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Social Issues Wed Jul 15 2009
Illinois Parental Notification Law Upheld
Yesterday, in the case of Zbaraz v. Madigan, the Seventh District Court found in favor of the plaintiff. I know right? Crazy. If that wasn't enough to make obvious what went down, I guess I can explain further; the courts upheld a law from 1994 that has been left unenforced under the assumption that it was unconstitutional; a parental notification law that would require women under legal age to notify their parents before they could seek an abortion. Privacy advocates had argued that this would endanger women who were the victims of incest in particular; the bill had a clause that would have allowed women (girls?) to bypass the notification requirement by getting permission from a judge; this was considered overly onerous by opponents of the bill. Zbaraz v. Madigan settled the matter, and the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1994 is now law.
Anti-abortion activists: Yay! (though not Yay! enough to get the name of the case right).
ACLU: Boo!
— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)
Dennis Fritz / July 16, 2009 4:42 PM
I seem to remember some years back the state of Pennsylvania upheld a restrictive bill designed to delay and/or deter women from seeking abortions. The bill required a 24-hour waiting period, parental notification by minor, etc, etc.
The one goody the anti-choice crowd didn't get to take home in their basket was a proposal to require married women to notify their spouses before ending a pregnancy. The court shot that down. They argued the only reason a married woman wouldn't tell her husband before getting an abortion was fear of violence or other abuse. Thus, the requirement amounted to an undue burden on women.
My question is this: doesn't that logic hold true for teens as well?