge panel out there, many of whom aren't even from the state of Alaska that are overturning what people from the state of Alaska voted on. And that's what I'm trying to do. That's the bottom line of what I want to say. Is if we've got an initiative that passes, I want that listened to and if that's being overturned then a constitutional amendment needs to be drawn up and that's why I've drawn it. SENATOR KELLY said most of the things like what is a parent, what is a minor, and what are the circumstances under which a parent has control are defined in statute and work quite well until it comes to abortion. The courts treat that differently. CHAIR COGHILL said he asked the sponsor for the information so there would be a good record. Because "termination of pregnancy" has been highly litigated through the years, it is important that each word and the intent is clear going forward. He said that's what Senator Wielechowski is getting to and he agrees with that point. CHAIR COGHILL thanked the sponsor and held SJR 14 in committee for future consideration.