Thomas More Society Files Appeal to Defend Parents' Rights to Notification Before a Daughter's Abortion

(March 31, 2008) The Thomas More Society filed a notice of appeal with the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today asking that two Illinois State's Attorneys be permitted to voice their concerns regarding the rights of parents to be informed about their minor daughters' abortion plans.

In 2006, the Thomas More Society and its Special Counsel, Paul Linton, conceived a plan to overturn the 13-year-old injunction on the Illinois Parental Notice Act. Now, that plan is in progress, and the fate of Illinois families is now in the hands of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Press release, March 31, 2008 (PDF)

• TMS Notice of Appeal, March 31, 2008 (PDF)

• Read story, March 17, 2008 Chicago Business (Crains)

Thomas More Society Files Motion Defending Illinois Parental Notice Law

• Motion to Intervene – filed by Thomas More Society, March 13, 2008 (PDF)

• Motion to Reconsider, Alter or Amend – filed by Thomas More Society, March 13, 2008 (PDF)

• Federal District Court Judge David H. Coar's Feb. 28 Decision (PDF)

• Thomas More Society Analysis, March 3, 2008 (PDF)

Additional Documents:

TMS Documents

• Fall 2006 analysis: “Breaking the Logjam: A Strategy for Enforcing the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995” (PDF)

• Supplemental petition of TMS on behalf of coalition of organizations urging Illinois Supreme Court to issue judicial bypass rules of Sept. 7, 2006 (PDF)
- Appendix A & B (3,800 KB PDF)
- Appendix C (PDF)

• Analysis and Critique of Attorney General Madigan's Petition, March 12, 2007 (PDF)

Related Documents

• Attorney General's reply memo of June 21, 2007 (PDF)
- Exhibits (380 KB PDF)

•  Polling information on Parental Notice of 2006 (PDF)

•  New judicial bypass rules issued by Illinois Supreme Court,
Sept. 20, 2006 (PDF)

•  Illinois Supreme Court's letter to Lisa Madigan urging her to ask federal court to lift injunction, Feb. 27, 2007 (PDF)

Media Coverage

•  Illinois Attorney General to appeal overturning of abortion notification law, March 17, 2008 Chicago Business (Crains)

•  Court hands defeat to advocates of Illinois abortion notification law, March 1, 2008
Chicago Tribune
CBS2