Even though Donna Frye lost the mayoral race here in San Diego, and the two propositions I did vote yes on also lost, I’m still feeling rather victorious over the defeat of the other propositions. I’m especially happy about the defeat of Prop 73, which two days before the election was shown to be favored by as much as 12 points. For those of you that don’t know, Prop 73 was a proposition that would require parental notification before a girl under 18 could have an abortion.

Since before this was even on the ballot, this proposition irked me. The people taking signatures for it infuriated me (it was always some fat, gruff man of indeterminate middle age, who looked like he hasn’t been laid in the last two decades, let alone had a child), and yet they’d stand there loudly proclaiming, “Don’t let them touch your daughter without your permission!”, but they looked like men who might take sick pleasure in touching their own daughter. Anyway, I was luckily never approached by one of these men, or otherwise police may have been involved.

I see Prop 73 as just another plea from lazy parents for the government to do part of their job for them. Now, my mother was brought up in a very oppressive household, one in which her mother would read her diary, and once even went with her to a friend’s house, so my mother could tell her that, no, she hadn’t really started getting her periods like she had told her. I’ve also heard my grandmother tell my mom that she never thought certain things growing up. It’s kind of creepy.

Her childhood being what it was, my mother taught both my brother and I to always speak our minds. She also fostered a relationship with us, in which we were comfortable to talk to her about *anything*. Because of this, my mother and I have a close relationship, and growing up, I could have told her anything, usually without fear of punishment. Possibly because of this, I never got knocked up as a teenager.

If parents took a more active role in their children’s life, spoke openly about sex and drugs, and let their kids know that if they’re in trouble, they have a person they can talk to, without fear of retaliation, we’d probably see far fewer teen abortions.

It’s only crappy parents that want a law like Prop 73 to pass. If you’re so worried that your teenage daughter is going to sneak off and have an abortion without telling you, then the problem is you.