Push to repeal parental notification for minors seeking abortions tests liberal limits of Illinois’ Democratic-controlled legislature

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — With the backing of the legislature’s Democratic majority, Illinois has been at the forefront of expanding abortion access in recent years, even enshrining a “fundamental right” to the procedure in state statute.

Legislative efforts backed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to repeal a quarter-century-old Republican-sponsored law requiring parents to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion, however, have not been an easy sell. Even some Democrats question whether such a move goes too far in pitting abortion rights against parental rights.

The issue could be taken up this week when lawmakers return to Springfield for the second half of their fall session. But Democrats, who by and large supported legislation over the past four years to expand and protect access to abortion, are still working to line up votes to do away with the parental notification law.

Supporters are eager to affirm Illinois’ position as a bastion of abortion rights in light of a Texas law enacted earlier this year that essentially bans the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy and as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a Mississippi case later this year that could undermine the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

The Illinois parental notification law is a particularly challenging subject for politicians, as parental rights have become a flashpoint in fights over the government’s role in implementing mask mandates and other restrictions in schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

Another complicating factor is that all 177 seats in the legislature will be up for election next year under new boundaries drawn during the once-a-decade redistricting process. That leaves some incumbents potentially wary of taking on a highly polarizing issue before having to court voters in unfamiliar territory, especially in suburban areas where Democrats have picked up seats from the GOP in recent elections.

Those in favor of the notification law believe parents shouldn’t be kept in the dark about their children’s well-being, particularly when they make a decision to have an abortion. Those pushing for repeal believe the law does nothing to protect the most vulnerable young people — those who come from unsafe and unstable households.

Several Democratic lawmakers either declined to discuss the issue during the first half of the legislature’s two-week fall session, didn’t return calls seeking comment or said they were undecided on how they’d vote if the matter is taken up.

One undecided legislator was state Rep. Lawrence Walsh Jr., an Elwood Democrat who voted against the 2019 Reproductive Health Act, which codified into state law the “fundamental right” to an abortion. He questioned whether a vote to repeal parental notification was ready for consideration.

“I’m weighing the arguments, pro and con,” said Walsh, a father of three, including an adult daughter. “My district has reached out to me over the last three weeks. I have not heard from one proponent of the bill over the last three weeks. I have had numerous opponents, and at the end of the day, I honestly don’t know if this bill is ready for prime time, if it’s ready to be called.”

But proponents say now is the time for Illinois to take a stand.

“We want to make it clear that we’re committed to protecting a woman’s right to reproductive health,” said state Sen. Melinda Bush, a Grayslake Democrat who sponsored the 2019 law. “And that includes young women who have been raped or sexually abused by a family member.”

The repeal measure is expected to be taken up first in the Senate, where Bush said she’s confident there’s enough support among the Democratic supermajority to send it to the House.

“I can tell you the votes are there in the Senate,” she said. “They have been there since the spring.”

The Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act has been on the books since 1995, when Republicans controlled the governor’s office and both chambers of the General Assembly. It didn’t go into effect, however, until 2013, when the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the law was constitutional after years of legal challenges.

Illinois is one of 38 states requiring some form of parental notification or consent. The law requires a parent or adult family member in the same household to be notified at least 48 hours in advance of a minor receiving a surgical or medication abortion. Parental permission is not required for an abortion to be performed.

The number of abortions has gone down in Illinois since the notification law was passed by state legislators. In 1995, 48,529 Illinois residents had abortions, 4,853 of whom were under 18, according to the state Department of Public Health. In 2018, 36,713 Illinois residents had abortions, of whom 1,092 were minors, statistics show.

Abortion rights groups have argued that keeping the law in place is harmful to teens who feel they can’t turn to a parent for guidance after getting pregnant, especially in situations where that parent has been abusive in the past.

With the law in place, minors are allowed to go through so-called judicial bypass proceedings, closed-door hearings where pregnant teens appear before judges who will decide whether their parents need to be notified about them wanting an abortion.

Since 2013, judges granted more than 99.5 percent of bypass requests throughout Illinois, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has argued the notification law serves no public policy purpose.

While the judicial proceedings usually allow those seeking them to get abortions without informing their parents, they can be emotionally trying, said Brigid Leahy, senior director of public policy for Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

“You have to go in and be prepared to share some of your most personal information about a very personal decision with a complete stranger who is not necessarily trained in counseling or health care,” Leahy said. “Where you really should be is sitting down with a counselor, sitting down with a health care provider, and getting the information you need to be able to make the best decision that you can for yourself.”

