* Rebecca Anzel at Capitol News Illinois…
Illinois Democrats are one step closer to repealing legislation requiring that a minor talk to her parent or guardian before getting an abortion.
The bill, sponsored by Chicago Sen. Elgie Sims, Jr., passed out of a Senate committee Tuesday without Republican support after about an hour of testimonies and debate. […]
[Proponents of repealing the existing law], such as Hannah Baity, call the law “extremely dangerous.” Baity is a youth organizer with the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and testified in the Senate committee Tuesday.
She told lawmakers not every teenager has a secure relationship with her parent, and they “cannot legislate healthy parent-child communications.”
* Greg Bishop at the Illinois News Network…
The existing state law requires parental notification, but not parental approval. It also allows minors to bypass the notification requirement by going before a judge. Sims said the judicial bypass option was not a reasonable alternative.
“You’re asking [teenagers] to go in front of the court and represent themselves in a judicial forum,” he said. “We are putting demands on young people that we should not be.” […]
Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, opposed the measure. He said he understood the concerns those who want to get rid of the notification requirement. However, he said the procedure warranted notification.
“For there to be maybe a hurdle or two there, I don’t think that as a society that’s necessarily a worse thing because at the end of the day we are talking about the termination of a heartbeat,” Plummer said.
* Maureen Foertsch McKinney at Illinois Public Radio…
Democratic Senator Elgie Sims of Chicago is sponsoring the proposal that would get rid of any notification requirement.
“Healthy family communication can’t be legislated, and if a young woman makes the decision to have a child she doesn’t have notify her parents. She only has to notify her parents if she plans to have an abortion. There’s something fundamentally wrong with that.”
Anti-abortion advocates expressed outrage after a Senate Committee today senators approved the bill to go to the full Senate.
Dawn Fitzpatrick of the Catholic Conference of Illinois says parents should always be involved with such decisions as terminating a pregnancy.
* Press release…
“Why would anybody vote for legislation that effectively removes parents and guardians of minors from a major decision that is known to have significant physical and mental side effects? Current law makes it illegal for minors in Illinois to use an indoor tanning bed; buy cigarettes, alcohol or lottery tickets; or vote in an election. Are we to believe abortion is somehow less consequential than getting a tan?” said the Catholic Conference of Illinois in a statement.
I try to be respectful toward all sides on this topic, but nobody ever got kicked out of their house for getting a tan. I’d like to see the Catholic Conference and other groups address this reality.
* Meanwhile…
Hundreds of protesters are expected to rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday. against two abortion bills moving through the General Assembly. […]
“There is widespread outcry from the people of Illinois against these extreme anti-women and anti-children bills since they were introduced a month ago,” shared Illinois Right to Life Action’s Mary Kate Knorr. “Residents from all corners of Illinois are expressing outrage at this proposed legislation, which disregards the health and safety of women. We intend to bring that outrage to Springfield, where legislators cannot ignore it.”
The Pro-Life Action League, Illinois Right to Life Action, Catholic Conference of Illinois, Silent No More and other groups will be among the ralliers. The rally starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol rotunda.
* Speakers…
· Illinois State Representative Terri Bryant, District 115
· Illinois State Representative Amy Grant, District 42
· Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Catholic Diocese of Springfield
· Nancy Kruezer, Silent No More (post-abortive mother)
· Belinda Guyton, Southside Pregnancy Center
· Rev. James Scudder, Jr., Quentin Road Bible Church
· Mary Kate Knorr, Illinois Right to Life Action
· Eric Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League
- Give Me A Break - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:30 am:
Considering today’s news and publication of the names of 23 members of the Springfield Diocese accused of sexual abuse, maybe their leader, Paprocki should not be passing moral judgement on others today.
- NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:34 am:
Respectfully, Sen. Sims, the decision to have a baby isn’t a medical decision involving medical services. An abortion is a medical procedure and parent have a legal responsibility for the impact of medical procedures on their minor children. It’s legislation like this that confirms in may people’s minds the idea that Democrats want no limits on abortion. Yes it’s just notification but the idea behind it is that a parent might try to change their childs mind. It also suggests that parents don’t have their childs best interest at heart so in effect this is working to break family structure. Welcome to Democrat land and our brave new world here in Illinois.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:37 am:
Can underage girls get birth control w/o parental consent? If not, that should be part of this law.
- Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:38 am:
Anon @ 11:37 was me.
- anon2 - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:48 am:
=== “Healthy family communication can’t be legislated…===
True. The law can support parents, however, or undermine them. Minimum purchase ages support parental authority by preventing minors from buying alcohol, cigarettes, and handguns. When a child decides to ditch school, parents are notified. Parents see a child’s grades. Should schools end parental notification since “healthy family communication can’t be legislated”? That’s the ridiculous logic here.
- Bourbon Street - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:49 am:
Let me take this from the top. I didn’t mean to sound critical of the poll respondents. I simply meant that I wonder if Madigan’s numbers would be higher if people actually knew what the job of Speaker entailed.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:53 am:
20 years ago I supported parental notification. 6 years at DCFS lgave me a sense of how disfunctional families can be.
I do not support parental notification now.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 11:54 am:
===decision to have a baby isn’t a medical decision involving medical services===
It certainly was in the 18th Century. Not so much today.
- A guy - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 12:02 pm:
What a shame. You cannot legislate Healthy Family communication. Yet, name any other procedure on par with this one that doesn’t require consent? Forget about tanning…tooth extraction, appendix, skin biopsy, anything???
If parents are not equipped, which some may not be, a teacher, an aunt, a grandparent, some connected adult looking out for the child (yes, child!!) Or just the old doctor (abortionist who performs 5 per hour) and the woman…except the woman isn’t there. A girl is. A frightened and scared girl.
- Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 12:06 pm:
Anonymous at 11:53 was me
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 20, 19 @ 12:26 pm:
People, I’ve deleted numerous over the top comments on this thread. So, I’m closing the comments. This isn’t Facebook. This is also not your personal website. I don’t tolerate that nonsense here.