PARENTAL CONSENT: PARALLEL UNIVERSES

The Parental Consent bill (HB35) passed out of our House Judiciary Committee today on a 5-2 vote. Voting “Yes” were Representatives Coghill, Ramras, Lynn, Dahlstrom, Gatto. Voting “No” were Representatives Gruenberg and Holm. The bill was sponsored by Representative John Coghill, and co-sponsored by Representatives Lynn, Neuman, Keller, Dahlstrom, Millett, Kelly, Harris, Wilson, Ramras, Gatto, and Johansen. Next destination for hearings on the parental consent bill is the House Finance Committee. Three of us on the Judiciary Committee made final speeches before the vote. My speech follows:

“Mr. Chairman: There’s been a lot of testimony on this bill, and that’s good. I want to thank Chair Ramras and Vice-Chair Dahlstrom for how well they conducted this hearing. It could have been a ‘zoo,’ but it wasn’t. Thanks also to everyone who testified, whatever their position.

Listening to the testimony, it was as if those who testified live in separate and parallel universes, each speaking a language incomprehensible to the other.

Those in the universe who support this bill - and that includes me - believe children are a Gift from God entrusted to parents for their care. We believe parents need parental rights to fulfill parental responsibilities, and believe family is the cultural bedrock foundation of society. Most parents will acknowledge they are imperfect. But parents don’t have to be perfect to be good parents who want the best of health and safety of their children. Likewise, kids don’t have to be perfect to be good kids. Those in this universe believe government, specifically the Judiciary, has abrogated parental rights and, in the process - like I said at Governor Palin’s Press Conference - committed ‘aggravated assault’ on parental rights with a 3-2 vote.

Then there’s the other parallel universe which, I confess I fail to comprehend - because I’m firmly in the parental rights universe.

But as near as I do understand this other universe - based on what I heard during testimony - there's an obsession with so-called ‘abortion rights’ - the right of anyone to abort, whatever their age, whatever the circumstances, with or without parental consent. Parents are an inconvenience, at best. Throughout the testimony, the mantra of this universe was ‘my body, my, body, my body’ with no apparent concept whatsoever, that two bodies involved - or more, if baby twins are involved. The mantra has been abortion rights, with no concept or notion whatever of parental rights and responsibilities. It’s a parallel universe foreign to me.

To me, parental rights extend far beyond the subject of this bill. Children aren’t supposed to belong to the government. The bottom line in my universe is that children are, in fact, a Gift from God to parents - not the property of Washington DC, or Juneau, or this Legislature, and certainly not the Judiciary.

My heart goes out to teenagers who find themselves in unintended pregnancy situations, but this is the time kids may need parents most. Yes, I’m Pro-Life. Yes, I’m anti-abortion. But this bill is really about parental rights. I’ll be voting "Yes.”