State Rep. Margaret Croke, a Chicago Democrat, said she supports the repeal and believes judicial bypass is a barrier for a woman “to seek necessary health care.”

Asked how a repeal could be a challenging vote for some Democratic colleagues, she acknowledged how difficult it could be for a parent to not think of their own child or not be involved in their medical decisions. But not every family is the same, she said.

“We’re talking about all of young women under the age of 18. So, you have think about it in a much more holistic way than your own family structure,” said Croke, the mother of a young child. “My son doesn’t have any parental notification requirements if he were to get a young woman pregnant. So, this law is very much targeting young women and their bodies and their decisions.”

Another Chicago Democrat who supports the repeal, state Rep. Will Guzzardi, is optimistic of its chances passing through the House, especially with the state’s track record for strengthening abortion rights.

“Many of us in the caucus, myself included, are gravely concerned about the new law in Texas and the other abortion restrictions being proposed around the country,” he said. “We want Illinois to be (a) safe harbor for young people, both young people in Illinois and young people in states that are more repressive on these issues.”

But Republicans in the General Assembly stood firm in their opposition to the repeal. Several female members of the Senate GOP, the superminority in the legislature, insisted that the issue is not about abortion but preserving parental rights.

“This issue goes beyond the typical pro-life versus pro-choice debate,” state Sen. Sue Rezin, a Republican from Morris, said during a news conference this week at the state Capitol. “We’re way past just discussing our views on abortion. We are literally now discussing if a parent has a right to know about their child’s pregnancy and abortion.”

“Repealing this law is a clear and deliberate act on parental rights,” Rezin said.

She also said abortion rights advocates are making a “false equivalence” to the Texas law in their support for repealing parental notification because it has no bearing on what happens with Illinois law.

“As mothers, we strongly believe it’s a parent’s right to be made aware of daughters’ health and their health care decisions,” Rezin said. “And we intend to stand up and fight any attempt to erode this right.”

Republican Sen. Terri Bryant of Murphysboro noted that the 1995 parental notification law allows doctors to perform abortions on minors without having to notify their parents of the procedure if the minors show that they were victims of sexual abuse or neglect in their households.

“This is yet another attack on the rights of Illinois parents at the hands of the majority party,” Bryant said. “Parental notification is in place because adolescents are not mentally or emotionally prepared to fully grasp or understand the consequences of these actions.”

It isn’t just downstate Republican lawmakers who are defending the current law.

In heavily Democratic Chicago, a group of pastors from Latino, African American and other ethnic congregations is calling on lawmakers to keep parental notification in place, arguing that the rightful role of parents is to be involved in major decisions in their children’s lives. The group joins Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich and the bishops of the state’s five other Roman Catholic dioceses in opposing the repeal of parental notification.

The Rev. Jose Acevedo, pastor of Mount Zion Church in Portage Park, said during a news conference Thursday in the Belmont Cragin community that parents have a “God-given right to be the ones that influence our children.” Acevedo had a message for lawmakers considering repeal.

“You’re not just messing with us; you’re messing with God,” Acevedo said. “I need to let you know that you are one day going to be accountable to God for your actions.”

The Rev. Daniel Matos, pastor of Agape Christian Church in the Austin neighborhood, said religious leaders also are prepared to hold elected officials accountable at the ballot box.

“We, the believers of Christ, not only pray, we vote,” Matos said.

Like the GOP lawmakers, the pastors largely framed the argument as one about the rights of parents rather than abortion itself, though some present acknowledged that they oppose abortion in any instance, even in cases where a pregnancy results from sexual abuse.

For Bush, the Grayslake state senator, the fact that many of those who want to preserve the parental notification requirement oppose abortion regardless of the circumstances makes their arguments about parental rights ring hollow.

She pointed to a 2017 statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics that reaffirmed the medical organization’s “position that the rights of adolescents to confidential care when considering abortion should be protected.”

While the majority of adolescents voluntarily involve at least one parent in their decisions about terminating a pregnancy, according to the group, “legislation mandating parental involvement does not achieve the intended benefit of promoting family communication, and it increases the risk of harm to the adolescent by delaying access to appropriate medical care.”

Bush’s question to those arguing in favor of preserving parental notification is whether they are OK with a teen receiving an abortion after discussing the decision with a parent.

“They’re not,” Bush said. “They are never OK. They are never OK, not in cases of rape or incest. They are never OK with a young woman or any woman being able to make this decision.”

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(Petrella reported from Chicago. Chicago Tribune reporter Rick Pearson contributed from Springfield.)

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