IFI Denounces Rep. Fritchey’s ‘Parental Rights Circumvention Act’

New bill would allow certain “responsible parties” to circumvent your parental rights.

DuPage–Illinois Family Institute joins the growing chorus of critics of legislation recently introduced by State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) regarding parents’ right to be notified if their minor child seeks to have an abortion. The legislation, HB HB 5840, is a blatant attempt to stop the Parental Notification Act of 1995 from going into effect.

“There’s no compelling state interest to modify the existing law,” said David E. Smith, Executive Director ofIllinois Family Institute. “This bill serves the interests of the radical abortion industry in Illinois–not girls or the parents who love them. This new, so-called parental notification bill is a slap in the face to concerned parents everywhere.”

The so-called ‘Adolescent Health Care Safety Act’ allows a minor girl who is seeking an abortion to circumvent her parent’s God-given authority by simply notifying any siblings, step-siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles who are 18 years old or older. It would also bestow parental authority to clergy members, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and physicians–i.e., adults with whom the girl’s parents have no relationship.

“HB 5840 should be called the Parents’ Rights Circumvention Act,” said Smith. “This bill gives unwarranted authority to strangers, thus blocking parental involvement in this critically important decision in a girl’s life. Politicians have no business intruding on the parent-child relationship. 

“Rep. Fritchey’s bill would allow a young girl raised in a traditional Christian home to get counseling from a clergy member of the Kabbalah or the liberal, ‘pro-choice’ United Church of Christ, and this clergy member could then authorize the child to get an abortion without her parents knowledge or consent,” Smith said. 

In 1995, the Illinois General Assembly approved a bill that requires minor children to notify a parent before receiving an abortion. In the absence of judicial rules for a minor to seek a waiver for the requirements, a federal court enjoined enforcement of the law. Three weeks ago, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a set of rules to support the legislation, allowing it go into effect. 

Citing the 2000 case of Troxel v. Granville, which says that “fit parents are presumed to act in the best interests of their children,” Smith said, “Bypassing parental authority should be allowed only when a parent has been found to be unfit or there has been an actual finding of abuse. 

Smith said that “even a trusted adult does not equal the parents. The legislature should not try to intrude in parent-child relationships without a mandate from the people. 

“The subject is best addressed by the parents, and deserves the input from the person who helped father the unborn child to begin with,” he said. “HB 5840 disrespects the will of Illinois citizens to satisfy the needs of a few fringe special interests who want access to young children for political and economic gain.”

IFI works to uphold marriage and family, life and liberty in the Land of Lincoln.