By Liz Townsend

Alaska's new parental notification law, passed by voters in the August primary, has been challenged in court by Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Scheduled to take effect December 14, the law requires abortionists to notify minors' parents before an abortion, unless the girl receives permission from a judge or asserts that her parents are abusive.

The Planned Parenthood affiliate, joined by two doctors, claims that the law abridges the constitutional equal protection rights of teens who want an abortion, since teens who choose to keep their babies do not have to notify their parents when they make that decision, the Daily News reported.

The lawsuit also asserts that the law violates privacy rights granted to the girls by the state, as well as the abortionists' due process rights, according to the Daily News.

Alaska's legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto and passed a parental consent law in 1997, requiring a parent or judge to approve the abortion decision, the Daily News reported. However, that law did not go into effect because of court challenges, and was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2007.

The state's Department of Law has not yet released its response to the late November filing. Department spokesman Bill McAllister said that "the state will likely defend the parental notification measure, as it generally does when state laws are challenged," according to the Daily News.

Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha.