* 9:58 am - The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s parental notification of abortion law is constitutional. Read the opinion here.

React in a bit.

*** UPDATE *** From Terry Cosgrove at Personal PAC…

“Today is a dark day for the young women of Illinois. There are thousands of at risk young women who face dangers in their homes from incest, violence, drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, and abusive parents. Under this law, these vulnerable and terrorized teenagers now will be required to inform their parents, many of whom are absent, that they are seeking an abortion and then to face the consequences, whatever they may be. Today’s decision by the Illinois Supreme Court is nothing short of heartless and cruel, and will subject many of the most vulnerable women and girls of our society to countless risks to their health and safety. With this decision, Illinois has moved in the direction of right wing states like Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin, which are doing everything possible to abolish access to a safe and legal medical procedure. Personal PAC is committed to raising and spending whatever money necessary to elect enough pro-choice Senators and Representatives, as well as a pro-choice Governor, to repeal this devastating law. Illinois needs our Wendy Davis’–brave Senators and Representatives in the Illinois General Assembly who will act to correct this terrible injustice.”

* From Planned Parenthood…

We are disappointed by the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995.

While we believe the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act puts the health and safety of teens at unnecessary risk, Planned Parenthood of Illinois is committed to doing everything we can to make this new process as easy as possible for teens if the law goes into effect.

Planned Parenthood agrees that in an ideal world, parents would be involved in their teens’ health care and engaged in healthy dialogue around responsible decision making. Most teens seek their parents’ advice and counsel when making decisions about their health care. But in some cases, safe and open communication is not possible. In those cases, research shows mandatory parental notice laws do not enhance parent-teen communication. Rather, they can be harmful to teens’ health and well-being. The focus should be on giving teens the information they need to make responsible decisions and continue to encourage healthy family communication, not erecting barriers to critical health care services.

Awaiting more responses. Stay tuned.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Thomas More Society…

Illinois’ long-delayed Parental Notice of Abortion Act will finally go into effect within a matter of days thanks to the Illinois Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling this morning that the law does not violate the Illinois Constitution. Under the Illinois law, passed in 1995 but never put into effect, a parent or guardian must be notified at least 48 hours before a child under the age of 18 undergoes an abortion.

“This is a huge victory for the rights of parents not only in Illinois but in all Midwestern states,” said Tom Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society.

The Supreme Court’s decision represents the successful culmination of an almost nine-year effort by Thomas More Society special counsel, constitutional scholar Paul Linton, to have the law enforced. Linton met with Illinois pro-life leaders at the end of 2004 to develop a strategy for reviving the parental notice law, which had languished in legal limbo for many years because the Illinois Supreme Court declined in 1995 to adopt a needed rule for confidential “bypass” hearings and expedited appeals for minor girls who were either deemed “mature” or made credible claims of family abuse. For lack of that rule, federal courts held the law to be unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement in February 1996. Linton and several pro-life leaders enlisted then-DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett to assist in the effort. In 2006 Birkett and the Thomas More Society petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to adopt the needed procedural rule. Shortly thereafter the Supreme Court adopted the rule needed to put the law into effect.

The American Civil Liberties Union fought against the law, despite the new rule, on other federal constitutional grounds. The Thomas More Society was involved in the litigation when Peter Breen, then its Executive Director and Legal Counsel, recruited two downstate State’s Attorneys to intervene in the case to ensure a vigorous defense for the law in the state and federal courts. The ACLU ultimately lost their final federal challenge before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in July 2009. Yet, a day before the parental notice law was to go into effect in late 2009, the ACLU filed a new state court lawsuit claiming the statute violated the Illinois Constitution of 1970. The state trial court rejected ACLU’s suit, but the Appellate Court reversed and sent the case back down to the trial court for further proceedings. Both the Attorney General and the Thomas More Society then filed petitions for review by the Illinois Supreme Court. Both petitions were granted in November 2011. Linton, author of a widely acclaimed legal treatise Abortion Under State Constitutions, authored the Thomas More Society’s friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of over twenty Illinois State’s Attorneys in defending parental notice. Linton also orally argued in defense of the law before the Supreme Court on behalf of the two State’s Attorneys who had attempted to intervene in the case to bolster defense of the law.

The ACLU’s repeated challenges to the constitutionality of the Illinois parental notice law had resulted in Illinois becoming a “fugitive” abortion state – a “dumping ground” for out-of-state minors’ abortions. Until now, Illinois was the only Midwest state without a parental notice or consent law in effect. This allowed thousands of abortions to be performed in Illinois on non-resident minors who crossed state lines, often accompanied by the adults who impregnated them, to evade their own state’s parental notice or consent laws.

* Catholic Conference of Illinois…

The Catholic Conference of Illinois applauds today’s unanimous Illinois Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for a 1995 parental notification of abortion law to finally be implemented.

State lawmakers approved the legislation requiring that a parent or legal guardian be notified when a minor seeks an abortion in order to protect our children from making a life-or-death decision on their own. The measure includes a waiver for those children who have been physically or sexually abused.

Special interests and legal wranglings barred the law from taking effect for 18 years, setting up the state as an abortion haven for children from surrounding states, which already have parental notification laws in place.

“With this ruling, parents across the state and the Midwest can breathe a sigh of relief with the knowledge that state law finally allows them to fully parent their children, and safeguard their lives and those of the unborn,” said Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois.

Gilligan noted the decision cited other court rulings that recognize minors often lack the maturity, experience and judgment to distinguish harmful choices, as well as observing that juvenile justice systems exist for those very reasons.

The Catholic Conference of Illinois strongly supported the original legislation, lent its support to defeating the legal challenges to the law, and fought off subsequent legislative efforts to undermine the role of parents.