November 3, 2009
Illinois curb on minors’ abortions nears
by Monica Davey
The New York Times
CHICAGO -- Illinois officials are expected to decide Wednesday when to begin enforcing a state law requiring doctors to notify a parent of anyone under 18 who seeks an abortion. The decision could prove to be a concluding chapter in the state's debate, more than a quarter-century old, over parental notification.
Thirty-four other states are already enforcing measures requiring parents' notification -- in 24 of those states, even consent -- before a minor obtains an abortion.
But enforcement of such laws has long been blocked in the courts in a handful of other states, of which Illinois was one until this summer. Then a federal appeals court resolved a constitutional challenge by finding that a notification law enacted in Springfield in 1995 could indeed take effect. Enforcement has since been delayed by procedural issues that are to be addressed in Wednesday's decision.
Opponents of abortion say they view the possibility of compliance at last, perhaps by late this week, as a chance to end what they perceive as an unwelcome magnet in the nation's middle. Illinois, they say, has become a place that attracts young women from around the Midwest who are seeking abortions because, unlike neighboring states, it has not been able to enforce parental notification.
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