The Illinois House of Representatives unfortunately rejected a bill last Thursday that would have modified a 1995 statute requiring that minors receive parental notification before getting an abortion. Sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), it sought to expand the options that could be offered to minors if the current notification statute is enforced. This was a missed opportunity for those interested in the well-being of many.

The law has been inactive for over a decade because after a legal challenge, the Illinois Supreme Court did not hand down rules to explain how minors could get a wavier in special circumstances. Just last year, these rules were finally established, making an appeal to a judge the only legal recourse. But in February, the law was again stalled after Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a challenge.

Last week’s bill sought to expand the number of people minors could turn to in lieu of their parents by allowing minors to fulfill the notification requirement with a consultation with a physician, nurse, clinical psychologist or social worker. The medical practitioners would have been rightfully required to discuss all available options including bringing the child to full term and adoption.

Fritchey was quoted saying in the Chicago Tribune, “It’s not only bad girls who get themselves pregnant … It is good girls who can’t bring themselves to tell their parents.”

The defeat of this bill is troubling because despite the virtues of bringing a parent into one of the most important decisions a young girl may ever have to make, the sad truth is that many do not have the luxury of a caring and conscientious guardian. The overall debate of abortion and parental notification aside, the law as it reads right now does not do enough to ensure that girls are receiving the best possible advice both morally and medically.

With the inclusion of medical practitioners that one would assume would be familiar with both the ethical and medical implications of abortion, the chances that a girl would make an informed and thoughtful decision only increase.

If the parental notification law goes in effect as is, girls who have good reason to bypass their parents or who may be embarrassed to recount a likely traumatic situation in front of judge may turn to other, more dangerous methods of solving their problems. Such action is not beneficial for either the girl or her family.

Advocates on both sides of the issue agree that the decision of abortion should not be taken recklessly or in haste. This bill’s defeat makes that more likely.