STATE’S ATTORNEY BIRKETT SEEKS TO REINVIGORATE PARENTAL NOTIFICATION LAW

WHEATON - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announced today that he filed a request with the Illinois Supreme Court to adopt a Rule for Appeals from denials of a waiver of parental notice under the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995.  Parental Notification Laws are in effect in all of Illinois surrounding states.  These laws require notification to a parent or an adult family member that a minor is considering an abortion.  These laws were passed because the overwhelming majority of Americans, whether pro life or pro choice, believe that notification to an adult family member is usually in the best interest of an un-emancipated minor.  The Illinois General Assembly found that an abortion can have medical, emotional and psychological consequences, which are sometimes serious and long standing.  Immature minors often lack the ability to make fully informed choices that consider both the immediate and long range consequences.  Parental consultation is usually in the best interest of the minor.

            The 1995 law, which requires notification to at least one adult family member, except in certain situations, was ruled incomplete and unenforceable because the Illinois Supreme Court in 1995 refused to enact rules which would allow for an expedited and confidential appeal from a denial of waiver of notice for a minor seeking an abortion.

            State’s Attorney Birkett stated that the Illinois General Assembly’s findings and purpose clearly sets forth valid public policy reasons for the passage of the 1995 law.  “The rules we propose today comply with all legal requirements and safeguard the rights of minor children seeking abortions, while at the same time ensuring that any decision to have an abortion is a result of mature and informed judgment,”  said State’s Attorney Birkett.

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