It took nearly 27 years but pro-abortionists in Illinois finally vanquished the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. The vote to end the requirement for a minor girl to notify her parent or guardian passed the Senate by vote 33-22 and the House 62-51 and was eagerly signed into law by Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker.
The law officially took effect yesterday, according to Peter Hancock of Capitol News Illinois:
House Bill 370 passed the General Assembly in October despite opposition from some Democrats. It creates the Youth Health and Safety Act which, among other things, declares it to be public policy in Illinois that residents and people coming into the state should have access to reproductive health care, free of unnecessary barriers or bans on particular procedures.
It also repeals the 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion law, which did not go into effect until 2013 due to prolonged litigation.
“It is a grave injustice that the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Pritzker repealed this law,” the Catholic Conference of Illinois said in a statement Wednesday. “The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was a broadly-supported, reasonable safeguard that allowed Illinois’ parents to properly exercise love and care for their children.”
As you would expect, the ACLU lobbied in favor of repeal.
“Prior to today, pregnant young people could make any medical decision without barriers except abortion.” Emily Werth, staff attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, said in a statement. “Now thankfully they have the same right to make a confidential decision about their health care as everyone else. Today abortion is treated just like all other forms of health care in this state.”
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin is leading the GOP field to be his party’s nominee to run against Pritzker.
“When pressed by a reporter to say whether he would reinstate the parental notification law if he is elected governor, Irvin said, ‘absolutely,’ reinstating that law would require action from the General Assembly.”
The writing was on the wall—in 2019 Illinois passed the Illinois Reproductive Health Act which removed all protections for preborn children in the state—although parents struggled mightily. Indeed, they defeated the initiative as recently at this past June.
The law first passed in 1995 but court challenges kept the law from taking effect until 2013.
Pro-abortionists insisted it was unneeded and overly strict. In fact, the law has numerous exceptions.
For example, as the Belleville News-Democrat’s Sarah Mansur writes, the law has a judicial bypass that “allows for minors to obtain a court waiver, if the minor can show she is mature and well-informed enough to make the decision to obtain an abortion, or that it is not in their best interest to notify an adult family member.”
Public opinion was strongly in favor of parental notification as indicated by a 2021 poll which was skewed heavily prochoice (55%) versus 37% prolife.
Question 8 read, “If a minor under age 18 is seeking an abortion, do you think the law should require her parent or guardian to be notified before the procedure?”
To this question, 72% of all respondents answered “yes” or “strongly yes” — with 56% saying “strongly yes” and 16% saying “yes.” Notably, 58% of pro-choice respondents said “yes” to notifying parents before a minor daughter has an abortion, and 76% of minorities polled also supported the Parental Notice of Abortion Law.
Rep. Tom Morrison called the vote a “slap in the face to parents and a grave harm to Illinois girls and those from neighboring states,” who he says will come to Illinois to bypass their own state’s laws.
“The state has prohibited these same girls from getting ear piercings, tattoos, smoking, buying lottery tickets or even visiting indoor tanning salons because they are deemed not mature enough to understand the consequences of their decisions,” Morrison said. “Getting pregnant as a minor is a very serious matter, just as getting a surgical or chemical abortion as a minor is a very serious matter. In either case, parents have a right to know what’s going on with their children.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.
