Posted by Thomas More Society (September 1, 2010 at 9:57 am)
Yesterday, on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, a divided Illinois Supreme Court denied a request by attorneys from Chicago’s Thomas More Society to transfer to the high Court the consolidated appeals pending before the Illinois Appellate Court that are holding up the enforcement of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. The high Court’s Order was unaccompanied by any opinion giving reasons for this refusal to hasten the progress of the appeals, but Justices Thomas and Kilbride dissented from the ruling.
“We’re obviously disappointed with this ruling,” said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, “but we remain committed to doing everything we can possibly do to bring these appeals to a speedy and positive conclusion.” He added, “The ACLU’s latest constitutional attack on this law was deemed legally meritless and tossed out of court by the Cook County trial court, and yet the Attorney General agreed—inexplicably and without any legal basis—that the enforcement of parental notice should still be stayed, that is, suspended pending the outcome of ACLU’s appeal.”
“Our clients, who are Illinois State’s Attorneys, were denied leave to intervene to argue against this indefinite stay of enforcement. So, we’re pressing our appeal to put the Parental Notice Law into effect, sooner rather than later. An overwhelming majority of Illinois citizens believe that parents should know when their minor daughters are being taken to abortion clinics, and this ongoing delay over baseless legal challenges is unconscionable.”
Posted by Thomas More Society (June 18, 2010 at 3:06 pm)
Paul Benjamin Linton, special counsel to the Thomas More Society, has just had an article published in the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal enitled Long Road to Justice: The IL Supreme Court, the IL Attorney General, and the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. In it, he explores the Illinois General Assembly’s 35 year struggle to enact an enforceable statute requiring the consent of or notice to the parents of a pregnant minor before she undergoes an abortion.
These efforts to secure an enforceable, effective parental notice law in Illinois have been repeatedly thwarted, despite polls that consistently show dominant majorities of citizens favoring parental notice (including even many abortion supporters) and the existence of parental involvement laws in all Midwestern states surrounding Illinois. In many cases, the statutes themselves were struck down as violative of the governing federal constitutional standards. In another instance, the Illinois Supreme Court failed—or refused—to adopt procedural rules for confidential, expedited “bypass” hearings and appeals, measures deemed necessary for parental involvement laws to satisfy federal constitutional requirements.
Linton explains through the most comprehensive history to date of the 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion Act how both the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Attorneys General—past and present—have failed the people of the state by not taking the steps needed to implement and enforce an otherwise constitutional law, and one with overwhelming public support.
Most recently (see our post on columnist Dennis Byrne’s OpEd), while Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s attorneys defeated the ACLU’s latest attack on the parental notice law, in which the ACLU had charged that the law violated Illinois’ state constitution, her trial attorneys agreed with the ACLU that the law’s enforcement could be “stayed,” i.e., suspended, for as long as it took for the ACLU to appeal the ruling to higher courts. In effect, she won the lawsuit but then threw in the towel! Cook County Chancery Judge Daniel Riley, although dismissing the ACLU’s lawsuit as meritless, entered an “Agreed Order” suspending the law’s enforcement yet again. Thomas More Society, representing downstate county prosecutors, tried repeatedly to intervene in the case to mount a robust defense of the parental notice law and to oppose this latest “stay” of enforcement. But its efforts were rebuffed by Judge Riley when the Attorney General and ACLU objected. The Society has appealed those rulings and will seek to vacate the “stay” when the case reaches the Illinois Appellate Court.
Read the complete article below (Click “Fullscreen” for the best reading experience):
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 (March 29, 2010 at 2:14 pm)
For Immediate Release:
Thomas More Society Attorneys, present as “Friends of the Court,” Applaud Dismissal
Chicago, March 29, 2010—Today in Cook County Court, a judge dismissed the case challenging the constitutionality of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, while imposing a stay of his decision for 60 days to allow the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) time to file an appeal. Attorneys from the Thomas More Society appeared as “friends of the court” today in Court as Judge Daniel Riley delivered his ruling.
“Today’s ruling represents a great step toward ending underage secret abortions in Illinois. This written decision represents the first time an Illinois court has upheld the Parental Notice Act of 1995 against the ACLU’s challenge,” said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel at the Thomas More Society. “We look forward to the day that abortion providers are made to respect the rights of parents to know before their daughters are taken for abortions.” Case documents after the fold . . .
