We hope the issue does not become just an election-year lightning rod to lure conservative voters to Republican incumbents because the bill appears to be a serious attempt to improve a 30-year-old law. Unfortunately, the bill's 28 Republican co-sponsors suggest it may, indeed, be the Utah Legislature's 2006 nose-thumber at Roe v. Wade.

Although Utah law currently only requires physicians to notify parents of a minor's intention to get an abortion, in practice, few girls go through the traumatic operation on their own. However, current law does not include a provision that protects a girl who does not want to have her parents notified or involved because she has been abused at home or the pregnancy was caused by incest.

Gibson's bill would reasonably provide a procedure for a court to grant a minor the right to get an abortion without parental consent. That would be an improvement over the current law.

The bill includes another change in the current statute that we feel is important: It would eliminate a requirement that doctors notify a woman's husband that she is about to have an abortion. It also includes exceptions to the consent requirement for medical emergencies, in cases of obvious abuse or incest and when the girl has been effectively abandoned by her parents or guardian.

Planned Parenthood Director Karrie Galloway has some concerns about the bill that legislators should consider. She believes the current law works well and worries that parents who would be satisfied merely being notified of their child's abortion might oppose it if they had to formally sign off on it.

Nonetheless, parental consent is required for most medical procedures performed on minors. So why should abortion - a potentially traumatic and life-altering operation - be any different?

Gibson has crafted his bill carefully to make it pass constitutional muster and also to appeal to his conservative constituents. It deserves bipartisan consideration on its merits, not as an election battle flag for the GOP.