Illinois to Enforce Parental Notice of Abortion Act
July 19, 2009
Illinois to Enforce Parental Notice of Abortion Act: The Health of All Illinois Young Women Now Put At Risk
Statement from Soo Ji Min, executive director of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health
The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health is deeply disappointed by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling upholding the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. As of August 4, 2009, all young women in Illinois—for the first time in 36 years—will be required by law to notify their parent, guardian, or certain adult 48 hours before obtaining abortions.
While parental notification laws are intended to protect young women, they assume that all young women can safely involve their family in the decision to terminate a pregnancy. Ideally, young women would freely inform their parents or other trusted adults. And most do. However, the government cannot mandate good family dynamics or strengthen a family’s ability to engage in effective and positive communication.
Research has shown that when parental notification laws are implemented, the odds increase that a young women’s pregnancy will end in a second-trimester abortion. Although abortion is among the safest surgical procedures for women, risk of complications increase as the pregnancy progresses. The American Medical Association reports that some young women will go to extreme and unhealthy lengths to keep pregnancies secret, including running away, obtaining illegal abortions, or self-inducing abortions. Over half of young women who do not involve a parent in their decision to seek an abortion cite fear of abuse or eviction.
Requiring parental notification or consent can expose young women to these risks. Additionally, young women who already face multiple barriers to accessing legal health care—cultural, linguistic, religious, economic, immigration status—will encounter even greater obstacles if forced to navigate through the judicial bypass procedure.
Media contact: Soo Ji Min, 312-427-4460 x225, sooji@icah.org
