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claims that the bill would hit low-income women hardest. “To say we’re trying to intimidate women of low income is absolutely untrue,” he said. “When a woman is making one of the most serious decisions of her life, we want to make sure she has time to go over the information, to know her rights, and to know she has alternatives.” Nevertheless, HB 15 includes another provision that would make some abortions prohibitively expensive: requiring second-trimester procedures to take place in an ambulatory surgical center or hospital. “That is absolutely unnecessary to protect women’s health,” said Romberg. “But what it will do is quadruple the cost. When does ‘expensive’ become ‘too expensive?'” McLaughlin says that convincing women to delay their abortion until they reach the “too expensive” zone is already counseling and information on abortion alternatives. While pro-choice groups agree women should have as many reproductive health alternatives as possible, many also complain that CPCs give misleading information. Nevertheless, a bill from last session is likely to reappear that would include CPCs in the adoption groups funded through the sale of “Choose Life” license plates. “I know a woman who went to a CPC and was told she was much further along than she actually was,” McLaughlin recalls. “It was either uninformed or malicious, because the discrepancy was weeks, not three or four days. So she had been struggling to get together $1,700, and when we sonograrruned her she was only in the 11th week. That’s a $400 abortion, and she had had the money all along.” Of course, several groups in Texas do help low-income women afford abortions. But Melissa DeHaan, head of fundraising for one such organization, the Lilith Fund, says that the unmet need is still great. “Funds are so tight that when women first call I ask them to really think about what they can come up with on their own,” she said. “If they can ask five people to loan them $20. Sometimes it comes down to selling books and CDs. But then you talk to that woman on Medicaid, in Section 8 housing … and you know there’s no way she can get together $400 on her own.” T he other group hit hard by abortion restrictions are teenagers. And thanks to the flawed logic of pro-life forces in the state with the second-highest teen birth rate in the country, they are also subject to regulations that limit their access to confidential reproductive health care by forcing parental involvement. While agreeing that involving parents in teens’ major life decisions is a good idea, clinic workers argue that for many teens that’s simply not possible. When an open relationship is already lacking, confronting a teen’s sexual activity is no recipe for instant harmony. “I’ve heard stories that will curl your hair,” said Rachel Goeres of the San Antonio Planned Parenthood. “One girl’s father brandished a shotgun when he found out she was having sex. He had already thrown her sister out of the house. Another girl’s mother called the police when she found a condom in the girl’s bedroom.” implement a particularly onerous restriction that was pushed through the last Legislature as a rider to an appropriations bill. Known as Rider 13, the measure was authored by Sen. Steve ed in this year’s appropriations bill. Rider 13 requires parental consent for minors to receive contraceptives from state-funded clinics. However, it will not affect those clinics that receive federal family planning funds [Title X], or minors whose care is funded by Medicaid, because both programs require confidential access. Nevertheless, in some areas, the consequences will be drastic. “I’ve heard stories that will curl your hair,” said Rachel Goeres of the San Antonio Planned Parenthood. “One girl’s father brandished a shotgun when he found out she was having sex. He had already thrown her sister out of the house. Another girl’s mother called the police when she found a condom in the girl’s bedroom.” As Romberg points out, the entire San Antonio Metropolitan Health District receives no Title X funds. “Once the TDH implements Rider 13, they will have to require parental consent or not serve teenagers,” she says. “Mr. Ogden seems to think that if you deny teenagers care they won’t be sexually active, but his formula just doesn’t work.” Romberg cites a 2002 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that 47 percent of adolescents surveyed would not visit a clinic if their parents had to know; another 12 percent said they would delay care. Of that combined 59 percent, 99 percent said they would not stop sexual activity. A further disincentive for teens to seek health care is Sen. Ogden’s Rider 14, passed at the same time as Rider 13, which requires clinics to report child abuse to state regulatory or law enforcement agencies. This sounds beneficial enough, and indeed, clinic workers insist they already report evidence of abuse. Texas law defines the age of consent as 17, although as long as the partners are within three years of age, the “crime” continued on page 18 2/14/03 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 7