Goodness, so much for one's privacy. Can we force teens to tell any more people? Maybe they need to carry a sign around for a week, too.

"Perhaps next, they'll have to jump through a flaming hoop with the notarized parental permission slip and land in a perfect split."

No, that's what girls in Texas are going to start resorting to in lieu of an actual, safe abortion as more and more restrictions are added.

I was telling a coworker about this and she responded, "Well, their parents can help them with getting it notarized." Talk about missing the point. This is infuriating.

I'm imagining a scene playing out in my head:

Parents: "Will you please notarize this form so our daughter can finish high school and go on to college without the stress of a child when she's a mere child herself?"

Notary: "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have moral objections to notarizing this form."

What if all Texas abortion providers simply made at least one of their office personnel an in-house notary? Seems a quick and easy way around the law, and cheap too. (It costs about $70 every four years to become a notary public.)

Grado - that would require the signer to accompany the girl to the clinic. I suppose if the parent signed, it's perhaps likely that he or she would also go with, but I can imagine plenty of scenarios wherein that wouldn't happen.

I'm looking for a doctor, in an act of civil disobedience, to violate the new rule and challenge the constitutionality of the provision when they try disciplinary charges against him or her.

This is on the November ballot in California.
No On 85!!

I'm looking for a doctor, in an act of civil disobedience, to violate the new rule and challenge the constitutionality of the provision when they try disciplinary charges against him or her.

I'm the regulatory compliance coordinator for a clinic in Texas, and I don't expect that to happen anytime soon.

The reason is that failure to meet all provisions of the parental consent statute makes the abortion an "unlawful procedure." According to existing Texas law and the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, that means that a physician can be charged with capital murder -- the "homicide of an individual under six years of age."

The notarization requirement is not meant to intimidate teenagers -- who already have been required to obtain parental consent -- but doctors, who will now be held responsible for having verified the parent/child relationship.

The new consent form is six pages of very fine print, and the only person placed at legal risk by failure to complete any portion of it correctly is the physician.

Most people have no idea of the fine line that doctors in Texas must walk in order to continue providing abortion care at all -- to anyone, let alone to minors. With the state government and the courts dominated by Christian nationalists, it's a little much to expect a doctor to volunteer for pro-choice martyrdom.