Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Victory For Illinois Parents

In 1995, Illinois passed a parental notification bill, the "Parental Notice of Abortion Act", which has been in legal limbo ever since. Yesterday, July 14, 2009, following many years of legal manipulation, the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Court, dissolved the federal injunction against the Illinois "Parental Notice of Abortion Act". This is a real victory for Illinois and parents across the country.

Illinois has long been called the "abortion dumping ground", because all 5 neighboring states had enacted protective parental notification and consent laws. This meant that girls from these 5 surrounding states, would enter Illinois for their abortions. In fact, since 1995, over 50,000 minors have obtained abortions, more than 4,000 of whom were 14 yrs. old or younger.

There are many heroes in this battle to obtain good public policy. To mention just a few, certainly the Thomas Moore Society, Dupage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, the leadership of Chief Justice Bob Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court, and the Illinois Federation for Right to Life and the Illinois Citizens for Life, whose lobbyists worked tirelessly in 1995 to pass the Illinois "Parental Notice of Abortion Act".     

Good public policy protects the citizens of a state. Enactment of Parental Notification laws are good public policy.   

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