The Thomas More Society is speaking out about blatant bias by the supposedly apolitical tax-collection agency. Cases handled by the Chicago-based public interest law firm support mounting accusations that demonstrate the agency’s abuse of pro-life organizations, in addition to those identified as ‘tea party’, ‘patriot’, or ‘government spending’ groups. Outrage spurred by recent revelations of IRS discrimination against these groups has also led the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to announce a full investigation into the matter.

In one case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for tax exempt status for Coalition for Life of Iowa. In a phone call to Coalition for Life of Iowa leaders on June 6, 2009, the IRS agent “Ms. Richards” told the group to send a letter to the IRS with the entire board’s signatures stating that, under perjury of the law, they do not picket/protest or organize groups to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood. Once the IRS received this letter, their application would be approved. After a series of letters following a request for more invasive information, Thomas More Society special counsel Sally Wagenmaker sent a letter to the IRS demanding the tax exempt status be issued immediately.

Wagenmaker summarized her concerns about what she called “the IRS’s disturbing ability” to stall and suppress legitimate applicants. She explained how through lengthy questionnaires and wrong citations of applicable law (as in the case of Coalition for Life of Iowa), applicants with less fortitude or without access to legal advocates like the Thomas More Society will be effectively silenced from exercising their constitutional freedoms. Wagenmaker added, “The IRS’s role should only be to determine whether organizations fit the section 501(c)(3) test for ‘charitable, religious, or educational’ qualification, not to inquire about the content of prayers, protests, and petitions. It’s high time that the IRS be called to account for its workers’ potential to trample on our constitutional rights, through such ostensibly innocuous means…what the Ways and Means committee will discuss may only be the tip of the iceberg of IRS abuses.”

In another similar case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for charitable tax-exempt recognition of Christian Voices for Life, questioning the group’s involvement with “40 Days for Life” and “Life Chain” events. The Fort Bend County, Texas, organization was subjected to repeated and lengthy unconstitutional requests for information about the viewpoint and content of its educational communications, volunteer prayer vigils, and other protected activities.

“The application of Christian Voices for Life clearly indicated that the organization qualified as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3),” stated Sally Wagenmaker. She added, “The IRS seemed to be intent on denying or delaying tax-exempt status based upon the organization’s pro-life message, rather than any legitimate exemption concern, through its exhaustive, cumbersome questioning. The implication that Christian Voices for Life somehow intended to engage in illegal activity was insulting.”

Sally Wagenmaker is available for interviews. Contact Tom Ciesielka at 312-422-1333 or tc@tcpr.net.

Details on the IRS abuse of “Christian Voices for Life” are available here.

Details on the IRS abuse of “Coalition for Life of Iowa” are available here.

Christian Newswire

Thomas More Society Says Triune Health Group’s Religious Liberty Protected

 Today, Judge Terence M. Sheen of the DuPage County Circuit Court granted Triune Health Group’s motion for a temporary restraining order against Illinois’ contraception mandate, which forces coverage of abortifacients and contraceptives in group healthcare plans. This temporary restraining order comes on the heels of a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, granting Triune Health Group temporary relief from the federal HHS mandated healthcare coverage of abortifacients, sterilizations, and contraceptives.

“The ruling today is a victory for religious liberty and the right of conscience,” said Peter Breen executive director and legal counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Religious liberty rights don’t end at the four walls of the church. In this pluralistic society, we don’t force people to abandon their religious beliefs merely because they are engaged in the marketplace.”

This was the first ruling by an Illinois court that the state’s contraception mandate for health insurance may be preempted by Illinois laws protecting conscience and religious freedom.

The court will hear argument on the Illinois Attorney General’s motion to transfer the case to Cook County Circuit Court on February 6. Plaintiffs oppose the motion because Triune Health Group is located in DuPage County.

Today’s court order is here.

Information about the federal temporary injunction is here. 

 Written by Andrew Willis, IFI Intern

Not only was there no room for Baby Jesus in the inn, but for a few a days it appeared there was also no place in a public park.

In Arlington Heights, the Illinois Nativity Scene Committee attempted to place the familiar symbol of the holy family in the North School Park. However, after filling out the appropriate permit papers, the group’s request was denied by the local park district.

The Illinois Nativity Scene Committee, an independent organization, has made it an annual tradition to place Nativity Scenes in public places, most notably the Illinois State Capitol Rotunda and the Daley Plaza in Chicago.

