Illinois Bill to Repeal Law Requiring Parental Notice of Abortion Heads to Governor

Illinois State Capitol successful Springfield, Illinois, connected June 26, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

A measure that would let minors successful Illinois to get an abortion without their parents’ oregon guardians’ cognition present heads to the table of Gov. J.B. Pritzker aft clearing the authorities legislature.

The bill, known arsenic the “Youth Health and Safety Act,” seeks to repeal Illinois’s long-standing Parental Notification of Abortion Act, which requires each termination clinics successful the authorities to notify an big household member, including parent, grandparent, step-parent surviving successful the aforesaid household, oregon a ineligible guardian, if a pistillate property 17 oregon younger wants to person an abortion. The notification is required for some aesculapian and surgical abortions, and indispensable beryllium made wrong 48 hours earlier the procedure.

Under the existing law, the woman’s genitor oregon guardian doesn’t person the close to o.k. oregon veto the determination to get an abortion, but it’s legally required that the genitor indispensable beryllium notified either successful idiosyncratic oregon by phone. The instrumentality besides applies to women surviving successful different authorities but seeking to person an termination successful Illinois.

The Republican number successful the Illinois General Assembly criticized the Democrat-backed legislation, pointing to a March 2020 survey (pdf) showing that astir 3 quarters of radical successful the authorities are successful favour of the parental announcement law.

“The Democratic legislators who voted yes contiguous acted shamefully and recklessly against insignificant girls and their parents,” Republican authorities Rep. Tom Morrison said successful a connection pursuing the bill’s passage. “They ignored the sentiment of astir Illinois residents–including a bulk of pro-choice residents, according to polls.”

“It’s the astir basal quality narration that we cognize and it is simply a precious enslaved for a lifetime, astir captious during a young girl’s, a minor’s, formative years,” said Republican authorities Sen. Jil Tracy, reported the Associated Press. “We person capable problems successful the authorities without creating much wedges betwixt children and their parents.”

Meanwhile, the authorities was welcomed by the Illinois section of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has been moving to repeal the parental announcement instrumentality for much than a decade. In 2009, the ACLU sued connected behalf of an termination session successful Granite City, seeking to artifact the law’s implementation. In 2013, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a little court’s decision, dismissing the ACLU’s challenge.

“This is an importation endeavor and deserves the enactment of everyone who expressed a genuine tendency to assistance and enactment young radical portion this measure was nether consideration,” the radical said successful an Oct. 27 statement. “We promote Governor Pritzker to motion this measurement arsenic soon arsenic possible.”