Prop. 4

As of early Wednesday morning, Proposition 4, a measure that would require parental notification for minors seeking an abortion, is headed towards defeat.

With 86 percent of California precincts reporting, Prop. 4 is losing 53 percent to 47 percent.

The Yes on Proposition 4 campaign is "cautiously optimistic" about tonight's results, according to campaign spokeswoman Grace Dulaney.

Californians are divided on Proposition 4, the abortion notification measure, according to the latest Field Poll.

The survey of 966 likely voters, conducted from Oct. 18-28, shows that 45 percent support Prop. 4, while 43 percent oppose it. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.

A Field Poll released Friday shows that Prop. 4, the November ballot initiative that would require doctors to notify parents before performing abortions on minor children is maintaining a slight lead with Golden State voters.

The poll finds that 49 percent of likely voters intend to vote for the measure while 41 percent say they are against the proposition. The poll found that 10 percent of the respondents are undecided.

The 8 point ‘yes' side is 1 point down from the 9 point advantage the measure had according to a Field Poll conducted in July.

According to the Field Poll, "Prop. 4 is the third attempt in the past four years by backers to pass a parental notification initiative. In each of the two previous attempts - Proposition 73 in the November 2005 special election and Proposition 85 in the November 2006 general election - California voters narrowly rejected these previous parental notification initiatives."

The current findings come from a statewide survey of 830 likely voters completed September 5-14. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

A San Jose-based chapter of Planned Parenthood has now contributed $1 million to make sure that Prop. 4 -- a measure appearing on the November ballot requiring doctors to inform parents of teens prior to performing abortions on them -- is defeated at the polls.

Last month, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte sent the so-called Campaign for Teen Safety $700,000 to defeat the proposition, which, if successful, would amend the state constitution to include the compulsory notification requirement.

This week records filed with the California Secretary of State's office this week show that the Mar Monte affiliate donated another $300,000 to the Teen Safety committee, itself a unit of Planned Parenthood. That means Planned Parenthood has now contributed a total of $1 million toward the defeat of Prop. 4.