Published: March 06, 2006 10:08 pm      

Showdown in house over parental notification bill

CHARLESTON — West Virginians for Life planned a parliamentary move today to get the parental notification bill on the House floor, warning opponents face “repercussions” in this year’s elections.

In a maneuver to get the stalled Senate bill out for a showdown, a delegate favoring it planned to offer a motion to discharge the judiciary committee.

“Any vote against discharging the committee will be viewed as a vote to kill the bill,” the group’s legislative liaison, Melissa Adkins, told MetroNews reporter Jeff Jenkins in a Monday interview.

Such a move had been envisioned in the Monday session but never materialized.

Last week, the Senate passed the bill with only two dissenting votes, and Adkins suggested the committee discharge would separate true supporters of the pro-life movement from those paying mere lip service.

“If we have people over here in the House telling us they’re pro-life and they’re not really pro-life, we need to know that so we can replace them with pro-lifers,” Adkins told Jenkins.

“We’re just not going to accept a secret vote behind closed doors.”

The intent of the bill is to require doctors to give a parent or guardian 24 hours notice before an underage girl can have an abortion.

Critics maintain it would intimidate some girls into having dangerous, illegal abortions out of fear of disclosing pregnancies to parents.

But Adkins and her group insist the bill can also be viewed as a law-and-order measure, saying adult males often hector a juvenile into aborting babies to cover up sex crimes against minors.

“If this House is going to kill this bill, they’re going to do it in public, which is what the citizens of this state deserve,” Adkins said.

“They deserve to know where elected officials stand on issue.”

Adkins said she has always had “great respect” for the committee process, and that her group, in fact, surrendered this same bill last year out of such respect.

Things have changed this year, she said, adding, “We have people playing political games and so we feel justified in doing this.”

Adkins found it “really odd” the House leadership is tying up “one of the most popular pieces of pro-life legislation there is.”

“Eighty percent of America supports parental involvement laws,” the West Virginians for Life official said. “I’m sure that number is even higher in West Virginia.”

Adkins said the group’s board meets March 18 after the session to consider endorsements while preparing for the upcoming election season

“I’m sure there will be repercussions,” she said. “We’re left with no choice.”

Republicans tried twice in this session to discharge committees and force votes on the Marriage Protection Amendment and elimination of the food tax, but were rebuffed twice by Democrats.

In addition, Delegate Tom Louisos, D-Fayette, was beaten back by his own party in an attempt to get a floor vote on a bill that would make members of the Public Service Commission win their jobs at the polls, rather than be appointed.

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com