Take this parental notification pop quiz:

Who said: "A parent's input is the best guarantee that a teen-ager will make a decision that is correct for her — be it abortion, adoption, or keeping the baby. And it helps guarantee that if a teen-ager chooses an abortion, she will receive appropriate medical care."

Answer: Dr. Bruce Lucero, who performed more than 45,000 abortions in his 15 years of practice.

Although Dr. Lucero is staunchly pro-choice, he believes that in the same way society determines at what age teen-agers should have other rights, such as driving or voting, "society should determine at what age a minor has the right to abortion without notifying her parents."

In California, a minor can't get a cavity filled, an aspirin from a school nurse, even a tan at a tanning salon, without a parent's written consent, yet, she can get a chemical or surgical abortion without anyone in her family even knowing. Proposition 4, on the ballot in November, would simply require a doctor to notify one parent or, in case of parental abuse, another adult family member before performing an abortion on a girl under the age of 18.

Opponents claim that most girls already tell a parent, and that those who don't are afraid of abuse. They are wrong on both counts. First, the very studies the opposition relies on show that only 45 percent of young girls tell a parent before seeking an abortion. Second, very few of those who don't tell a parent say they fear abuse. As Dr. Lucero notes, based on his extensive experience dealing with minors seeking abortions, "In almost all cases, the only reason that a teen-age girl doesn't want to tell her parents about her pregnancy is that she feels ashamed and doesn't want to let her parents down."

But is fear of disappointing a parent a good enough reason to let a young girl face the physical and emotional risks of a serious medical procedure such as abortion on her own? In fact, in most cases, she will not be on her own, but under the influence of others who will not have her best interests uppermost in their minds. This would include the man who impregnated her, who sees a secret abortion as the way to cover up his crime and go free to continue exploiting this young girl or move on to other victims.

But what if the pregnancy was caused by sexual abuse right in the girl's home? Well, we know what happens with the status quo. She gets a secret abortion and is sent back to the same abusive environment. Just this summer, the California Supreme Court ruled in a case that involved a 39-year-old man who had impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter. Despite two trips to Planned Parenthood and a late-term abortion at a hospital, no medical provider reported the abuse. The girl was sent back to the same situation, where the man sexually assaulted her for another seven months. When the girl's mother (who, under Proposition 4, would have been notified of the abortion) finally found out about the abuse, she called the police and the perpetrator went to prison.

Secrecy enables abuse to continue, including abuse in the home. Proposition 4 puts the safety and well-being of young girls first, ahead of the ideological agenda of those who claim that Proposition 4 threatens "abortion rights." Thirty-four other states have parental-involvement laws like Proposition 4 protecting girls. These states have seen reductions in teen pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases, without danger or harm to minors — and without abortion becoming illegal.

One more time, for emphasis: 34 states have parental-involvement laws, going back up to 25 years, and the opponents can't point to a single case of a minor being harmed. Their mantra about desperate girls seeking illegal abortions, self-aborting, being beaten by parents, or committing suicide is a phony scare tactic.

Proposition 4 is a common-sense, common-ground measure, supported by both pro-choice and pro-life Californians who want to protect young girls and stop abuse. Vote yes on 4.

— Catherine Short of Ojai is an attorney and co-author of Proposition 4.