The Catholic Conference of Illinois welcomed today’s unanimous Illinois Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for a 1995 parental notification of abortion law to finally be implemented.
State lawmakers approved the legislation requiring that a parent or legal guardian be notified when a minor seeks an abortion in order to protect children from making such a decision on their own. The measure includes a waiver for those children who have been physically or sexually abused.
Special interests and legal wranglings barred the law from taking effect for 18 years, setting up the state as an abortion haven for children from surrounding states, which already have parental notification laws in place.
“With this ruling, parents across the state and the Midwest can breathe a sigh of relief with the knowledge that state law finally allows them to fully parent their children, and safeguard their lives and those of the unborn,” said Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois.
Gilligan noted the decision cited other court rulings that recognize minors lack the maturity, experience and judgment to distinguish harmful choices, as well as observing that juvenile justice systems exist for those very reasons.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois strongly supported the original legislation, lent its support to defeating the legal challenges to the law, and fought off subsequent legislative efforts to undermine the role of parents.