When asked for a reason for the denial, the Arlington Heights Park District stated that they wished to stick to their traditional theme of children’s toys. The park currently has multiple seasonal decorations such as Frosty the Snowman, a lighted tree, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and even Hanukkah-themed dreidels.

All of the adornments are publicly funded. The Nativity Scene would be the only privately funded display in the park.

Jim Finnegan, the chairman of the INSC, told CBS news, “[the park is] missing the most important thing, the real soul of Christmas, and that’s the birth of Christ.”

On November 20th, Attorney Thomas Brejcha of the Thomas More Society sent a letter to the park district and village officials stating that the INSC’s objective is “a timely, genuine, and fully legitimate request to include a Nativity Scene, a constitutionally protected private expression of religious belief.” He further wrote that “The Nativity Scene would also fit thematically with the other displays, in the sense that all of them honor the holiday season, whose religious aspects cannot lawfully be discriminated against, in deference to its purely secular (sleigh, frosty, etc.) aspects.”

Brejcha also added that the “inclusion of dreidels, moreover, already injects the religious symbolism of Hanukkah among the displays, and we can think of no legally defensible reason why the Nativity Scene identified as privately sponsored and funded, should be barred.”

The Thomas More Society threatened a lawsuit if the Arlington Heights Park District refused to concede.

Last week, attorneys from the Thomas More Society and the park district were able to reach an agreement, and the Nativity Scene has been approved. Finnegan anticipates that the Nativity Scene will become an annual display in the park.

When asked about the whole situation, Finnegan told the Daily Herald, “We have a right to this so we need to stand up for our rights.”

On Saturday, December 15th, the group plans to unveil the nativity scene. A small dedication ceremony is planned to begin at 1 PM at the North School Park and is open to the public. 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012, will mark the launch of the fifth annual Christmas Nativity display in the Rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol. The Springfield Nativity Scene Committee (SNSC) will unveil the Nativity exhibit at a public “opening day” celebration to be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Illinois State Capitol Rotunda, at South 2nd Street and East Capital Ave. in Springfield.

Event Details

• What: The Fifth Annual State Capitol Christmas Nativity Display
• When: Tuesday, November 27, 2012, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Where: Illinois State Capitol Rotunda, 301 South 2nd Street (at Capital Avenue) in Springfield

The Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based public interest law firm, has played an instrumental role in securing permits for this privately sponsored and constitutionally protected expression of religious faith in Illinois’ central public forum, the classic “public square” and “marketplace of ideas” at the heart of our statewide political community. Tom Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel, noted that the Thomas More Society has been honored to represent SNSC for the last five years, going back to its founding by the late Daniel T. Zanoza, of Lincoln, IL. The Society also has been underwriting SNSC’s Christmas displays during each of the ensuing five years. “So long as these Christmas religious displays and ceremonies are privately sponsored, funded, and held in traditional public forums, they are constitutionally protected,” said Brejcha. “Even the ACLU concedes that our Capitol Rotunda Nativity Scene is fully protected by the First Amendment. Christians have as much right to proclaim the joyful message of Jesus Christ’s birth as political candidates have to get up on soap boxes to spout their own messages in our public squares.”

The privately sponsored and funded Nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus will begin its seasonal reign in the Rotunda alongside the Governor’s “holiday tree.” The crèche will be welcomed by a concert of Christmas carols led by Bill Lewis, worship leader of Jefferson Street Christian Church in Lincoln, IL. The celebration will also feature an invocation by the Rev. Bernie Luchtman, President of Business Men In Christ (Springfield), an SNSC member. Other speakers include Rev. Peter C. Harman, Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, of Springfield’s Roman Catholic Diocese, IFI Board member Pastor Rick Giovannetti from Morris-based Standing in the Word Ministries, and Pastor Charlie Carver of South Tower Community Church in Dawson.

Springfield Nativity Scene Committee chairperson Julie Zanoza will speak and dedicate the event to her late husband, Dan Zanoza, founder and first chairman of SNSC, whose crèche display features marble-like figures of the Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. SNSC’s Beth Rogers is also slated to speak.

Church choirs or other groups interested in singing Christmas carols during the weekday noon hour on other days throughout the Christmas season may contact Salli Chernis at the Secretary of State’s Department of Special Events, at 217-782-8996, to request permission for selected time slots. The Thomas More Society is offering free legal help to any individuals or citizen groups interested in putting up similar Nativity Scenes — privately sponsored and funded — in any traditional public forum in their own towns, villages, or hamlets in Illinois or elsewhere. The Society can be reached at 312-782-1680.