Posted by Thomas More Society (March 29, 2010 at 9:57 am)
Friday’s deadline for the passage of new legislation by the Illinois House of Representatives came and went without HB6205—the “Illinois FOCA” bill—ever coming up for a vote.
Realizing they were short of the votes needed for passage, the House leadership chose to send the bill back to the Rules Committee, which means that it is effectively dead for the year. The Stop Illinois FOCA Coalition, which includes the Thomas More Society, will continue to watch the House for any further developments—for example, a move to extend the deadline for this bill—but there seems little hope for HB6205 in 2010.
Thanks to all those who called, e-mailed and visited their State Representatives. Thanks to all who offered prayers or joined protests down in Springfield or at district offices across the state.
And a special thanks to our pro-life lobbyists: Ralph Rivera of Illinois Citizens for Life and Bob Gilligan of the Illinois Catholic Conference. Their tireless efforts down in Springfield and their wisdom and guidance for the whole pro-life community of Illinois made this victory possible.
Posted by Thomas More Society (March 12, 2010 at 5:02 pm)
For Immediate Release
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.
Posted by Thomas More Society (March 11, 2010 at 11:25 pm)
Outside of Planned Parenthood on Lasalle and Division in downtown Chicago, a newsstand has stood vacant on the corner for quite some time.
The newsstand, owned by the city of Chicago, created a bit of an annoyance for pro-lifers since it took up a good bit of sidewalk real estate where sidewalk counselors and prayer partners could otherwise stand.
But the folks at Aid for Women pregnancy resource center turned the annoyance into a blessing when they purchased an ad on the side of the newsstand offering women alternatives to abortion right outside the clinic’s door.
But recently and with no notice, the newsstand was taken down by the city along with the ad, despite the fact that Aid for Women had contracted the ad through the beginning of May.
Many observing the situation have smelled something fishy about the situation, especially because the Planned Parenthood facility is located in the ward of Alderman Vi Daley—the alderman who sponsored the infamous Chicago “bubble zone” ordinance at Planned Parenthood’s request.
With that in view, Thomas More Society attorneys have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any and all documents the city has pertaining to the ad, the newsstand and their removal.
Read all about the story from the Pro-Life Action League, the Chicago Tribune’s Dennis Byrne and TMS’s FOIA request below.
Posted by Thomas More Society (February 24, 2010 at 4:28 pm)
An article by the Thomas More Society’s Paul Linton appeared in the latest edition of the Human Life Review, a publication of the Human Life Foundation.
The Human Life Review is available for $25 per year, contact HLR at 353 Lexington Avenue, Suite 802, N.Y., N.Y. 10016; (212) 685-5210. See the Human Life Review website at HumanLifeReview.com or contact them via e-mail at humanlifereview@verizon.net.
Posted by Thomas More Society (February 19, 2010 at 11:27 am)
Providence, RI Mayoral candidate Chris Young’s trial on charges of disorderly conduct for questioning Rep. Patrick Kennedy on abortion in the healthcare overhaul has been postponed until March 10. TMS attorneys representing Mr. Young are seeking for the charges to be dropped entirely and alleging that Mr. Young’s first amendment rights were violated.
Video of the incident can be seen here and case documents can be read here.
As we wait for the trial to proceed, the media has taken notice of this significant case. Local and national news outlets have covered the story. Follow the links below to find out more.
Yesterday, on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, a divided Illinois Supreme Court denied a request by attorneys from Chicago’s Thomas More Society to transfer to the high Court the consolidated appeals pending before the Illinois Appellate Court that are holding up the enforcement of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. The high Court’s Order was unaccompanied by any opinion giving reasons for this refusal to hasten the progress of the appeals, but Justices Thomas and Kilbride dissented from the ruling.
Paul Benjamin Linton, special counsel to the Thomas More Society, has just had an article published in the 
Chicago Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne has posted a great piece on his 
Friday’s deadline for the passage of new legislation by the Illinois House of Representatives came and went without HB6205—the “
Outside of Planned Parenthood on Lasalle and Division in downtown Chicago, a newsstand has stood vacant on the corner for quite some time.