Planned Parenthood of Illinois Statement Regarding U.S. Court of Appeals’ Ruling on Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act

We are extremely disappointed by the U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to dissolve an injunction that barred the implementation of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995.

While we believe the court made an unfortunate ruling that puts teens’ lives at unnecessary risk, Planned Parenthood of Illinois is committed to doing everything we can to make this new process as easy as possible for teens when the law goes into effect on August 4, 2009.

Planned Parenthood agrees that in an ideal world, parents would be involved in their teens’ health care, and engaged in healthy dialogue around responsible decision making. Most teens seek their parents’ advice and counsel when making decisions about their health care. But in some cases, safe and open communication is not possible. In those cases, research shows mandatory parental notice laws do not enhance parent-teen communication, but they may be harmful to teens’ health and well-being. If our government and the courts really care about our teenage sons and daughters, it should focus on giving them the information they need to make responsible decisions and continue to encourage healthy family communication, not erect barriers to critical health care services.