Illinois Pro-Life Parental Notice Law Upheld in Supreme Court

News Release : Jul 11, 2013
Thomas More Society

(Chicago)-Illinois' long-delayed Parental Notice of Abortion Act will finally go into effect within a matter of days thanks to the Illinois Supreme Court's unanimous ruling this morning that the law does not violate the Illinois Constitution. Under the Illinois law, passed in 1995 but never put into effect, a parent or guardian must be notified at least 48 hours before a child under the age of 18 undergoes an abortion.

"This is a huge victory for the rights of parents not only in Illinois but in all Midwestern states," said Tom Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society.

The Supreme Court's decision represents the successful culmination of a nine-year effort by Thomas More Society special counsel, constitutional scholar Paul Linton, to have the law enforced. Linton met with Illinois pro-life leaders in 2004 to develop a strategy for reviving the parental notice law, which had languished in legal limbo for many years because the Illinois Supreme Court declined in 1995 to adopt a needed rule for confidential "bypass" hearings and expedited appeals for minor girls who were either deemed "mature" or made credible claims of family abuse. For lack of that rule, federal courts held the law to be unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement in February 1996. Linton and several pro-life leaders enlisted then-DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett to assist in the effort. In 2006 Birkett and the Thomas More Society petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to adopt the needed procedural rule. Shortly thereafter the Supreme Court adopted the rule needed to put the law into effect.