South Central Reporter

Illinois state Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham) is convinced the more voters learn about the push to repeal the state’s Parental Notification Act, the more apt they will be to take a stand in opposition.

“I’ve talked to a lot of legislators in the northern part of the state and I think once details start to come out, people that are even pro-choice are going to be taken aback by this,” Wilhour told the South Central Reporter. “This is extreme legislation. Abortion extremists are going to love it, but regular people don’t go for this kind of stuff.”

Wilhour hints that he thinks supporters of the legislation know just as much based on the way they’ve resorted to all kinds of tricks and deception to get it this far.

Illinois state Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham)

“It was called up in committee with just an hour’s notice on a Sunday night, Memorial Day weekend,” he said. “We didn’t have time to get legal experts to Springfield. I feel if people had time to flesh this out, they would have seen that it was allowing abortion up to basically the point of birth and it was repealing parental notification. They just disrespected the process completely.

The push to remove the law that requires a minor to alert her parents if she plans to have an abortion within two days of having the procedure and punishes any physician who does not comply comes on the heels of the passage of the Reproductive Health Act, which establishes abortion in the state as a “fundamental right” for women. More recently, state Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake), a supporter of the legislation, told NPR she feels a national push against abortion rights gives her side momentum.

“I think they just want abortion on demand,” Wilhour added. “We’re going to continue to advocate on this issue and rally the base.”

Currently, at least 15 states have laws requiring some form of parental notice prior to a minor being able to have an abortion, with the neighboring state of Iowa among them.