About the Thomas More Society The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit public interest law firm that exists to restore respect in law for life, marriage, and religious liberty. For more information or to support the work of the Thomas More Society, please visit www.thomasmoresociety.org.

September 17 marks the beginning of Constitution Week, a commemoration of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Three area high schools are celebrating this historic occasion by inviting atheist teenager Jessica Ahlquist to speak to students in American government and history classes about her successful lawsuit against her high school. Last year, she successfully sued her Rhode Island high school to force it to remove a banner on which a prayer was printed. The prayer was written by a 7^th grade student, placed on the banner, and presented as a gift to the school 49 years ago.

The three schools that have invited Ahlquist to speak and are reportedly each paying Ahlquist a $400 honorarium are York, Waubonsie Valley, and Downers Grove North. Additionally, students from Metea Valley will be bussed to one of the three schools for her presentation.

York and Waubonsie Valley high schools sent out permission slips to parents, permission slips that failed to include any information whatsoever about Jessica Ahlquist, the specifics of her lawsuit, or any details regarding the topics she would be addressing or the learning objectives her presentation is intended to fulfill.

When asked about Ahlquist’s presentation, York High School Social Science Division Chair Charles Ovando said this:

One goal of these efforts is to provide students with an opportunity to learn about relevant, modern-day issues surrounding the Constitution that they can more readily engage with because they are talked about by the very people who are at the heart of these cases. Another key goal is to promote critical thinking about these issues and to help students develop an appreciation for the complexities inherent in interpreting the Constitution. (emphasis mine)

When asked about Ahlquist’s presentation, Waubonsie Valley Social Studies Department Chair Lorie Cristofaro stated that “the purpose of the optional presentation is so that students may see that the US Constitution, which is the foundational document for our country’s government, is still relevant today.”

But when I contacted the Citizen Advocacy Center who invited Ahlquist, paid for her flights and hotel, and offered her to these three schools, I was told that since Ahlquist is only 17 years old, “she won’t be able to speak articulately on the First Amendment issues” but rather that she would be talking about advocating for an issue about which she cares deeply and about being bullied.

Since there was no mention of bullying in the permission slip to parents or by administrators at either York or Waubonsie Valley, will they ensure that Ahlquist restricts her presentation to constitutional issues and that she not discuss bullying? Of course, bullying is an important issue but unrelated to the constitutional issues about which Ahlquist was ostensibly invited to talk.

In public statements, Ahlquist has explained what issues she cares deeply about:

I would definitely say that being an atheist is a big part of my identity, mostly because I’m an activist….I wouldn’t say that I go shoving atheism down anyone else’s throat. I just feel passionate about activism and specifically activism for atheism.

Ahlquist’s public statements seem to bear out what the Citizen Advocacy spokesperson shared with me about her inability to speak articulately about First Amendment issues. Ahlquist said this about the banner she opposed:

It seemed like it was saying, every time I saw it, ‘You don’t belong here.’  

Here is the prayer that “seemed” to be telling Ahlquist that she didn’t belong in the auditorium—or the school; I’m not sure which:

Our Heavenly Father.

Grant us each day the desire to do our best.
To grow mentally and morally as well as physically.
To be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers.
To be honest with ourselves as well as with others.
Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win.
Teach us the value of true friendship.
Help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West.

Amen.

—School Prayer, Cranston High School West

After the court decision, Ahlquist tweeted:

*[Jessica] Is dancing her brains out and annoying her family*

and

And the prayer falls ; ) *dance*

and to her Twitter pal, the ubiquitous “Friendly Atheist,” Neuqua Valley High School math teacher Hemant Mehta, she tweeted:

            we WON. As in lawsuity goodness!

Surely our educational establishments can find more substantive speakers to enlighten our students on constitutional issues.

A few brief words about liberals’ obsessive exploitation of bullying:

Ahlquist reportedly has been on the receiving end of vicious verbal attacks and threats. Although I don’t believe Jessica Ahlquist should be addressing bullying in a presentation that is being promoted as a presentation on constitutional issues, I do believe that the way she has been treated by some in her community is reprehensible. If we hope to have a civil society in which diverse people can exercise their First Amendment rights, we must stand firm against abusive words and actions, particularly when the victims are young people.

That said, conservatives need to better understand how “progressives” (or more accurately, “transgressives”) cynically exploit the issue of bullying to promote their causes and ideologies. By demagogically exploiting real victims of bullying, transgressives manipulate non-rational, emotional psychological processes.

