AP/San Jose Mercury News Profiles Publisher Financing Support For California Parental Notification Ballot Initiative

The AP/San Jose Mercury News on Sunday profiled Jim Holman, publisher of the alternative weekly newspaper the San Diego Reader, who has contributed $2.6 million in cash and loans to support Proposition 85 -- a statewide ballot measure that would require doctors to notify parents or guardians before performing an abortion on a minor (Hoffman, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 10/29). The measure would require unmarried girls younger than age 18 to inform a parent or legal guardian of their intention to have an abortion 48 hours before undergoing the procedure. The initiative is similar to Proposition 73, which failed in November 2005, but it eliminates language that defines abortion as resulting in the "death of an unborn child, conceived but not yet born." In addition, Proposition 85 does not include a provision in Proposition 73 that would have mandated reporting on how many judicial waivers a judge has approved (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/1). The Proposition 85 campaign is headquartered in the Reader's downtown offices, according to the AP/Mercury News. The Reader in 1988 ran a story titled, "What Becomes of San Diego County's 20,000 Fetuses Each Year." In addition, the paper has published advertisements depicting "discarded fetuses" and banned ads for family planning and sex hot lines, the AP/Mercury News reports. Holman, who also donated about $1 million to support Proposition 73, in 1989 was convicted of trespassing after participating in an Operation Rescue demonstration outside an abortion clinic. Holman has not spoken publicly about Proposition 85 and declined a request for an interview. Don Sebastiani, a former Republican state legislator who also has donated to support the initiative, said Holman "doesn't want to be the issue," adding, "He wants the issue to be the issue." According to the AP/Mercury News, Holman in an e-mail agreed with Sebastiani's statement (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 10/29).

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