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Unofficial Title of Prop 4 Called into Question
Proponents of Prop 4, which would require doctors to notify the parents of minors seeking abortions, from the outset dubbed the proposition "Sarah's Law" after a young woman in Texas who died after complications from an abortion.
However, it has recently come to light that nothing about Prop 4 would have changed the way "Sarah's" case was handled or the medical care she received, had she lived in California with a law like this on the books. "Sarah," 15 years old at the time of her death, was married, and therefore under California state law, emancipated. Under Prop 4, as an emancipated minor, she would not have been required to notify a parent or family member of her abortion.
Opponents of the proposition have filed a lawsuit to have the name and story of "Sarah" removed from the voter guide:
"If you can't believe the Sarah story, there's a lot in the ballot argument you can't believe," said Ana Sandoval, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood and the campaign against Proposition 4. - LA Times
Proponents of the law acknowledge that the story may have been misrepresented:
"We will modify the way we present Sarah to be accurate with the information," [said spokeswoman Erica] Little - LA Times
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