This is how it works:

When teenagers (and even adults) hear the painful stories of those who have been mistreated, most will feel sympathy and a desire to alleviate their suffering—or at minimum, a desire not to exacerbate their suffering. Those who hear these stories of mistreatment do not distinguish between the bad feelings that result from real mistreatment and the bad feelings we experience when we encounter disagreement. Since both bullying and disagreement result in bad feelings, students often fail to distinguish between the two. The goal of transgressive activists and teachers who see themselves as “agents of change” is to make students feel as if their philosophical disagreement with ideas is tantamount to bullying people.

So, if Jessica Ahlquist were to tell students about being bullied, students would be less inclined to increase her suffering by expressing their disagreement with her atheism or her political cause. This ploy is most often used in public schools in the effort to silence expressions of disapproval of homosexuality.

During Constitution Week, there is no need to import a teenager who according to the sponsors of the event itself is unable to adequately discuss constitutional issues, particularly when Illinois has an abundance of scholars who can expertly discuss “modern-day” constitutional issues. I might suggest that next year, social studies teachers from York, Waubonsie Valley, and Downers Grove North high schools invite Joseph A. Morris or someone from the Thomas More Society, all from right here in Illinois.

Take ACTION:  If you object to the invitation of Jessica Ahlquist or the inadequacy of the permission slips sent to parents, please click HERE to express your views respectfully to the administration and school board members of York, Waubonsie Valley, Downers Grove North, and Metea Valley high schools, and forward this article to friends and family who live in those communities.

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This week, a bipartisan group of 11 members of the Illinois General Assembly filed an amicus curiae brief defending the constitutionality of Illinois law defining marriage as the union of a husband and a wife. Led by Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) and Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton), the legislators’ brief supports a motion to dismiss the ACLU and Lambda Legal lawsuits filed by Thomas More Society attorneys, on behalf of downstate county clerks who were allowed into the case to defend the law.

“We welcome the bipartisan support for Illinois’ marriage law offered by this respected group of legislators,” said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel for the Thomas More Society. “They rightly point out that under our constitutional system, the issue of how the government treats domestic relationships is reserved to the General Assembly.”

The legislators assert that the judicial branch should not rewrite the state’s marriage laws, stating that “to do so would be to place the court in a position of acting as a super-legislature, nullifying laws it does not like. That is not our proper role in a democratic society.” They also claim that such action would, “Dramatically interfere with the constitutional guarantee of separation of powers by which the general assembly is empowered to make public policy….”

The legislators also cite several sociological arguments stating that “… the marriage structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents ….” The legislators also supported the religious liberty concerns raised by the amicus brief of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, also filed this week, indicating that “of great concern to us is hostility that may be shown to Illinois’ religious minorities” who oppose same-sex marriage.

The amicus curiae brief is available HERE.

The proposed amici curiae, Senator Kirk Dillard, Senator William Haine, Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), Senator Darrin LaHood (R-Peoria), Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), Representative David Reis (R-Olney), Representative Joseph Lyons (D-Chicago), Representative Michael Connelly (R-Naperville), Representative Richard Morthland (R-Moline), Representative Patti Bellock (R-Westmont), and Representative Paul Evans (R-Highland), all of the Illinois General Assembly, are represented by retired Cook County Chancery Court Judge, Robert V. Boharic.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to contact your state representatives and state senators, urging them to support HJR 95 and its call for an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that clearly defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. 

On Friday, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a motion to intervene, asking the Cook County Circuit Court to allow them to defend Illinois’ marriage law in the same-sex marriage lawsuits filed by the ACLU and Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund. The motion to intervene was filed on behalf of Christie Webb, Tazewell County Clerk, and Kerry Hirtzel, Effingham County Clerk. Attorneys with the Thomas More Society have been appointed Special Assistant State’s Attorneys to represent Ms. Webb and Mr. Hirtzel in this litigation.

“When the ACLU and Lambda Legal brought plaintiffs from across the State of Illinois to sue the Cook County Clerk, this became a statewide issue affecting the duties and responsibilities of every county clerk in the State of Illinois,” said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel of the Thomas More Society. “Legal claims similar to those asserted here by the ACLU and Lambda Legal have been rejected by every federal appellate court and the substantial majority of state courts. Illinois’ marriage law is valid and constitutional. Our state’s laws deserve robust defense, and with this motion to intervene, we intend to ensure that defense.”

