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Notification law was appropriate, needed

This is in response to a published letter by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard regarding the repeal of the Parental Notification Act that required a parent or guardian to be informed if their minor-age daughter were seeking an abortion.

Rep. Howard, like most of those who voted for the repeal, said that there are "some girls who do not have a loving, trusted adult they can rely on." What she failed to mention was that the law had a judicial process that allowed a young girl to bypass notification if she felt threatened or was in an abusive situation with a parent. A judge would rule whether the parent or guardians should or should not be notified.

Rep. Howard said that "thankfully, the overwhelming majority of young girls who become pregnant ask for their parents' help." If that is true, why repeal the law?

If anything, repealing the law puts young girls at greater risk, allowing them to be possibly abused even more by sexual predators and human traffickers, who no longer need to worry about a parent or guardian being notified of an abortion.

The repeal of the law strips away further a parent's right to know. Current laws prohibit a minor girl from getting a tattoo, getting her ears pierced or even taking an aspirin at school without a parent's consent. Why would you deny them the right to know about a serious procedure such as an abortion? Do we trust a young girl to know how to handle an abortion, and even more so, the after effects?

I ask Rep. Howard and all who voted to repeal this law - if your daughter died from complications from an abortion procedure, wouldn't your first question be "why wasn't I told this was happening?"

Gerry Bliss

Elk Grove Village

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