Court (US 7th Circuit) upholds Ill. teen abortion notification law

[usregimechange]

CHICAGO - A federal appeals court breathed new life on Tuesday into a long-dormant Illinois law that requires teen girls to notify their parents before having abortions.

Attorneys on both sides of the emotionally charged issue said the law would take effect within weeks unless its critics ask for a stay and the appeals judges agree to put their order on hold pending a possible rehearing.

Anti-abortion activists applauded the appeals court's decision as a long-overdue victory, while opponents of the law, which went unenforced during years of legal wrangling, said the measure was guaranteed to usher in dangerous problems.

"It's about time the law was approved," said Thomas Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, which fought to have the measure enforced. "It's ridiculous that it took this long to get a decision."

Lorie A. Chaiten of the American Civil Liberties Union, which battled to keep the law from going into effect, said the law "creates unnecessary, dangerous hurdles to accessing essential health care for young women facing an unintended pregnancy in the state of Illinois."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-abortionnotificat,0,5682383.story


Unanimous Ruling:
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/P617ZT0X.pdf

Panel Judges:
Cudahy, Richard Dickson - Nominated by Jimmy Carter on May 22, 1979.
Kanne, Michael Stephen - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on February 2, 1987.
Tinder, John Daniel - Nominated by George W. Bush on July 17, 2007.

[mr_liberal]

1. This makes me more grateful for the Sotomayor

nomination even though she is a mystery to me on many issues. She belonged to the PRLDEF which had as one of its causes fighting against parental consent laws.