The Thomas More Society’s request to enter the case follows the decisions of Cook County Clerk David Orr, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to refuse to defend the 1996 Illinois marriage law that defines marriage as the union of one man one woman. The intervention motion requested by the Society is currently set for hearing on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 at 9:15 a.m. before Judge Sophia Hall in courtroom 2301.

The ACLU and Lambda Legal have asserted that the General Assembly acted with intent to discriminate against same-sex couples when it enacted the Illinois Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. At that time, the sponsors of the legislation, State Senator Peter Fitzgerald and State Representative Tom Johnson, stated that the legislation was intended to preserve the traditional understanding of marriage and ensure that Illinois would not be required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. During the debate on the measure, State Senator John Cullerton, now the President of the Illinois Senate, opposed the legislation because he thought it was unnecessary, stating that: “It is very clear that today in Illinois marriage is reserved as a union between a man and a woman. That is our policy, and I personally support that. I think it should be reserved for a union of a man and a woman. There are historic, cultural, religious, and civil traditions for this, and we should continue in that tradition.”

Court Filings:

•        Proposed Interveners’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaints

•        Proposed Intervenors’ Motion for Enlargement of the Court’s 15 Page Limitation on Briefs

•        Verified Petition of Christie Webb and Kerry Hirtzel for Leave to Intervene and Memorandum in Support

•        Notice of Emergency Motion

•        Emergency Motion to Set Briefing Schedule on the Verified Petition of Christie Web and Kerry Hirtzel

•        Proposed Intervenors’ Memorandum in Support of Their Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaints

About the Thomas More Society

Founded in 1997, the Chicago-based Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm that seeks to restore respect in law for life, marriage, and religious liberty. The Society is a nonprofit organization wholly supported by private donations. For more information or to support the work of Thomas More Society, please visit www.thomasmoresociety.org. 

House Attorneys Support Thomas More Society’s DOMA Case

This week, the Thomas More Society secured support from the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives in a same-sex marriage case that involves the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The case asserts that the parents of attorney Sarah Farley, who died of cancer, should get her profit-sharing plan proceeds instead of Sarah’s “wife”, Jennifer Tobits.

The House’s Legal Advisory Group filed a motion to intervene in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Motion available here and Memorandum available here), supporting the position of the parents of Sarah Ellyn Farley, that they are entitled to her profit-sharing plan instead of her “wife” Jennifer Tobits, because DOMA is constitutional.

“We are very encouraged that the House of Representatives’ legal counsel is joining us in saying that DOMA is fully in accord with the U.S. Constitution,” said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel of the Thomas More Society.

Earlier this year, the Thomas More Society defended the Farleys (court filing available here) and argued that federal and state DOMAs forbid the recognition of Tobits as a “spouse.” They stated that the Cozen O’Connor law firm should disburse the profit-sharing plan proceeds to attorney Sarah Farley’s parents, as she requested them to be her beneficiaries before her death. Sarah Farley and Tobits obtained a same-sex marriage license in Toronto in 2006, which Tobits claims entitles her to the plan’s proceeds.

The Thomas More Society argued that the parents are entitled to the funds because their daughter executed a beneficiary designation form in their favor before her death, and because Farley and Tobits’ “marriage” was invalid under Federal and Pennsylvania law. Under the terms of the profit-sharing plan, the parents would be next in line when there is no spouse, even without a designated beneficiary form from the deceased. Therefore, they are legally entitled to the funds as Farley’s surviving parents on two accounts.

About the Thomas More Society

Formed in 1997, the Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm based in Chicago. The Society defends religious liberty, marriage, and the sanctity of human life in courtrooms across the country. For more information, please visit www.thomasmoresociety.org.

Illinois Roe v. Wade Brewing As Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 is Set to Go Before the Illinois Supreme Court  

The issue of a law requiring parents to be notified if their minor daughter is to obtain an abortion has a long and contentious history in Illinois. 

The story begins in 1977 when the Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Abortion Parental Consent Act. The act, supported by the vast majority of Illinoisans, passed with sound majorities in both houses, but was promptly found unconstitutional by the courts and was never enforced.

In 1983, the General Assembly passed the Illinois Parental Notification of Abortion Act of 1983. It too was found unconstitutional by the courts and was never enforced.

