Wednesday night the Illinois House voted to eliminate Parental Notification of Abortion and passed an amendment eliminating protections granted under the Healthcare Right of Conscious Act.
State Representative Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) released the following statement in response:
“I thought Democrats were against family separation. Not Illinois Democrats. They passed two pieces of legislation last night that directly insert the government between a parent and child when it comes to medical decisions.
They repealed Parental Notification of Abortion. This means parents of a teenage girl cannot even be notified – forget about giving their permission – if their little girl wants to have an abortion.
My colleague, Chris Bos, detailed how this measure emboldens sex traffickers, predators and abusive boyfriends to use abortion to conceal evidence of their crimes against minor girls. The use of abortion to perpetuate sex trafficking is real. Illinois ranked 11th in the nation in human trafficking in 2018. The average age of a trafficked girl is 13; and 32% of teen pregnancies are fathered by men older than 20.
In fact, Dr. Brook Bello, who was a victim of sex trafficking as child, pled with legislators in committee not to repeal parental notification, saying, “If my mother had had to be notified, she might have been able to find me.”
Democrats made it clear that they don’t believe parents have a place in any of this.
Additionally, as the government approves a COVID-19 vaccine for children 5-11, the governor is salivating over the chance to mandate that all schoolchildren be injected. In order to dispense with those pesky parents – with their religious exemptions and concerns for their children’s long-term health – he had the legislature amend the Heath Care Right of Conscious Act. The law said that you did not have to participate in a medical procedure if it violates your conscience. Last night, the Illinois House amended that to say, “except if we’re talking about COVID-19.”
The message from Governor Pritzker and Illinois Democrats is clear: You cannot be trusted with your own children. The state knows what is best for them and will be making all the decisions about their healthcare without you from here on out.”