In the wake of the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to uphold the right of parents to be notified if their underage child seeks an abortion, the question is: How will the abortion industry react?
"We are disappointed by the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995," said Carol Brite, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois. "While we believe the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act puts the health and safety of teens at unnecessary risk, Planned Parenthood of Illinois is committed to doing everything we can to make this new process as easy as possible for teens if the law goes into effect."
Other abortion groups such as Personal PAC, which endorses and financially supports legislators and judges concurs. In 2012, Personal PAC endorsed 49 of the 118 Illinois House members and 32 of the 59 Illinois Senate members, as well as Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis.
Abortion proponents such as Planned Parenthood, Personal PAC and others could respond to Thursday's decision in various ways, including, 1.) Attempting to repeal the 1995 Parental Notification Act in the Illinois General Assembly, 2.) Appealing the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court or 3.) Accepting the decision and finding ways to work around the notficiation process.
Given Democrat super majorities in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, and Democrat control of the Executive Branch, it would seem that option #2 might be the path of least resistance for the pro-abortion side.
For those unfamiliar with the legislative history, the Parental Notification Act passed the Illinois General Assembly during the only two years (1995-1996) that Republicans held the majority in both legislative chambers. Since that time, no substantial anti-abortion legislation has made its way past the Illinois House floor under the leadership of Democrat House Speaker Mike Madigan, except for the 2005 Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which was amended to specifically say it would not deter abortions in Illinois.
The U.S. Supreme Court has already affirmed parental notification for minors before abortion, leaving the decision whether or not to enact to individual states.
In the Illinois Supreme Court's statement, Justice Bob Thomas differed in one aspect of the Court's lead opinion by writing in his concurrence that he believed the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention refused to recognize the right to abortion, a position Attorney General Lisa Madigan conceded to the ACLU.
In sum, I believe that delegates to the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention refused to recognize a right to abortion in drafting our 1970 constitution, and that is how I would construe our due process clause. Given the clear intent of the drafters of our 1970 constitution, I would reject the lockstep approach that the lead opinion employs in construing the language of our due process clause to mean the same as the federal due process clause on the subject of abortion. In the end, however, we are in unanimous agreement that the Illinois due process clause does not render the Parental Notification of Abortion Act of 1995 unconstitutional. I believe we also wind up in the same place in the event that Casey and Roe are ever overruled. If that were to happen, the lead opinion's approach would simply revert the meaning of our due process clause to the pre-Roe interpretation and the matter of abortion regulation (i.e., whether to regulate or prohibit it) would be left for the legislative process. Although it may seem to be an academic point, then, to conclude, as I do, that the Illinois Constitution does not contain a right to abortion, it is our solemn obligation to discern and effectuate the true intent of the drafters of our state constitution on this matter.
The Illinois Supreme Court's opinion is available HERE.
Source: Illinois Review