Finally, in 1995, the Parental Notification Act of 1995 became law, which required a parent or guardian to be notified 48 hours before a child under 18 has an abortion. The ACLU immediately obtained an injunction in Federal Court due to unclear rules on the judicial bypass procedure by which a minor girl could obtain an abortion without her parents being notified if a judge approved the procedure. The law remained locked in judicial limbo until for over a decade.

In 2005, the Thomas More Society began implementing Special Counsel Paul Linton’s legal strategy to get the injunction lifted. Representatives of pro-life organizations met with DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett in the spring of 2005 to ask him to petition the Illinois Supreme Court to adopt the rules required by the 1995 Act. Birkett agreed and filed his petition in June 2006.

On September 7, 2006, the Thomas More Society, representing a range of interested organizations, filed a supplemental petition with the state supreme court. Less than two weeks later, the Illinois Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice Bob Thomas, unanimously adopted Supreme Court Rule 303A.

After various delays, Attorney General Lisa Madigan returned to federal court in March 2007 and petitioned Judge David Coar to lift the permanent injunction which had been issued eleven years earlier. After Judge Coar denied the petition, the Thomas More Society intervened in the case on behalf of State’s Attorneys Stu Umholtz (R – Tazewell County) and Ed Deters (D -Effingham County) to press an appeal against the injunction.

In the fall of 2009, after Thomas More Society had filed a writ of mandamus, urging that the law be enforced, and in September of that year, it was enforced for the first time ever—but only for four hours. Once again, the ACLU intervened and convinced a judge to put a temporary restraining order on the law preventing its enforcement.

In the spring of 2010, the Illinois attorney general argued that the Illinois State Constitution protects the fundamental right to abortion even though the constitution was penned in 1970—three years before the monumental Roe v. Wade decision.

Though that request was denied, on March 29, 2010, Judge Daniel Riley dismissed the ACLU’s case and the Thomas More Society joined the case as “friends of the court.”

In 2011, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded the decision of the Cook County Circuit Court that upheld the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 on state constitutional grounds. The Appellate Court did not resolve the ultimate legal issues raised in the case, even though those issues were fully briefed in both the trial and appellate courts.

On November 30, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to decide a pair of appeals arising out of the ACLU’s latest challenge of the legality of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995—an Act whose enforcement the ACLU has stymied through successive court challenges ever since it became a law.

Those who will do anything possible to quash dissent regarding the issue of abortion were foiled once again on Wednesday, August 18, 2010. The case against David Avignone, an MBA student at Chicago’s Loyola University, was dropped by the City of Chicago. Avignone was originally charged with disorderly conduct due to his alleged violation of a controversial ordinance referred to as a “Bubble Zone”. The ordinance applies outside local abortion clinics to prohibit approaching within eight feet of a person to present a leaflet, sign or oral message to that person. Avignone was arrested while praying the rosary in front of a near north side Planned Parenthood abortion mill.

“We are pleased that for the second time, the City of Chicago has dismissed the false charges of disorderly conduct against a man who was properly and legally exercising his First Amendment rights on the public way,” said Peter Breen, in a statement issued by the Chicago-based Thomas More Society. Breen is the organization’s Executive Director and legal counsel.

“We hope these two baseless cases involving alleged ‘Bubble Zone’ ‘infractions’ show the Chicago City Council why it should repeal this controversial ordinance altogether and cease efforts to scare pro-life people away from Planned Parenthood,” continued Breen who defended Avignone in the case.

The Thomas More Society won an historic Supreme Court decision where abortion facilities attempted to restrict any kind of sidewalk counseling, demonstrations or expressions of First Amendment free speech near facilities which provide abortion services. In the case of NOW v. Scheidler, the nation’s highest court ruled that the Pro-Life Action, headed by Joe Scheidler, was not in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The Thomas More Society’s victory cleared the way for sidewalk counseling and protests in front of abortion clinics. However, many believe the City of Chicago with its “Bubble Zone” ordinance is attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court decision in the Scheidler case.

The case against Avignone is the third “Bubble Zone” case, all of which have been dismissed. The decision by the City of Chicago not to pursue the case against Avignone and two others who were previously charged with violating the “Bubble Zone” ordinance was a good one in the opinion of most experts in constitutional law.

Thomas More Society Files Motion for Immediate Transfer of Parental Notice Challenge to Illinois Supreme Court

Our friends at the pro-life Thomas More Society law firm just delivered the justices of the Illinois Supreme Court a motion to immediately transfer the legal case pending against the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 from the Appellate Court to the Supreme Court. Arguing that pregnant minors at risk for abortion suffer harm every day that the Act is not enforced, the Society invoked the Supreme Court rule allowing transfer of an appeal when the “public interest requires prompt adjudication.” The pending appeal, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is currently in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, where a decision is not expected for a year or more.

