Regional Public Journalism
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Washington Legislature. Austin Jenkins is the Olympia correspondent for the Northwest News Network. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) weekly public affairs program "Inside Olympia."

Anti-Abortion Marchers Support Parental Notification Bill

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Thousands of anti-abortion protestors gathered at the state capital in Olympia Tuesday. They marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Many carried red roses and handmade signs.

The rally comes as a committee in the Washington Senate says it will consider a parental notification bill. Republican Sen. Mike Padden introduced the measure to require 48-hour notice to a parent or guardian before a girl under 18 receives an abortion.

“Now we have 18 senators that have signed onto that bill," he told the crowd. "And for the first time in probably 15 years, that bill will receive a hearing.”

A similar parental notification measure passed the Washington Senate in 1998 but not the House.

Last week, Washington’s new Democratic Governor Jay Inslee called on state lawmakers to require health insurers that cover maternity services to also pay for abortions.

On the Web:

SB 5156: Parental notification bill (Washington Legislature)