While you probably know that COLAGE has actively participated with the No on 8 Campaign in California, we also want to make sure our members and allies are educated about Proposition 4. As a member of the Causes in Common Coalition as well as a youth empowerment organization committed to social justice, COLAGE believes that Proposition 4 is dangerous for the young people of California.

Prop 4 threatens teen safety by mandating parental notification prior to a minor terminating a pregnancy. Parents rightfully want to be involved in their teenagers' lives and COLAGE believes that families that have open communication about safe sex and reproductive health are preferable. But in the real world, laws like this don't work. Prop 4 can't force teens to talk to their parents, but it may force them to do something desperate and dangerous.

Prop 4 is not about family involvement. Family notification is no more than a state-scripted form letter sent to another relative who may not live in the same town. Prop 4 contains no requirement for counseling and no requirement that the other adult help her when she is in crisis. We believe that initiatives like these are masked attempts to attack reproductive justice in the United States.

Because no law can mandate family communication and while mandatory laws like these may sound good, in the real world they just put teenagers in harms way. COLAGE joins The American Academy of Pediatrics, the California Medical Association, the California Teachers Association and the American College of OBGYNs to say no to Prop 4. To learn more visit this website.