West Central Reporter

State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) views the push by Democrats to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act (PNA) as a senseless attack on the rights of parents across the state.

“It’s illogical,” Tracy said during an Oct. 19 press conference about legislation that seeks to repeal the law mandating that a parent or guardian be notified at least 48 hours in advance when a minor seeks an abortion. “Our children need our love and support and once again we're seeing major efforts to try to break the ties between a parent and child and it's unnecessary and this is so illogical it defies any common sense.”

Tracy also scolded Democrats over what she sees as party leaders' inconsistent nature when it comes to much of the legislation they propose in the name of protecting young people.

“The majority party has passed legislation to protect minors, just recently we've protected criminal juvenile activity through recognizing that their young brains haven't fully formed, that they're immature, that their actions need counseling and support,” she said. “We passed a law through the Democrat majority to raise the smoking age to 21 because young minds don't have the critical thinking as we were told to make these necessary decisions. And that's why I called this bill illogical.”

Tracy points to the way a parent’s consent is required for something as simple as a teacher being able to give a student an aspirin as another example of a contradiction.

“Why would we think it would be a good idea to not involve a parent to be notified when a child is looking at a major medical procedure that will affect them for the rest of their lives?” she said. “The parents need to be involved in helping form that decision and dealing with the aftereffects. We recognize minors need their parents and so we're urging the majority party not to call this bill.”

All across the country, the abortion debate has picked up steam ever since lawmakers in Texas enacted a law that bans most abortions, with abortion-rights advocates in the Springfield zeroing in on what many view as the last restriction on access here in Illinois.

In Texas, the new law bans most abortions after cardiac activity is detected in the fetus, which typically comes at about six weeks following conception. In addition, in just over a month the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to hear arguments on the merits of a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks.

With Gov. J.B. Pritzker already on the record favoring the PNA repeal, Tracy is urging parents across the state to speak out now.

“We support the existing bill as it is and we're asking the public for their support to help us hear how they feel about it,” she said. “I've heard in my office over and over from parents over the years about this assault on their rights with their children and so we're asking again for their support to help us make that case be made again.”