Committee
Considers Bills to Make Abortions Easier, Restraining Orders Harder, to
Obtain
Cellucci proposes more "abortion rights" for teenagers;
fathers fight for due process
STATE HOUSE NEWS
SERVICE
June 16 -- The Judiciary Committee took
testimony - but not
a lot of it - on several late filed petitions today, including an abortion
rights bill filed by Gov. Paul Cellucci (H 4312).
The bill lowers the age of consent for abortion from 18 to 16, and changes
the requirement that both parents of minors give consent to require
the
consent of only one parent. It also repeals the 24-hour waiting
period for
abortions.
No one testified in support of the bill, but anti-abortion groups opposed
it. Massachusetts Citizens for Life legislative director Patricia
Doherty
said the bill would remove statutory references to the unborn child,
thereby preventing women from having full information about the procedure.
She also objected to lowering the age of consent.
"Lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16 is essentially weakening
the
role of the family," Doherty said.
Another bill aired today would require full evidentiary hearings, including
cross-examination and penalties of perjury, before a 209A restraining
order
could be issued (H 3501). Currently, a judge makes the issuance
decision
based on affidavits filed by the two parties.
Westborough resident Edward Bayiates, who wrote the bill after being
"falsely accused," called restraining orders a "common tool in acrimonious
divorces" and said men almost always end up on the losing side.
"In practice, the accused is considered guilty before the hearing begins,"
he said. "People are being evicted from their homes, denied access
to
their children and jailed in some cases when they have never committed
abuse," Bayiates said.
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