Illinois Parental Notification Law Takes Effect After Years Of Legal Disputes

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 10 Aug 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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After more than 10 years of legal dispute, an Illinois law requiring that the parents of minors seeking abortion services be notified before the procedure took effect on Tuesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The law was enacted in 1995 but an injunction arguing that it could put girls from abusive homes into dangerous situations prevented the law from going into effect.

Under the law, health care providers are responsible for ensuring that parental notification is given prior to providing abortion services to minors (McDermott, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/5). On Wednesday, the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation accepted a recommendation from its Medical Disciplinary Board that abortion providers be granted a 90-day grace period for violations related to the law. According to the panel, the grace period will allow health care providers to better understand their obligation under the law (AP/Carmi Times, 8/5).

Antiabortion-rights advocates say that the notification requirement will help prevent girls from making decisions too quickly about whether to have an abortion. Some abortion-rights opponents expressed concerns that providers will not do enough to enforce the rule. However, abortion-rights supporters said that most minors seeking abortions already involve their parents in the decision. They also reiterated concerns that the law places girls from abusive homes in danger and that seeking a court-approved bypass of the rule would be difficult. "Discussing the most intimate details with a judge wouldn't be pleasant for you or me, let alone a 17-year-old girl," Lorie Chaiten -- director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Rights Project -- said (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/5).

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