Right to protect children

As a father, with a daughter, I would solicit your support of Proposition 4. It is named after "Sarah," a 13-year-old girl who died from an infection after a legal abortion. Because her parents did not know about the abortion, they did not realize their daughter's predicament until it was too late.

Sarah's Law will require a doctor to notify at least one adult family member before performing an abortion on an under-18-year-old girl. Aside from the important goals of reducing abortions, this proposition helps protect girls from sexual predators who may force girls into abortions to cover their crimes.

More than 30 other states have similar laws and there is not one single documented case of a girl being harmed by such a law. In fact, these states have seen reductions in pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Support your daughter, support "Sarah's Law" and Proposition 4. It is you, the parent(s) who lose the right to protect your child when such laws go unchallenged! Support Proposition 4.

— James R. Caballero, D.C., Oxnard

End exploitation of girls

We need Proposition 4, Sarah's Law, to protect minor girls from sexual predators. Real girls in the real world are exploited by older men who then use secret abortions to cover up their crimes. Proposition 4 would require that a parent be notified before the abortion. If the girl is a victim of parental abuse, another adult family member, such as a grandmother, can be notified.

We need family and law enforcement to hold sexual predators accountable. Vote yes on Proposition 4.

— Mary Hattrup, Santa Paula

Truth, justice matter

Re: your Oct. 13 article, "Parental notice for abortion on ballot again":

I read your article and am concerned about the disparity in attention, space and detail given to proponents and opponents of Proposition 4. I support Proposition 4 as a woman, mother and former teenager. This law ensures that parents will know if and when their teenage daughter undergoes surgery.

I agree with this proposition for obvious medical reasons: Caretakers must be apprised of medical changes in those they care for! Abortion is surgery; it comes with risks and side effects, just like any other surgical procedure.

Women need medical care for this surgery, and teenagers are the ones most likely to try to do it alone.

Second, this law addresses the most common situation a teen girl finds herself in: pregnant by an adult man who does not love her, support her and certainly won't tolerate a child, much less care for her after her surgery.

These are the girls (which is what a female is until she is 18 in this country) we want to support.

Finally, it's still statutory rape in this country for a girl to engage in sexual relations with an adult man (one over 18). Parental notification could help on this front as well.

Please look at both sides of the debate, not just officially, but in truth and justice.

— Liza Hennigan, Ph.D., Ventura

Protect victims

Re: your Oct. 13 article, "Parental notice for abortion on ballot again":

Amy Moy, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, claims that Proposition 4 would put teens at "risk" of "delayed care and counseling" and this "potentially" endangers a girl's health. This is simply not true.

In all the states that have notification laws, not one instance of a girl being hurt from delayed care has been found. Look at the voters' guide that explains the pros and cons of every proposition. Proposition 4 will rescue many girls from being abused by adult men who can no longer take them for a secret abortion. Planned Parenthood could not find one instance of harm to girls in 34 states from notification laws! Sadly, Planned Parenthood is far more concerned about the potential loss it will have in revenues if girls cannot be taken for secret abortions.

Proposition 4 simply requires that abortion providers notify a family member when a girl under the age of 18 is going to have an abortion. It is common sense that a minor should not go through a major medical procedure such as abortion alone. Thirty-four states have notification laws like Proposition 4, and they have experienced a decline in abortion rates, teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases without a single case of harm or danger to minors. California minor girls will benefit greatly from Proposition 4.

Law enforcement — including Tony Rackauckas, chief prosecutor of Orange County, and Rod Pacheco, chief prosecutor of Riverside County — supports Proposition 4 because it will help protect minor girls from abuse by predators who will no longer have the benefit of secret abortions for their victims.

We need Proposition 4 in California to protect girls from sexual-abuse coverup and from health risks of secret abortions. Don't let Planned Parenthood fool you.

— Mary Rollino, Ventura

Purity begins at home

Voters who are for Proposition 4 believe in the preciousness of human life, not just the lives of preborn babies, but of their parents. Have these young people been reared in home atmospheres that foster self-respect? Do they understand the great need to lead virtuous lives because their parents are caring enough to demand it?

Modesty in dress is a major part of the equation. Daughters, particularly, need to be protected from dressing provocatively, despite peer pressure. If parents are not tenderhearted and God-fearing enough to instill in their own flesh and blood the virtue of modesty from childhood on, then they should re-examine their priorities.

If parents provide the moral upbringing their children deserve, pureness in thoughts, words and deeds will begin in the home.

— Tracey Smith, Oxnard