CHICAGO | A judge said Monday that he will rule later this month on whether to lift a temporary restraining order on a never-enforced Illinois law requiring a teenage girl's parents be notified before she has an abortion.
But no matter what he decides, immediate implementation of the long-debated law appears highly unlikely.
Cook County Judge Daniel Riley set a March 29 court date after hearing arguments from the Illinois Attorney General's office and the American Civil Liberties Union on the 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion Act.
The ACLU had sought the order, claiming enforcement of the law would cause "significant and irreversible harms" for some girls. The attorney general's office, which has motioned to dismiss the restraining order, says the ACLU's arguments are weak and the reasons for the law are positive.
"There's nothing wrong with Illinois encouraging a law that parents have involvement," said assistant Illinois Attorney General Thomas Ioppolo. "Courts have said that parents have a right to be involved in the decision."
The law hasn't been enforced in Illinois because of numerous court actions, including some from the Illinois Supreme Court. The law requires doctors to notify the guardians of a girl 17 or younger 48 hours before the teen gets an abortion, with some exceptions. Teens can bypass parental notification by going to a judge.
Riley had issued the restraining order in November, just hours after the state's Medical Disciplinary Board voted to allow enforcement of the law. The temporary ban remains in effect until his ruling.
If Riley dismisses the restraining order, Ioppolo said he would agree to a stay, or a grace period and that would allow appeals to be worked through.
If the order is upheld, it clears the path for the ACLU to seek a preliminary injunction, a step toward ensuring the law would never be enforced.
During the two-hour court hearing, the ACLU outlined its arguments. Attorney Lorie Chaiten said most teenagers seek parental counsel when it comes to abortion, but there are cases in which involving parents could cause harm.
She cited cases in which teenagers feared retribution from parents -- like beatings or getting kicked out of the house -- and said the alternate option would force a teen to reveal personal details about her life to a judge and would delay the process.
Chaiten said the law also discriminates against teens who seek abortions, since those who go through a pregnancy are allowed to make medical decisions on their own, such as whether to have a Cesarean.
"The law is utterly irrational," she said in court.
The 1995 law has been mired in court proceedings. It was not enforced when it was passed because the Illinois Supreme Court did not issue rules specifying how judges would handle the notification requirement. The court issued those rules in 2006.
Then last year, a federal judge again refused to allow enforcement, saying the law still failed to give teenagers workable judicial options to notifying their parents. In July, a federal appeals court lifted the injunction on the 1995 version.
In August, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation granted doctors a 90-day grace period, which expired in November.
More than two dozen other states have similar laws.
