IRL RESPONDS TO POLITICO ARTICLE ANNOUNCING ILLINOIS PARENTAL NOTICE REPEAL EFFORT
December 19, 2019 – (CHICAGO) Illinois Right to Life Executive Director Mary Kate Knorr responded on Thursday to news that abortion advocates in Illinois plan to introduce legislation to repeal the Parental Notification of Abortion Act, which requires clinics to notify a minor girl’s parents 48 hours prior to administering an abortion procedure.
“This is purely predatory behavior by Terry Cosgrove and Planned Parenthood of Illinois,” said Knorr. “They are preying on minor girls and strategically forcing parents out of the conversation to cash in on their vulnerability.”
“This is a direct attack on the rights of parents – not just across the state, but across the Midwest. Repealing this law does not protect girls in crisis; on the contrary, it protects their abusers and traffickers by opening the door for coercion and forced abortions.”
Before the Illinois Parental Notification of Abortion Act was passed in 1995, Illinois was the only state in the Midwest without a parental involvement law. After a long legal battle, the law took effect in 2013.
Since then, the number of abortions done on minor girls in Illinois has seen a steady decline each year. Most recently, the rate of minor abortions in Illinois was down 55 percent since 2012.
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Illinois Right to Life is the leading pro-life education organization in the state of Illinois. IRL educates Illinois residents on the value and the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.