Efforts to pass Proposition 85, the parental notification initiative on the upcoming state ballot, will dominate October's annual "Respect Life" events this year as parishioners and interfaith coalition members collaborate to increase voter support and turnout throughout the state Nov. 7.

Similar to last year's Prop 73, defeated by a 47 percent to 52 percent margin, Prop 85 proposes to amend the California Constitution to forbid physicians from performing abortions on underage girls until written notice has been delivered to parents/legal guardians and a minimum waiting period of 48 hours has taken place.

On Oct. 1, Cardinal Roger Mahony will address parishioners at Sunday Mass in a recorded message urging them to "support, work for and vote Yes on Proposition 85." As the cardinal explains in his message, "Parents are the best ones to help a minor daughter understand all her options if she becomes pregnant. Without parental involvement, other influences can dominate. Parental notification laws are desperately needed to protect young girls."

As with Prop 73, supporters are relying on a grass roots campaign of education and voter registration. "The Proposition 85 campaign has been a huge catalyst for our Hispanic Respect Life Committee Project," said Hispanics for Life spokesperson Astrid Bennett Gutierrez.

The Hispanic pro-life group, part of the archdiocesan Committee for Catholic Life Issues, will hold PNI evening workshops in English and Spanish for parish leaders at its recently-opened Prop 85 headquarters based at Los Angeles Pregnancy Services on 2524 West Seventh St. in downtown L.A. Free Spanish-language PNI materials, including brochures, bumper stickers and yard signs, are available at the crisis pregnancy center Monday through Saturday.

Many parish Respect Life leaders have downloaded English- and Spanish-language Prop 85 flyers and bulletin inserts from the bishops' California Catholic Conference website, www.cacatholic.org. Since summer, the CCC has hosted several Prop 85 conference calls with parish pro-life leaders and Knights of Columbus members in efforts to promote passage of the PNI initiative.

"We are making an even greater effort to work collaboratively with the Knights of Columbus," said Marie Widmann, pro-life Catholic Ministries director for the San Bernardino Diocese. "Exchanging information with the Knights' leadership is a real positive thing that I hope will continue."

"Catholics for 85," a coalition of Catholic organizations supporting Prop 85, is calling for Catholic parishes and groups to publicly endorse the initiative on its website, www.Catholicsfor85.org. According to organizer Bill May, chairman and founder of the Bay Area-based non-profit, Catholics for the Common Good, the purpose of the coalition is to organize Catholics statewide and help them understand the parental notification law.

"Research shows that parental notification laws in other states reduce the number of abortions among teenagers and reduces sexual activity among them as well," asserted May. It is critical to pass Prop 85 to protect the health and welfare of girls and to assure that parents can exercise their responsibility for the physical and spiritual health of their children."

"Many voted against Prop 73 by mistake," he added, maintaining that PNI opponents "try to confuse voters as much as they can," with misleading information and rhetoric that infers religious groups may not endorse propositions.

"All non-profit organizations have the right to engage in issue advocacy so long as it does not constitute a substantial portion of their overall activities," explained James Sweeney, a lawyer who represents a number of non-profit clients including the CCC. "It's candidate advocacy that's absolutely prohibited."

Editor's note: To contact Hispanics for Life for updated Prop 85 workshop information, log on to www.hispanicsforlife.org or call (562) 696-1500.