Will teens soon need parents' OK to get abortions in Illinois?

While in high school, Elacsha Madison, now 20, was fully supportive of her friend's choice to have an abortion, until she saw the clinic.

The dank, dilapidated building seemed dark, even in the beaming morning sun, she said.

"I was so scared that if she died on the table, her mother would be so upset with me, because she didn't even know [my friend] was going to get an abortion," she said.

But Madison said, risky or not, it's a teen's right to choose what happens to her own body, and current state regulations agree. A law passed in 1995 to require parental notification has an injunction against it and cannot be enforced. Now, a pregnant minor can have an abortion without informing her parents or obtaining their permission.

Teenagers who choose not to involve their parents can consult clinic staff, a family member, clergy or another trusted adult. Recent legal attempts to lift the injunction on the Illinois Parental Notice Abortion Act of 1995, which required a physician to give 24-hour notice to both parents of a minor, may mean young women will soon have no choice but to tell their parents about abortion decisions.

"We've got this draconian parental notice requirement, [and] we're at risk for it going into effect, although we're hoping to keep it in litigation," said Lorie Chaiten, director of the Reproductive Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

If the injunction is lifted, it would be illegal to perform abortions without the consent of a parent.

However, a girl fearing retribution could go before a judge and ask for a legal waiver of consent. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked the federal district court to lift the permanent injunction and allow the Parental Notice of Abortion Act to take effect as soon as the Illinois courts are administratively prepared to handle judicial waivers.

'Any pregnant girl can walk into a Planned Parenthood and get an abortion and no one would be notified, and no one could stop it," said William Beckman, executive director to the Illinois Right to Life Committee.

[Author Affiliation]

Hilary Powell is a reporter for the Medili News Service.