Roundup: Illinois Abortion Notification Law Revived

Jul 15, 2009, 12:15pm

Amy Dempsey

Illinois Abortion Notification Law Revived; Florida Judge Demoted After Ruling Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional; Catholics Curious about New Surgeon General's Stance on Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues; Planned Parenthood is Going to Fight Arizona's New Abortion Bill

Illinois Abortion Notification Law Revived
A law in Illinois
requiring teen girls to notify their parents before getting an abortion
was revived by a federal appeals court Tuesday. The law was originally
passed in 1984, and was updated in 1995, but a U.S. District Judge
banned enforcement in 2007, according to Huffington Post.

Anti-abortion
advocates praised the appeals court’s decision, while abortion rights
advocates said the law would put young women wanting abortions in
dangerous situations.

Lorie A. Chaiten of the American Civil Liberties Union told the Huffington Post the law "creates unnecessary, dangerous hurdles to accessing essential health
care for young women facing an unintended pregnancy in the state of
Illinois."

The appeals court described the law as "a permissible attempt to
help a young woman make an informed choice about whether to have an
abortion."

Although the law does require girls to inform their parents before
getting an abortion, and doesn’t require parental consent, girls do not
need to notify their parents if they notify a judge instead. The ACLU
said this is not a practical provision to the original law, according
to the post.

Florida Judge Demoted After Ruling Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional
Miami
circuit court judge Cindy Lederman was removed from top administrative
judge and made juvenile court judge after ruling Florida’s gay adoption
ban unconstitutional in November 2008, according to the Miami Herald. The gay adoption ban is now on appeal.

Miami’s
new chief justice, who demoted Lederman, says he wanted "new
perspectives and leadership." The article did not make clear whether
Lederman’s ruling on the gay adoption ban and her demotion were
connected.

The article
also said Lederman "oversaw many juvenile justice programs in Miami,
and in 2002 publicly scolded state officials" after the disappearance
of Rilya Wilson, a 5-year-old foster child.

Catholics Curious about New Surgeon General’s Stance on Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues
When
President Obama picked Dr. Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General, many
Catholic health care representatives rejoiced, but now show concerns
for her stance on sexual and reproductive health issues, according to USA Today.

Benjamin,
a Catholic, founded the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama,
and although it is not an openly Catholic institution, she was awarded
a medal by Pope Benedict XVI for her work.

According to the article,
Benjamin’s stance on condom use will come into question because she has
said that she has family members who died at young ages of preventable
diseases including HIV/AIDS. A later Miami Herald story reported that Benjamin "supports the President’s position on reproductive health issues."

As surgeon general, Benjamin would head Obama’s new advisory committee, and will be tasked
with deciding what services are going to be covered by his new health
insurance proposals, the article said.

Planned Parenthood is Going to Fight Arizona’s New Abortion Bill
Just
after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill restricting abortions,
Planned Parenthood has announced that it is not giving up, KTAR.com
reported. Carol Bafaloukos from Planned Parenthood said the bill, which
requires a 24-hour waiting period before getting an abortion after
visiting an abortion provider, puts restraints on teenage girls wanting
to get abortions and lets health care providers refuse to provide
emergency contraception based on religious or moral grounds, is
frustrating and puts up barriers for women, according to the article.

She told KTAR:

"We’re still strategizing with our Planned Parenthood Federation of
America…But, we are very dedicated to assisting women. It really
takes us backwards. Women are confronted with very difficult decisions
very often and
to further put up barriers for them to make their own decisions is very
frustrating."

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE:

July 14: Wonk Room: Grassley Misrepresents His Role In Taking Away Abortion Services From Women Within The Exchange

July 14: CQ Politics: Hearing Disrupted Anew by Abortion Protester

July 14: Catholic News Agency: Health care bill drawing bipartisan fire over abortion funding

July 14: Population Reference Bureau: Youth, Women’s Rights, and Political Change in Iran

July 15: WaPo: Old Mission, New Life

July 8: Christian Post: IRS Makes Unusual Requests to Pro-Life Group Seeking Tax-Exempt Status

July 14: KTAR: Planned Parenthood to fight abortion bill

July 14: London Free Press: Families in lurch as adoption agency goes bankrupt

July 14: Miami Herald: Obama’s surgeon general pick: a Catholic who backs abortion rights

July 14: Ghanaian Times: Govt Urged To Stop Declining Funds For Family Planning

July 14: AP: Miami judge who struck gay adoption ban demoted