Contact Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to request that she support the motion filed by Thomas More. It is high time to end the delay of enforcing this law that was enacted fifteen years ago. The people of Illinois overwhelmingly support parental notice.

You can also call the Attorney General’s office at the numbers listed below:

Chicago — (312) 814-3000

Rockford — (815) 967-3883

Springfield — (217) 782-1090

Quincy — (217) 223-2221

Belleville — (618) 236-8616

Carbondale — (618) 529-6400

Background
“More than fifteen years ago, with overwhelming bipartisan support, parental notice was supposedly made the law in Illinois, but as we sit here today, secret abortions on pregnant minors continue unabated,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. “With this motion to transfer, the Supreme Court has the opportunity to immediately and definitively decide the constitutionality of parental notice in Illinois.”

Earlier this year, Judge Daniel Riley of the Cook County Circuit Court allowed the Thomas More Society to appear as “friends of the court” as he rejected the ACLU’s Illinois state constitutional challenges to the Parental Notice Act. However, after the decision, both the ACLU and the Illinois Attorney General’s office agreed to an indefinite stay of the law, extending through the duration of the appeal a temporary restraining order entered earlier by Judge Riley.

Since the Parental Notice Act was signed into law in 1995, more than 50,000 abortions have been performed on pregnant minors in Illinois, including almost 5,000 abortions on girls 14 years of age and younger. Illinois is the only state in the Midwest that does not have a law requiring parental notification or consent prior to an abortion, and more than 55,000 abortions have been performed on non-residents in Illinois since 1995, including an unknown number of out-of-state pregnant minors.

While the Act was passed in 1995, it was in late 2006 that the Illinois Supreme Court issued the Act’s required “judicial bypass” rules, which allow a minor a confidential bypass proceeding in court in lieu of notifying her parents. Notwithstanding the bypass rules, the Act also allows a minor to forego notification if she declares in writing that she is the victim of abuse. In early 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected the ACLU’s federal constitutional challenge to the Act.

It is not yet known whether the Attorney General and the ACLU will support, oppose or remain neutral on the motion to transfer. A copy of the motion to transfer can be downloaded at www.thomasmoresociety.org.

Thomas More Society Responds by Seeking Leave of Court to Defend Parental Notice

Chicago, Illinois March 12-Reacting to the recent claim by the Attorney General that the Illinois Constitution contains a right to abortion, attorneys from the Thomas More Society will appear in Cook County court on Monday, March 15, again seeking to intervene in the latest American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit, challenging the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. 

In Hope Clinic, et al., v. Brent Adams et al. (No. 09 CH 38661), Thomas More Society attorneys are representing Illinois State’s Attorneys Stu Umholtz (R-Tazewell), Ed Deters (D-Effingham) and Ray Cavanaugh (R-Henderson), and maintain that because there is no right to abortion in the Illinois Constitution, the ACLU’s latest challenge to parental notice is baseless. The Attorney General, representing various Illinois officials who are named as defendants, has moved to dismiss the case on other grounds.

“Because the ACLU has already lost in federal court, its lawyers must prove in state court both the foundational contention that the Illinois Constitution of 1970 guaranteed a right to abortion and the further contention that such a right is even stronger than the federal abortion right upheld in Roe v. Wade, handed down in 1973. The contention that the Illinois Constitution includes a right to abortion is an utter falsehood plainly belied by the historical record. Yet, instead of defending the Illinois Constitution, whose Framers clearly left the issue of abortion to the legislature, the Attorney General has tossed the Constitution aside and conceded to the ACLU its foundational contention that the Illinois Constitution includes a right to abortion,” statedThomas Brejcha, President & Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society. “Illinois parents have a right to know before their kids are taken for abortions. If the Attorney General won’t defend the parental notice law vigorously, we will do so, until the day when there are no more secret abortions performed on Illinois children.”

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act requires a child under age 18 to notify a parent, grandparent or step-parent in the home, or to go before a judge to get a waiver, prior to undergoing an abortion. The Act was prevented from going into effect in June 1995, by an injunction issued by the federal district court in Chicago. Fourteen years later, in August of 2009, the federal appeals court lifted the injunction. However, before the Act could go into effect, the Illinois Medical Disciplinary Board imposed a 90-day grace period on enforcement. On the day that grace period ended, November 4, the law was in effect for only a few hours before Judge Daniel Riley of the Cook County circuit court granted a temporary restraining order, again halting enforcement of the Act.

