SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, May 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Planned Parenthood-backed Democrats in Illinois are pushing legislation – Senate Bill 2190 – aimed at circumventing parental rights by repealing existing laws that mandate parents be notified before their underage daughters undergo abortions.
Senate Bill 2190 is sponsored by Sen. Elgie Sims Jr. (D-Chicago).
For now, under the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, abortionists are still legally required to notify at least one parent or legal guardian two days before committing an abortion on a minor.
However, Senator Kelly Cassidy (D- Chicago) would like to change that. In 2019, Cassidy unsuccessfully backed HB 2467, sponsored by Representative Emanuel Chris Welch (D) which sought to strike down the parental notification requirements. The bill was never signed into law.
Cassidy would like to revisit the fight, arguing that the existing law is an impediment to reproductive “freedoms.” The parental notification requirement “is one of the last barriers to access we have in Illinois,” said Cassidy. Referring to the state’s passage of other pro-abortion laws, Cassidy said, “We have intentionally set ourselves out as an example for the country to follow with regard to reproductive justice freedom,” so “this barrier needs to go, too.”
In 2019, Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law the Reproductive Health Act. According to Illinois Right to Life Action, this law “creates a fundamental right to …have an abortion including late term abortions that trump all other State laws and policies.”
But liberal lawmakers do not want to stop there. They are seeking to create more legislation to encourage girls to hide abortions from their parents, claiming it is done for the sake of “protecting” girls and their so-called reproductive freedom. Brigid Leahy, Senior Director of Public Policy with Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, said, “We know that most young people are going to turn to mom and dad in this situation. For those who can’t, this law is dangerous.”
What Leahy didn’t say is that circumventing parents and bypassing family support is more likely to endanger a young woman. Democrats are side-stepping the negative physical and psychological impact abortion can have on young women, whether they are minors or not, who are isolated or removed from family support.
In fact, the Stacy Zallie Foundation was an organization started by a young woman’s parents on her behalf when she took her own life after having an abortion. The foundation’s website states, “The Stacy Zallie Foundation is dedicated to our daughter, Stacy Zallie. At age 20 our beautiful daughter, for reasons known only to her, underwent an abortion. She never revealed her situation or her solution to her family. Shortly after the abortion she asked for psychiatric help, she ended therapy after only 3 months. Not long after her 21st birthday, she took her own life. She is missed by all who knew and loved her.”
Zallie’s story is not unique. The Charlotte Lozier Institute published a study which found that suicide rates increase in post-abortive women. A simple google search will provide dozens and dozens of psychology articles and studies linking abortion to depression, decreased mental health, and risky behavior. Because of this, there are many organizations devoted to post-abortion healing and therapy.
Mary Hallan FioRito, a mother to three teenage daughters and the spokesperson of Parents for the Protection of Girls, is fighting to protect the parental notice of abortion in Illinois. FioRito is also a fellow at the D.C.-based Ethics and Public Policy Center.
In a letter published in the Chicago Sun-Times, FioRito argued, “Brain science is clear that teenage brains work differently from adult brains. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry notes that teenagers do not have a fully functioning frontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls decision-making and helps adults to contemplate consequences of risky behaviors… Eliminating the Parental Notice Law strips away critical protections for young girls and enables predatory men. The law is not just common sense, it is necessary. To repeal it would be a tragic mistake, one leaving Illinois teenagers vulnerable to coercion, abuse, manipulation, physical trauma, and a lack of emotional support at the very time they need it most.”
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