Vote clears way for Ill. abortion notification law

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois was cleared Wednesday to start enforcing a hotly debated law requiring that a teenage girl's parents be notified before she has an abortion, after a vote by the state's Medical Disciplinary Board.

With their vote, board members decided not to extend the grace period the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation put in place. Department spokeswoman Susan Hofer said that means the law goes into effect and enforcement can begin at any time.

The law requires doctors to notify the parents or guardians of girls 17 or younger before the teens get abortions. The law doesn't require parental consent, only that the doctor give 48 hours notice before an abortion. Illinois joins 35 other states with similar laws.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois plans to ask a Cook County judge on Wednesday for a temporary restraining order to keep the state from enforcing the law.

"What we're focused on now is protecting the health and well being of young women across the state of Illinois," spokesman Ed Yohnka said.

Peter Breen, executive director of the Chicago-based Thomas Moore Society Pro-Life Law Center, said the group was "heartened" by the board's decision.

"It's about parents and kids talking," Breen said. "No one should be against this."

The law requires no notice in a medical emergency or in cases of sexual abuse, and a provision allows girls to bypass parental notification by going to a judge.

Board attorney Daniel Kelber told members before the vote that courts in a majority of Illinois counties were not prepared to handle the judicial provision. Some board members said they were disappointed in the courts for not being ready.

"I see a failure of the court," board member Dr. Maria LaPorta said.

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was passed in 1995 but never enforced because the Illinois Supreme Court refused to issue rules spelling out how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement. The Illinois Supreme Court issued those rules in 2006. But last year, a federal judge again refused to allow enforcement, saying the law still failed to give teenagers workable judicial options to notifying her parents.