Planned Parenthood Illinois

Tribune Story Reveals that Thousands of abortions not reported to Illinois ...

By Dave Andrusko

A front page story in the Chicago Tribune yesterday paints a scary picture of a state reporting system so broken that “regulators have documented between 7,000 and 17,000 fewer abortions a year than a national research group found in Illinois,” according to reporter Megan Twohey.

And nearly “4,000 reports of abortion complications involving Illinois residents in 2009 were missing the required description.”

In theory, the Illinois Department of Public Health collect details about every abortion, including whether the patient is injured or dies. This is important for obvious reasons but also because it’s the only way authorities can monitor some abortionists.

“[Y]et regulators may be allowing doctors and clinics to operate off the books,” Twohey writes. “Regulators collect reports from 26 providers, but the abortion rights research group[the Guttmacher Institute] has identified 37 providers doing business in the state.”

What explains the differing number of abortion providers? It’s merely because they use “different counting methods,” according to Kelly Jakubek, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health. She said Guttmacher’s “tally includes hospitals, clinics and physicians’ offices,” Twohey reports.

“Jakubek said the 26 providers identified by state regulators ‘only includes facilities,’ but declined to elaborate on her definition of facility.”

According to the story, it’s a criminal offense not to fill out accurate and complete reports “and a failure to report abortion complications is grounds for revoking their licenses.” So how many disciplinary actions has the Department of Public Health sought? None.

State health officials seemed positively lackadaisical about the gaps in information, and their responsibilities. In a written response Jakubek “said that it was the responsibility of abortion doctors [!] to ensure they comply with the mandatory reporting requirement,” Twohey writes.

Pro-abortionists in Illinois took the same tack as their cohorts in Pennsylvania when abortionist Kermit Gosnell was charged with eight counts of murder: “it’s only a problem with the worst providers,” according to  Stanley Henshaw, a prominent researcher for Guttmacher. But even though “Planned Parenthood and Family Planning Associates, said they were diligent about complying,” they do not come off scot-free Twohey’s thickly researched story.

Victory in the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion

Today’s ruling by the Illinois Appellate Court protects the most vulnerable young women in our state. The Court’s decision recognizes that there are serious constitutional issues raised by the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act and permits our clients to return to the Circuit Court to present our strong case showing that the Act threatens the health and well-being of young women. The law remains under injunction and cannot be enforced. Although this fight is not over yet, today's ruling was a huge step towards protecting the safety of Illinois teens. Planned Parenthood agrees that in an ideal world, parents would be involved in their teens' health care, and engaged in healthy dialogue around responsible decision making. Most teens seek their parents' advice and counsel when making decisions about their health care. But in some cases, safe and open communication is not possible. In those cases, research shows mandatory parental notice laws do not enhance parent-teen communication, but they may be harmful to teens' health and well-being.