Abortions in Illinois increased over 5 percent in 2008, according to a Chicago Sun-Times article by Dave McKinney on Sunday, January 3, 2010. McKinney sites the economic slump and access to the Aurora mega abortion mill as reasons for this increase.
In the article, Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, states that he attributes the increase in part to the opening of Planned Parenthood’s Aurora clinic in November 2007. Gilligan is quoted as saying “I think that has something to do with it.”
McKinney then says “abortion statistics in three of the four counties straddling Aurora saw the number of women seeking the procedure jump dramatically in 2008.” McKinney also quotes Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Council’s Chicago area chapter as saying “When couples are facing an unintended pregnancy and have to make a decision whether they want to carry pregnancy to term and have another child, they’ll factor economic circumstance into the decision.”
Robert Gilligan points out that one reason for Illinois’ high numbers is that Illinois has a lack of “common-sense laws” restricting abortion, such as the fact that the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act is still not in effect after more than 14 years since its passage by the Illinois General Assembly. This is, in fact, one very big reason Illinois has so many abortions and remains the State with the 5th highest number of abortions. We do not have a parental notice law in effect, while all States surrounding Illinois do have a parental involvement (consent or notice) law in effect.
The Illinois Department of Public Health statistics on abortion show that at least 3,900 out-of-state women cross state lines every year to get abortions in Illinois. Adult women have little reason to cross State lines in those bordering States. Thus, the vast majority of those 3,900 who got abortions in Illinois are minor girls. Also, at least 3,100 Illinois minor girls obtain abortions here each year.
Additionally, State grants for groups such as Project Reality, which have educated tens of thousands of high school students each year with abstinence and character building curricula, were summarily ended in 2007 under the Blagojevich administration and by radical legislators in the Illinois General Assembly. Numerous and reliable reporting statistics prove that such programs do change attitudes of young students to abstain from sexual behavior until marriage.
It is clear to this writer that when the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act does go into effect and we see curricula in the schools contain abstinence programs, Illinois will see a significant drop in the number of abortions here.
