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Show ills leuieuieiii. - of! -: :J . yfSBSSl '. Senate Bill 3 was passed last week by the state Senate. As amended, the bill will cut off all state funds for contraception and abortion information, in-formation, counseling and services for unmarried minors without the written consent of their parents, and make illegal any funding of agencies "that approve of providing" such services. Sen. Karl N. Snow, Jr., R-Utah, sponsor of the bill, said availability of these services "can only lead to promiscuity in society." He added, "We are talking about funding, not services. Should the state be in the business of providing contraceptives to minors without parental consent? The right to access is entirely another matter." As it now stands, private physicians who do not receive state funds will not be required to comply with the provisions of this bill. The state of Utah now receives close to $800,000 annually from the federal government in Title 10 Family Health Planning funds, which is distributed among the state Department Depart-ment of Health, Planned Parenthood of Utah, and the Park City Family Planning Clinic. Sponsors admit that if passage of this bill is interpreted by the federal government as failure to provide family planning services, $390,000 of these funds could be withheld. "Should this occur," said Sen. Snow, "they would indeed be cutting of their nose to spite their face." Susan Roylance, national vice-president vice-president of United Families of America which is behind this bill, testified before the Senate that contraception "strikes at the basic integrity of the family unit. Information In-formation on contraception ought to be reserved as a right of parents," she added. "Teens are not mature enough to make these kinds of decisions." S.B. 3 was adopted into the state Republican Party platform, and "is truly a bill of the people," she said. "We know this bill will be challenged, and will go all the way to the Supreme Court." According to Michael Chulada, director of Planned Parenthood of Utah, the legislature is "turning its back on the problem of teen-age pregnancy in this state." Utah has one of the highest teen-age pregnancy rates in the country, and Planned Parenthood is ordered by the Federal government to provide counseling to people regardless of age. "If the bill passes," he said, "Planned Parenthood Paren-thood will be in violation of federal law if it complies with the state law. Many supporters of this bill think they're putting Planned Parenthood out of business because we stand to lose 43 percent of our funding. If this occurs," he added, "we will seek to overturn the bill in federal courts." Sen E. Verl Asay, R-Salt Lake, co-sponsor co-sponsor of the bill told the Senate, "Planned Parenthood is a misnomer. They are anti-parenthood, and anti-family. anti-family. The relationship of the sexes has been constant for thousands of years. Now, almost overnight, that's all being, changed, and the rate of abortions and promiscuity is going up. We are tiptoing on venomous python eggs," he said. Sen. Frances Farley, D-Salt Lake, and several other Democrats supported sup-ported an amendment to S.B. 3 that would have removed restrictions on counseling and information on contraception. con-traception. "It is a very important educational tool," she said, "that would work to the advantage of all of us. Research indicates that teenagers teen-agers who receive counseling become sexually active later in life. It is completely unrealistic of us to expect young people to bring a note from their parents, especially in cases of children who are emotionally or sexually abused or disturbed," she said. Sen. William N. Jones, H-Utah, responded that "knowledge of contraception con-traception will encourage sexual activity. The more you talk about it, the more these kids are going to want to try it." Sen. Bryce C. Flamm, R-Weber, R-Weber, added that "teen-agers have plenty of money to spend on stereos, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. Why can't they save the money to go to a private physician for these services?" ser-vices?" Sen. Arthur L. Kimball, D-Salt D-Salt Lake, responded "We are merely discriminating against people who don't have the money." The Farley amendment was defeated, and S.B. 3 was passed by a 26 to 3 vote of the Senate (Sens Farley, Kimball and Black dissenting). dissen-ting). From here the bill will be sent to the House for consideration where easy passage is expected, and'then to the governor. Before the adjournment Sen Karl G. Swan, D-Salt Lake-Tooele, said "There is a widespread feeling that if you don't discuss contraception you are improving the morality of youne people, that the threat of pregnancv will keep young ladies virtuous The threat of pregnancy t0 'stoD pregnancy needs to be reconsidered Why do we not have faith in counseling? coun-seling? They request this information when they are already pregnant, not before. They have some freedoms they have some rights to ask." |