Idaho Pro-Life Group Files Brief in Parental Consent Case
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 26, 2003
Boise, ID (LifeNews.com) — A state pro-life group has been allowed to file a brief in favor of the state’s parental consent law that abortion advocates currently have tied up in court.
Idaho Chooses Life Alliance has been granted "friend of the court" status in the Planned Parenthood lawsuit against the state. The abortion business wants to overturn the state’s pro-life law requiring abortion practitioners to obtain the consent of at least one parent before being allowed to perform an abortion on a teenage girl.
The case, which started in 2000, will be heard by a federal appeals court next month.
The brief filed by ICLA challenges the District Court’s finding that judges in a by-pass hearing should not be required to follow-up on allegations that teenage girls are the victims of sexual abuse.
The pro-life group argues that if the logic of the District Court is followed, abusers of teenage girls will encourage their pregnant victims to get abortions because it provides a shield of constitutional protection for their crimes.
"We are hopeful that this brief will help restore two key provisions of Idaho’s law," said David Ripley, Executive Director of ICLA. "Our daughters deserve our full protection and care. It is simply unbelievable that Planned Parenthood is seeking to
leave girls at the mercy of predators."
The group also urges the 9th Circuit to re-examine Judge Mikel Williams’ finding that parents should not be notified following an emergency abortion.
The brief was made possible by a grant from the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based pro-life legal group.
William Salvi, a Boise attorney who wrote the Idaho law, represents ICLA in the case.
