Our state Legislature has an opportunity to redeem itself by passing House Bill 1321.

HB 1321 is a parental notification bill requiring that parents be informed before their teenage child can obtain an abortion.

HB 1321 is notification only, not permission. If the teenage girl does not want her parents notified, then a judge will decide if the parents are not fit to know and if a line needs to be drawn through their constitutional rights.

HB 1321 will help ensure that the people who care most about this girl and the unborn child have a chance to ensure her best interests and mental health are protected.

HB 1321 has been around for a very long time and has never made it to the floor of the state House of Representatives.

The longtime party of Lincoln and the party of Jefferson have in this state government left the people of Washington unrepresented for a long time.

Please call your state representative and tell them you are paying attention to what they are not doing.

HB 1321 will give our elected representatives a reason to stand up with solid popularity and say, “Yes, we represent you.”

Mental health agencies of Washington and their lobbyists have far too long left the families of this state castrated so they could be the village that raised our kids with their good intentions.

Remember the words of Daniel Webster: “Good intentions are always pleaded for any assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

Hugh Fleet

Marysville