The California Catholic Conference prepared a series of homilies for priests to mark October as "... Abortion measure could be

The California Catholic Conference prepared a series of homilies for priests to mark October as "Respect Life" month and to use as a countdown to the Nov. 8 special election.

The sermons make references to Proposition 73, an initiative that would require parental notification before doctors can perform abortions on girls under 18.

"Proposition 73 is family-oriented, pro-life and promotes the culture of life," wrote Father Richard Benson, academic dean and moral theology chairman for St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, in his suggested "homily notes" for priests delivering Mass. "It closes the secret access to abortion."

Proposition 73 was in the planning long before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his special election agenda. But as churches, women's groups and others rally forces to vote on the initiative, the turnout for Proposition 73 is viewed as a factor in how other special election measures may fare.

On one side, the Traditional Values Coalition is printing 100,000 slate mailers for evangelical churches, declaring: "We must not let Planned Parenthood and their baby-killing allies dominate at the polls."

And Benjamin Lopez, a coalition lobbyist, said the slate mailers will also urge Christian conservatives to vote "yes" on the governor's special election agenda, comprising Propositions 74, 75, 76 and 77. The measures would extend the time it takes teachers to earn tenure, require public employee labor unions to get members' permission before spending dues on political campaigns, give the governor broad powers to make budget cuts and change how legislative districts are drawn.

On the other side, Planned Parenthood, advocacy groups for women and the No on 73 "Campaign for Teen Safety" are organizing a telephone campaign to get younger, urban women out to vote. On Thursday, the No on 73 campaign began airing television advertisements in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Monterey and Santa Barbara that depict a mother worried that the initiative could force teens into "unsafe, illegal abortions."

Meanwhile, the official Democratic Party slate, which urges a "no" vote on Propositions 74, 75, 76 and 77, assails Proposition 73 as "just the latest attempt by right-wing conservatives to take away a woman's right to choose."

Underscoring the perceived power of Proposition 73 to energize voters, the California Republican Party recently hired Gary Marx, a strategist who courted Christian conservatives for President Bush's re-election campaign. His new job: to reach out to voters supporting parental notification in the hope of helping the GOP's broader ballot agenda.

"This election is about turnout and getting your base out. There is no greater base in the Republican Party than voters who strongly support Proposition 73," said state party spokeswoman Karen Hanretty.

Lew Uhler, a veteran conservative activist sponsoring the Proposition 75 union dues measure, said: "I've said from the beginning: Thank God for two things. One is for the special election and two is for the parental notification initiative. That combination will definitely help us."

But Sacramento GOP media consultant Wayne Johnson said it may be risky business to count on voters impassioned over one issue to buy into a larger ballot agenda.

"My experience is that attempts to organize social conservatives, particularly church-based, meet with very limited success because it is a self-motivated army," said Johnson, who is working on behalf of the Proposition 77 redistricting measure. "People are acting on what they believe, not on what they are told."

Steve Smith, director of the No on 73 campaign, said: "I think, as the governor has decided, that part of his base is right-wing fundamentalist churches. But I'm not sure that will translate for him."

The No on 73 forces are concentrating on bringing out a mostly coastal, Democratic constituency that likely will also vote against the Republican governor on the other measures.

And some political observers say many Catholic Democrats strongly opposed to abortion may be lured to the ballot by Proposition 73 yet won't support other initiatives backed by Schwarzenegger, who favors abortion rights but recently endorsed the parental notification measure.

One religious organization, California Church Impact, an advocacy group for the California Council of Churches, urged a "no" vote on Proposition 73. In a Web page voter guide, it says: "Forcing a scared teenager to tell her parents of an unintended pregnancy inserts the government between the child and the parent, replaces family intimacy and may have harmful and unintended consequences." The California Council of Churches represents 21 Protestant and Orthodox denominations comprising 1.5 million members.

"What I try to repeat over and over again is that there is no one single religious point of view," said the Rev. Rick Schlosser, a United Methodist pastor and executive director of the Council of Churches. "To imply that religious people support 73 or don't support 73 isn't correct."

Schlosser said the religious community may come together - or split - up and down the special election ballot. For example, he said the California Council of Churches and the California Catholic Conference are divided on Proposition 73 but routinely work together on many social justice issues.

Mark DiCamillo, director of the California Field Poll, said a big turnout of more conservative, evangelical Christians would be a boost for the governor's agenda. But he said it remains unclear who will show up Nov. 8.

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