A sampling of residents leaving the polls on Tuesday showed that they did not favor requiring minors to get consent from their parents before they got an abortion.

Noel Andersen, 27, a graduate theology student, said, “What we need is more education, not legislation. It’s not the state’s role to legislate communication between a young woman and her parents.”

Scott Millspaugh, 30, remembered the experiences of several pregnant high school friends when he voted “no” on Proposition 85. He grew up in North Carolina, which has a parental consent law. Millspaugh watched his friends go to “ridiculous lengths” to get abortions, including one case where a young woman switched identities with an 18-year-old friend so that she didn’t have to get her parents’ permission to terminate the pregnancy.

“It was much more awful than it had to be,” he said. “They were under tremendous stress, and they were going to [get the abortions] anyway.”

Proposition 85 would amend the state constitution to require that a minor girl’s parent be given written notice before she can obtain an abortion. If a minor does not want to get parental consent, she can appeal to a judge for an exemption. A physician could also determine that the abortion was necessary “due to a medical emergency.”

A poll conducted last week by the Field Poll predicted that California’s costal voters would oppose the initiative. Those most strongly in favor of Proposition 85 tend to be male, Republican, and inland voters. Religious groups are split over the measure. Approximately 11% of California voters were undecided on the measure – so they will be the ones who decide the proposition’s outcome.

Nevertheless, Berkeley resident Eileen Harrington, 44, had “mixed feelings” before she eventually voted against Proposition 85. A social worker who describes herself as “very pro-choice”, Harrington still wants to see more parental involvement between pregnant teens and their parents, although she says that many of the parents she sees “don’t have the [necessary] competency” to help their daughters make good decisions.

“I voted ‘no’ because it gives kids with a poor relationship with their parents a way out,” she said.

Proposition 85 was placed on the ballot just a year after the defeat of a similar initiative, Proposition 73, which was narrowly defeated by voters last November.

If Proposition 85 passes, California will join 34 other states that currently require either parental notification or parental consent before a minor female can obtain an abortion. Oregon voters are considering a similar initiative.

There’s only one thing that supporters and opponents of Proposition 85 agree on: the stakes in this election are huge.

Supporters of Proposition 85 claim that the initiative will promote good family communication and that a girl will behave more responsibly if she knows that her parents will find out if she becomes pregnant. They want to guide their daughters about major decisions such as pregnancy and abortion, and they want to be involved in her medical care. They believe that current laws have eroded their parental rights.

Opponents of Proposition 85 claim that the overwhelming majority of pregnant teenage girls already involve their parents or a trusted relative in their decisions about whether or not to get abortions. Opponents fear for the girls who don’t talk with their families voluntarily, because they often come from abusive homes. They believe that no law can compel good family communication, that the parental notification requirement puts at-risk teens in a more vulnerable position, and that it is really an attempt to chip away at a young woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy.

A Field Poll released November 2, 2006 found that 46% of respondents supported the initiative, 43% opposed it, and 11% were undecided.