Posted by Thomas More Society (May 29, 2010 at 11:17 pm)
Chicago Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne has posted a great piece on his Barbershop blog about the decades long struggle to enforce the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act.
The law, which requires girls under 18 to notify at least one parent before procuring an abortion, passed with bi-partisan support in 1995 and has been under constant attack from the ACLU and the abortion lobby who have found every conceivable way of blocking the actual enforcement of the law.
Although the ACLU’s federal lawsuit, claiming the 1995 law violated the federal constitution was finally rejected last August, 2009, by the U.S. Court of Appeals at Chicago, the Illinois Medical Disciplinary agency (whose executive director has ties to Planned Parenthood) allowed a “grace period” for abortion providers to give them more time (after 14 years!) to get ready to comply with the law.
When a second grace period was voted down, the ACLU filed another lawsuit, this time in state court, claiming that the law violated the Illinois State Constitution. This claim, totally baseless, was assigned to Judge Daniel Riley who entered a restraining order (TRO) barring enforcement indefinitely. Although Judge Riley finally dismissed the suit as legally meritless late this past March, he continued his TRO in effect when the Attorney General’s offce—whose duty is to defend Illinois laws—advised him they would agree to continue the enforcement ban in effect indefinitely for the duration of the ACLU’s appeal!
Thomas More Society tried to intervene before Judge Riley for a third time on behalf of downstate county prosecutors, moving to set aside this outrageous ban on the enforcement of a legally valid, fully constitutional law. ACLU filed their appeal and Judge Riley ruled he had no jurisdiction to address the intervention motion. Now Thomas More Society lawyers have appealed the denials of intervention as well as Judge Riley’s refusal to hear their motion to overturn the “stay” so the law could go immediately into effect. Get more in Byrne’s excellent post linked below:
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 29, 2010 at 9:22 pm)
For Immediate Release
Chicago—Today, attorneys from the Thomas More Society filed an appeal in an effort to vacate the stay Judge Daniel Riley imposed on the implementation of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, arguing that there is no legal basis to further delay the law.
“The Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act has held up numerous times against attacks by the ACLU and other opponents, and we believe there is no legal reason to prevent implementation of this long-overdue and much-needed law in Illinois,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. “It is time to enforce this law and put an end to secret abortions in Illinois.”
Earlier this spring, Judge Riley dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that challenged the constitutionality of the Act and imposed a stay of his decision until the ACLU’s appeal of that decision is complete—a process that could take years.
The Thomas More Society has argued that the continuation of the temporary restraining order via Judge Riley’s indefinite stay violates Illinois law and contradicts the will of the people, particularly after the law had been found constitutional and valid.
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 27, 2010 at 10:19 pm)
Friday, May 21, Judge Neal Cerne denied motions to dismiss three of the five counts in the zoning lawsuit against the City of Aurora, Illinois and Planned Parenthood. The suit involves the building of the “Abortion Fortress” of Aurora in 2007 when Planned Parenthood entered the city under a cloud of deception.
Planned Parenthood presented itself to the city as a general use medical facility under the name Gemini Office Development and told the city council point blank that they didn’t know what tenants would be occupying the building. They represented the project as a general use, for-profit medical building that might house dentists or family doctors. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 27, 2010 at 9:59 pm)
On May 4, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett denied motions to dismiss the case of pro-lifers who were allegedly unjustly arrested and mistreated while participating in a “Face the Truth” display in Maryland.
In August of 2008, pro-life leader Jack Ames was leading a group of pro-lifers in a display of graphic abortion photos along a Maryland highway. After complaints from local citizens, state troopers told Ames he had to leave town, so he moved the display four miles away into a neighboring Bel Air, Maryland. [Continue reading ...]
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 17, 2010 at 3:40 pm)
Christ the King parish in Omaha, Nebraska is hosting an educational fundraising dinner for the Thomas More Society featuring TMS President and Chief Counsel Tom Brejcha. Click the picture above for a printable PDF to use to publicize the event.
Tickets are $40 each ($30 tax-deductible). Social hour will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. Use the “Donate” button below to purchase tickets or make checks payable to The Thomas More Society and mail to 29 S. LaSalle, Ste, 440 Chicago, IL 60603 Attn: Accounting. If using the “Donate” button, please enter the number of tickets in the information field. Thank you, and we hope to see you there.
Posted by Thomas More Society (May 4, 2010 at 9:59 pm)
Monica Miller, head of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society in southeastern Michigan and herself one of the “ND88” whom Notre Dame had arrested for protesting the Obama Commencement at Notre Dame almost a year ago, conducted another, similar protest last Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the campus of the University of Michigan.
The occasion? It was the latest Commencement appearance by president Obama, this time at the University of Michigan’s 2010 Commencement.
Perhaps amazingly to some folks, these photos show that such protests can be conducted without arrests, jailing and prosecution of protesters—something that may come as a surprise to those guarding the gates at Notre Dame’s celebrated campus. [Continue reading ...]
