Illinois Officials Appeal Court Decision To Keep Illinois Parental Notification Law On Hold

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 21 Mar 2008 - 7:00 PST

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Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (R) has decided to appeal a federal judge's ruling that blocks a state law requiring minors to notify their parents before undergoing an abortion from going into effect, the Chicago Tribune reports (Chicago Tribune, 3/18).

U.S. District Judge David Coar ruled earlier this month that the state law should remain on hold because it fails to provide minors with a practical judicial alternative to notifying their parents. Coar's ruling called parts of the statute, known as the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, "contradictory and incomplete." The law, passed in 1984 and updated in 1995, has never been enforced because the Illinois Supreme Court had not issued rules on how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement. In 2006, the state Supreme Court unexpectedly adopted rules addressing the judicial bypass. Madigan requested that the federal court dissolve the order that put the law on hold (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/4).

According to the Tribune, Madigan indicated last week that she plans to appeal Coar's ruling to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She said that the Illinois Supreme Court resolved any confusion with the law in 2006 when it adopted the rules addressing the judicial bypass (Chicago Tribune, 3/18).

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