by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Senator Dennis Rodriguez, Jr. was one of hundreds in attendance at the Walk for Life and coincidentally happened to introduce legislation late Friday requiring parental consent for minors seeking an abortion. Dubbed "The Parental Consent for Abortion Act", Senator Rodriguez introduced Bill 323 requiring such consent.

Rodriguez, who since taking office has stated that he is pro-life, says the law doesn't make abortion illegal but rather involves parents in the procedure should it have to take place. "Knowing for a fact that we can't make abortions illegal, but there are certain things that we could put in place, to make sure that in cases like this, that parents are involved when young children and young adults decide to have this procedure done," he said.

Currently, an abortion can be administered without parental consent for a minor. The bill requires that unless the minor is emancipated, no person shall perform an abortion unless a notarized written consent of both the pregnant woman and one of her parents or legal guardians. If the minor patient declares that she is a victim of physical or sexual abuse by the parent, then she can obtain consent from a brother or sister who is over 21 years of age, a stepparent or grandparent. A parent or any other person shall not coerce a minor to have an abortion performed.

Dr. Marjorie DeBendictis is the spokesperson for the Esperansa Group and says regardless of your feelings about abortion, this bill should be seen as common sense legislation. "You have to pertain parental consent for a child to have medication in school yet no parental consent is required for a surgical procedure - it doesn't make any sense," she detailed. "Abortion, regardless of your religious views, is a procedure that ends a human life and if a minor is going to undertake such a procedure I would think parental consent would be even more important."

Senator Rodriguez says the law isn't telling you how to parent your child, but allows them to be more involved with their child's lives, adding, "This is one step, this is not going to solve everything this is one step in moving in that direction, where we involve, we encourage more of a parent involved with their children's lives and what better way when a child becomes pregnant."

DeBendictis says the reporting for abortions on Guam is inadequate but estimates at least 300 abortions are administered a year on island. She adds the bill will medically safeguard minors and prosecute statutory rape crimes, common in many abortion cases. "We would certainly like to see less abortion, it's impossible to outlaw because of Roe v. Wade, but this is a good way to limit abortion and that's important to us," she said.

READ BILL 323 HERE