Judge Riley has granted Thomas More Society attorneys a special setting for their motion to intervene, at 10 a.m. on Monday. At 10:30 a.m., the court will hear the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the ACLU’s case. Thomas More Society attorneys will be available for comment following the hearing.

For more information, contact Stephanie Lewis, 312-422-1333.

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Allison Cowett and Hope Clinic for Women Ltd. to stop Illinois’ parental notification law from taking effect on Nov. 3, 2009. This law requires that minor girls under the age of 18 notify their parents prior to an abortion and wait 48 hours. Note that this is merely a parentalnotification law– not a parental consent law. In addition, Illinois, like all 34 other states that have parental notification laws, has a judicial bypass option available to girls. In addition, girls can bypass parental notification in an emergency situation or if they are willing to declare in writing that they were raped.

According to a Chicago Tribune article, Dr. Allison Cowett and the Hope Clinic claim that “the notification law would harm minors by preventing them from obtaining safe abortions or force them to carry their pregnancies to term.” This is an ironic claim coming from a clinic that is being sued for a botched abortion that left a now 20-year-old woman sterile. According to LifeNews.com, “Antoinette Blanton, who is 20, filed a $50,000 against the abortion center saying the failed March 2006 abortion caused her to be sterile. According to the lawsuit, abortion practitioner Allen S. Palmer, of Bridgeton, failed to remove the entire unborn child during the abortion procedure.” 

Dr. Cowett, a committed pro-abortion advocate, and the Hope Clinic further claim that “Others (minor girls) will be beaten or thrown out of their homes when their parents learn of their pregnancy and planned abortion.” But the judicial bypass option is available to any girl who fears such a response. It hardly seems fair to deny all loving, compassionate parents a right to help their daughters make a decision regarding major surgery that carries both serious physical risks and potentially long-term emotional consequences because some girls may choose not to avail themselves of the judicial bypass option.

Dr. Cowett is an assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago and director of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center of Reproductive Health. Her research “focuses on abortion in the 2nd trimester, factors affecting women’s contraceptive choices, and access to family planning services.” According to her biography, she is “active in community-wide efforts to forward a legislative agenda that champion’s women’s reproductive freedom.” Apparently, she wants to champion teenage girl’s right to kill even younger pre-born girls through both legislative and judicial means.

And she’s willing to forge an unholy alliance with a clinic that has long been criticized by pro-life warriors for myriad offenses against humanity and sound medical practice. Retired ob-gyn nurse Angela Michael and her husband Daniel have been struggling mightily for seventeen long years to expose the nefarious deeds of the grossly misnamed “Hope” Clinic. According to Mrs. Michael, approximately 80 percent of abortions come from across state lines which suggests that most of the abortions are performed on minor girls. Illinois has long been the Midwest’s abortion mecca for underage girls, since all of the surrounding states have parental notification laws. The Hope Clinic is just a hop, skip, and short car ride from Missouri where underage girls would need to notify their parents prior to procuring an abortion. To learn more about the Hope Clinic, peruse Angela and Daniel Michael’s website Small Victories Ministries.

At least as troubling is that Hope Clinic performs the utterly barbaric practice of late-term abortions. Dr. Yogendra Shah is the George Tiller of Hope Clinic. According to the Thomas More Society in Chicago “Shah is perhaps the Midwest’s most wicked abortionist. He’s the notorious serial killer who once clogged the municipal sewer system with the arms, legs, rib cages, and heads of aborted babies. Municipal officials were shocked. They traced the body parts to Shah’s ghastly abortion mill, the so-called “Hope Clinic for Women” in Granite City, Illinois . . . he kills about 10,000 babies a year. No wonder he can afford an expensive watch and a Mercedes and a Lexus.” This is the same man who “tried to run Daniel over. . .And then. . . glared at Angela. . . and shouted, ‘Die, Angela, Die!'”

One can’t help but wonder if the chief concern of doctors at Hope Clinic is really the health and safety of underage girls. Someone needs to look into how much money teen abortions generate for the Hope Clinic. 

And we all need to pray fervently for two things: first, that the ACLU, Dr. Allison Cowett, and Hope Clinic lose their lawsuit, and second, that the Hope abattoir closes its blood-stained doors forever.