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Illinois Appellate Court Reverses Trial Court Decision That Upheld Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995

Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net

CHICAGO, June 17, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded the decision of the Cook County Circuit Court upholding the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. The appellate court's decision did not resolve the ultimate legal issues raised in the case, even though those issues were fully briefed in both the trial and appellate courts.

"We strongly disagree with the Illinois Appellate Court's decision to send this back to the trial court without deciding the legal issues involved," said Peter Breen, Executive Director and Legal Counsel, Thomas More Society. "This decision is flawed in so many respects that further trial proceedings would be pointless. Only a prompt review by the Illinois Supreme Court can correct the injustice of this law languishing in legal limbo."

The Thomas More Society represented over twenty state's attorneys as "friends of the court" in support of the parental notice law in the appellate court and has sought to intervene on behalf of two downstate state's attorneys in support of the parental notice law in both federal and state courts.

In 1995, the Illinois General Assembly enacted the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, which requires a parent or guardian to be notified 48 hours before a child under 18 has an abortion. In 1996, a federal district court permanently enjoined the Act due to the lack of a confidential appeal and bypass rule. In 2006, the Illinois Supreme Court issued the required appeal and bypass rule, but the parental notice law still has not gone into effect due to litigation in federal and state courts by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Since 1995, over 50,000 abortions have been performed on Illinois minors. Illinois is the only Midwest state without a parental notice or consent law in effect, and so, over the same period, thousands more abortions were performed in Illinois on non-resident minors, who were allowed to escape or even evade their own States' parental notice or consent laws.

A copy of the court decision is here.

Representatives from the Thomas More Society are available for comment by contacting:

Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net

About the Thomas More Society
Founded in 1997, the Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm that exists to restore respect for life in law. Based in Chicago, the Thomas More Society defends the sanctity of human life, the family and religious liberty in courtrooms across the country. The Society is a nonprofit organization wholly supported by private donations. For more information or to support the work of Thomas More Society, please visit
www.thomasmoresociety.org.