SPRINGFIELD — A controversial bill that would repeal an Illinois law requiring parents to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion was poised late Wednesday for a possible vote that could send it to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.
A Democratic-led Illinois House committee voted along party lines to send the measure to the full chamber, a day after the Senate approved it on 32-22 vote that saw a handful of the majority Democrats joining Republicans in opposition.
Both chambers on Wednesday approved a measure that makes minor changes to a law Pritzker signed this summer that creates a fully elected Chicago school board by 2027.
But heading into the final scheduled day of the legislature’s fall session, neither the House nor the Senate by Wednesday evening had voted on two other major items on their agenda: A new map of the state’s congressional districts and a proposal seeking to prevent people from using another decades-old state law to skirt coronavirus vaccination requirements by citing moral or religious objections.
Pritzker’s main fall priority, a package of tax credits and incentives to attract electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers to the state, likewise had yet to see any movement.
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The proposed repeal of the 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion Act passed out of the House Executive Committee on a 9-6 vote, with the Republican minority united in opposition.
“It’s a crazy day,” said Rep. Robert Rita, a Democrat from Blue Island, who oversaw the House committee debate on the proposed parental notification law. “In the short amount of time you’re trying to look at a lot of different requests ... or things that we need to do. And it’s all compacted, which make long days, busy days, long committee hearings to allowing the complexity of some of these bills.”
Those pushing for repeal, which Pritzker supports, believe the law does nothing to protect the most vulnerable young people — those who come from unsafe and unstable households. Those in favor of the notification law believe parents shouldn’t be kept in the dark about their children’s well-being, particularly when they decide to have an abortion.
Republican state Rep. Avery Bourne of Morrisonville questioned supporters of the repeal who have argued that most teens who get pregnant consult with a parent about that decision anyway. She also raised concerns that doing away with the notification requirement could prevent parents from knowing if their child had been abused.
“This is clearly an attempt to take away the knowledge of parents and what is happening in their minor (child’s) life,” Bourne said during the committee hearing. “And by the way, something we didn’t get into, but the parents may not know unless this notification happens if they are being abused, if they have been raped, if they are being trafficked, the parents would have no way of knowing other than this notification in many instances.”
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The measure’s House sponsor, Democratic Rep. Anna Moeller of Elgin, noted that doctors, nurses and other health care providers are considered “mandated reporters,” meaning they’re required under law to report whether a minor was a victim of abuse or neglect to authorities.
“Having to notify an abusive parent puts that young woman in jeopardy,” Moeller said. “That is the reason why we are here today.”
The law as it stands now allows minors to ask a judge to waive the notification requirement if they fear for their safety. Since 2013, when the law went into effect after years of legal challenges, judges granted more than 99.5% of bypass requests throughout Illinois, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has argued the law serves no public policy purpose.
Abortion rights advocates have criticized the judicial proceedings for, among other things, forcing pregnant teens to share very personal, and potentially embarrassing, details about their sexual histories.
On Wednesday, former Cook County Judge Susan Fox Gillis testified in favor of the repeal, based in part on her time presiding over such cases.
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“My colleagues and I tried to make the process as non-intimidating as we could, keeping the identity of the young woman anonymous, hearing these cases in our chambers instead of in a courtroom, not wearing our robes to lessen their anxiety, and being as accommodating as possible in scheduling these cases,” the former judge said. “But make no mistake: No matter what a judge does, these hearings remain intimidating for young women as they come before us.”
A House vote on the measure was possible as soon as Wednesday evening. The outcome was uncertain as even some Democrats have questioned whether it goes too far in pitting abortion rights against parental rights.
At an unrelated news conference earlier Wednesday, Pritzker sidestepped a question about his influence over Democratic lawmakers in pursuing his agenda on items such as the parental notification repeal and a measure clarifying that the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Law does not apply to coronavirus vaccination and testing requirements.
He said neither measure was his initiative. The change to the right of conscience law, which has been cited in recent lawsuits challenging vaccination mandates, was proposed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, the governor said.
That proposal to clarify a measure that was largely intended to allow doctors, pharmacists and other health care workers to refrain from performing abortions, dispensing contraceptives or providing other services to which they have a moral or religious objection, has yet to be called for a vote in either chamber.
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Pritzker has made his handling of the pandemic a core of his campaign for reelection next year against four announced Republicans who have criticized the Democratic governor for overreach in mandating COVID-19 mitigation.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces a new round of COVID-19-related emergency housing assistance, Oct. 27, 2021, at Abundant Faith Christian Center in Springfield. Pritzker says he supports changing the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act to allow employers and others to bar people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19. (John OConnor / AP)
On Wednesday, Bull Valley Republican Gary Rabine contended Pritzker’s efforts to change the right to conscience law was an admission that his COVID-19 mandates are “illegal.”
“The governor has always known that Illinois’ Right of Conscience Act makes his mandates illegal. That’s why he is now trying to change the law — to make his illegal actions magically legal. This is Stalin-esque behavior from a tyrant,” Rabine said in a statement.
Rabine has said he is not vaccinated and does not need to be because he previously had COVID-19. His position runs counter to guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control. He also has spread misinformation about the safety of the vaccine, falsely claiming “thousands” of people have died from the vaccine alone.
Rabine’s competitors for the Republican nomination for governor are state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo and Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg
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Also Wednesday, a day after members of the WNBA champion Chicago Sky visited the Capitol, a Senate committee advanced a measure that would allow the team’s home court, Wintrust Arena, to apply for a sports betting license.
The provision is part of a large gambling package that, among other changes, would allow limited betting on college teams in Illinois, but not on the performance of individual athletes. It also would set a March 5 deadline for the state to begin allowing sports gamblers to register online rather than in person at a sportsbook.
The House passed a similar proposal in the spring, but it stalled in the Senate.
Petrella and Pearson reported from Chicago.
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