Parental Notification: in Illinois & online

A 1995 law requiring that girls and young women under the age of 18 tell a parent (or a judge) about their decision to have an abortion MAY go into effect. It is NOT in effect today.

Today, all Illinois girls and young women under the age of 18 continue have the legal right to decide to have an abortion without telling a parent or any other adult.

At the same time that the old law may be coming into effect, a new bill is being considered in the Illinois legislature. It too would require adult notification, if it were signed into law. SEE MORE BELOW

Practical info for girls and young women:
From Coalition for Positive Sexuality:Parental Consent (and Notification)

From Coalition for Positive Sexuality: Abortion

From Sex, Etc. : Abortion (and more)

Helpful info for parents:

From Family Communication: Teens’ Access to Confidential Reproductive Health Services

What does the research say about parental notification laws?
From Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health: Parental Notification & Consent
From Guttmacher Institute: Teenagers’ Access to Reproductive Health Services (Please Note: the “permanent” injunction shown for Illinois in the chart may be lifted.)
From American Psychological Association: What Does the Psychological Research Say?

Please watch for Take Action links to activism by girls & youth groups around parental notification!

More about what’s happening in IL…The new bill now in the IL legislature would make notification easier for girls than the 1995 law, in 2 ways:

• There would be more adults – adult sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, for example, and clergy – whom a teen could notify other than a parent.
• For young women who don’t want to – for safety or privacy reasons – tell an adult they know, this bill would offer the alternative of talking with a trained, professional counselor.

GBF opposes public policy that requires all girls and young women under 18 to notify an adult in order to have an abortion. READ MORE ...

(Last updated 1/25/07)