The women and girls of Illinois should thank the ACLU of Illinois today. A federal judge has ruled that Illinois' parental notification law, whereby a minor must acquire the permission of her legal guardian in order to obtain an abortion, is unconstitutional. This law, passed in 1995, never actually took effect thanks to a court order (fought for by the ACLU of Illinois) that blocked the obtrusive law. Approximately one year ago, Illinois State's Attorney, and Democratic-machine favorite, Lisa Madigan mystifyingly resurrected the fight to remove the court order. But due to the tireless work of Lorie Chaiten and the Reproductive Rights Project at the ACLU of Illinois, and Judge David Coar's clear-headed ruling, Madigan's attempts to stifle the rights of women and girls have been successfully fended off. For now. If a certain junior Illinois Senator takes up residence in the White House in a year, and Madigan makes her expected move for his vacant Senate seat, we can only guess how far she will go to win easy political points - no matter the personal cost to Illinois women.
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