Rev. James Donovan wonders how anyone could justify supporting a bill now pending in Springfield that would pave the way for a teenager in Illinois to have an abortion performed without parental notification.
“What you’re saying is they’re not old enough to have a drink, but they’re old enough to step up to have an abortion on their own,” Donovan, pastor of St. Barnabus Church, told South Cook News. “It’s hard for me to see how anyone would think a parent not being part of a teenager even thinking of making that kind of decision is a bad thing.”
After more than two decades of the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act being on the books, House Bill 2467 or Senate Bill 1594 is seeking to repeal that law and has garnered the support of Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The legislation is just one of two bills now making its way through the legislature that could make abortions much more common across the state.
House Bill 2495 or Senate Bill 1942, blasted as “the most extreme piece of abortion legislation that has ever been introduced in Illinois” by the Thomas More Society, would legalize partial-birth abortions as well as allow abortions for any reason at any point in a pregnancy. The bill would also require all health-insurance providers to include abortions as part of their policies and paves the way for non-doctors to perform such procedures.
“The church is an absolute 'No' on both bills,” Donovan added. “They both go against everything the church stands for.”
Donovan can only hope Sen. Bill Cunningham, whose district St. Barnabus stands in, comes to heed his words.
Thus far, Cunningham, a moderate Catholic Democrat, has been tight-lipped about how he plans to vote on the measure that could soon be put before him.
“Our hope is that everyone will say 'No' to these bills,” Donovan added.
Alerts Sign-up