Illinois Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Abortion Notification Law

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On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a ruling ending a legal battle that would allow a 1995 law to be enforced. The implementation of the law, which requires parents to be notified in cases where girls seeking abortion are 17 years or younger, had never been made due to pending legal battles.

The court unanimously decided to uphold an earlier decision of a circuit court in dismissing the lawsuit that challenged the law. The lawsuit had been filed by a doctor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a health clinic, who asserted that the parental notification requirement was unconstitutional.

  

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The court cited several precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court which upheld parental notification requirements. Writing for the majority, Justice Anne Burke observed that the state of Illinois “has an interest in ensuring that a minor is sufficiently mature and well-informed to make the difficult decision whether to have an abortion.”

The Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, one of the plaintiffs, was represented by the ACLU.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois said in a statement “…we believe the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act puts the health and safety of teens at unnecessary risk …”

The argument of those who challenged the law was summed up by Planned Parenthood, which stated, “in an ideal world, parents would be involved in their teens’ health care and engaged in healthy dialogue around responsible decision making. But in some cases, safe and open communication is not possible.”

Unless there is an appeal, the requirement to notify parents in case of girls 17-year-old or younger seeking abortions, would go into effect within 35 days in Illinois. And Illinois joins 38 other US states that require some kind of parental notification in cases of teenagers seeking abortions.