Illinois House OKs repeal of abortion restriction law that notifies parents of minors

Oct. 28—The Illinois House late Wednesday finalized the General Assembly's repeal of a state requirement that parents of minors seeking abortions be notified before the procedure.

The 62-51 vote, with three Democrats voting present and two other Democrats not voting, sent House Bill 370 to Gov. JB Pritzker for his expected signature. The Senate approved the bill Tuesday on a 32-22 vote.

Democrats who control the House also used their majority to muscle through a change in the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act designed to make it harder for people to cite the act when refusing to comply with COVID-19-related mandates for vaccinations and testing by state government and private employers.

The 64-52 vote on Senate Bill 1169, with two Democrats voting present, to tweak the conscience law was going to the Senate for concurrence Thursday, the last scheduled day of the General Assembly's fall veto session.

If signed into law by the governor, both bills would take effect June 1, 2022.

Because Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers, they were able to pass both bills with votes to spare for some Democrats to either vote "no" or not vote. No Republicans voted for either piece of legislation.

With another major issue remaining unresolved — redistricting of U.S. House districts in Illinois for elections in 2022 — Democrats late Wednesday released a third proposed map.

The latest map, which could be voted on Thursday in the House and Senate, doesn't change much for the part of central Illinois that includes the Springfield area.

Under those new boundaries, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, no longer would represent parts of Springfield and Sangamon County. He would be lumped into a district with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Channahon.

The current 13th Congressional District, now served by U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, would change so Davis would represent less of Springfield than he does currently.

A Democratic-leaning new 13th District would string together most of Springfield with Champaign-Urbana and Metro East communities such as East St. Louis.

Abortion law repeal

The abortion notification law, passed in 1995 but not taking effect until 2013 because of court challenges, is one of the few remaining restrictions on abortions in Illinois.

House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, issued a statement after Wednesday's House vote that said repeal of the law "has been a priority of mine for many years, and I am incredibly proud to see it cross the finish line."

Many states are instituting more restrictions on abortion as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to consider striking down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. But state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, who supported the parental notification repeal, said, "Illinois is different, and it's going to stay different.

"In Illinois, we trust women to make decisions about their bodies," she said.

Added Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, "With so many states moving backwards, it's time for Illinois to move forward."

House debate on the parental notification repeal and the Right of Conscience Act change were emotional.

Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, became tearful when she said the parental notification law should remain, giving parents notice at least 48 hours before a minor's abortion, to promote communication between parents and children.

She said she worried communication would deteriorate under a repeal, though supporters of repeal said 85% to 90% or more of minors seeking abortions already notify their parents.

If parents have a right to know when a minor is getting an ear piercing or has a broken arm, the parent should have a right to know a daughter is considering an abortion, Bourne said.

Even if a parent would support the minor's abortion decision, Bourne said she wants parents to be able to "be there" to comfort the minor.

But repeal sponsor Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, said Illinois allows minors to obtain reproductive health care without parental notification for everything — including birth control, pelvic exams and childbirth — except for abortions.

And she said the "judicial bypass" option that the law provides for minors wanting to avoid a parent being notified before an abortion can be burdensome, stressful and sometimes impossible to negotiate.

Moeller and other repeal supporters said the minors who don't want to notify their parents have good reasons.

They often come from dysfunctional families and fear being abused, kicked out of their homes or forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term if their parents learn of their plan to get an abortion, according to Susan Gillis, a retired Cook County associate circuit judge.

Gillis, who said she considered and granted many judicial bypass requests, urged lawmakers at a committee hearing to repeal the notification law because it is "unnecessary, overly punitive and places burdens on young women needing health care. ... These young women I heard from showed a level of maturity and the competence to make this important decision. They truly were thinking about their lives and their futures in deciding they were not yet prepared to become a parent."

Moeller told Republicans during floor debate that they likely have good relationships with their minor daughters, so the repeal "is not about your children." Her statement prompted yells of protest from Republicans.

Cassidy said Republicans ignore the situations in which some pregnant minors find themselves.

"Did you all grow up in Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong and the children are above average and everybody's got a perfect family?" she asked.

Moeller said more than 500 minors have sought judicial bypass in the past eight years, and an unknown number of girls may have carried their pregnancies to term because they weren't aware of the option or couldn't find ways to get a lawyer and take time away from school to show up in court.

Testimony in committee from the director of a Granite City abortion clinic indicated half of its abortion patients travel there from outside Illinois for the procedure.

Bourne said she worries more minors from across the country will come to Illinois to avoid their parents finding out if the notification law is repealed.

Rep. Chris Bos, R-Lake Zurich, said he has personally seen parental notification of abortion stop a minor from being sexually trafficked.

"This is not hyperbole. This is fact," he said.

But Democrats say experts have testified that the notification law doesn't help trafficking victims be identified.

Change to Right of Conscience Act

Opponents of the change to the Right of Conscience Act said it could pave the way for forced COVID-19 vaccinations of schoolchildren and could take away the rights of employees to abstain from COVID-19 vaccines and testing they view as a violation of their rights or a potential threat to their health.

Bill sponsor Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, said the change simply would clarify the legislative intent of the law for courts considering cases involving challenges to COVID-19 mitigation policies of governments and employers.

The original intent of the law was to protect doctors and pharmacists from being forced to take part in health care related to abortion procedures and contraception, she said.

The language in the bill says: "It is not a violation of this Act for any person or public official, or for any public or private association, agency, corporation, entity, institution, or employer, to take any measures or impose any requirements, including, but not limited to, any measures or requirements that involve provision of services by a physician or health care personnel, intended to prevent contraction or transmission of COVID-19 or any pathogens that result in COVID-19 or any of its subsequent iterations. It is not a violation of this Act to enforce such measures or requirements. This Section is a declaration of existing law and shall not be construed as a new enactment. ... Nothing in this Section is intended to affect any right or remedy under federal law."

Gabel removed from an earlier version of the bill a section that said enforcement efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including firing workers or excluding people from a school or place of employment, would not violate the right of conscience law.

Even though the bill wouldn't take effect until mid-2022, the bill could be used by courts considering challenges of COVID-19 mitigations by people who are citing the right of conscience law, Gabel said.

Republicans voting against the bill said they worried it would make it easier to force children to get COVID-19 vaccinations and trample on the rights of children and adults.

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, said more than 53,000 people registered their opposition to the earlier version of the bill. When it comes to COVID-19 vaccines and testing, she said, "Government is supposed to persuade, not force."

Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, agreed.

"Individuals have to be allowed to make their own health care decisions," he said. "I think people will come along. They have to be allowed to do it in their own time."

Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said she is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but some of her constituents don't share her trust in the vaccine and she respects their beliefs.

"Let's give people credit for having individual rights and deciding what they think is right for their body," she said.

One reason citizens are divided over COVID-19 mitigations imposed through executive orders issued by Pritzker is because the legislature has been cut out of the process, according to Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield.

The legislature has been unable to debate the "nuances" of all the issues and the scientific evidence when it comes to those mitigations, Batinick said. He received applause from other Republican lawmakers after his statement.

Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.

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