Stop PNA

Good afternoon MVMC blog readers!

If you don't know already, there was a horrible law passed in August of 2013 limiting access to abortions for teens in Illinois. It is known as the Parental Notification of Abortion Law. The law states that anyone 17 and under is required to notify a parent or legal guardian 48 hours before their procedure. If a teen chooses not to notify a parent/legal guardian they may be able to receive a judicial bypass from the court. A judge is able to waiver the parental notification if the judge sees the young person as "fit" to have an abortion. This is an extremely unfair law passed by Illinois legislatures, but that is a post for another day.

I'm writing this to inform you that CAF will be teaming up with ICAH (Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health), ACLU (American Civil and Liberties Union), and other organizations for Advocacy Day in the beginning of April. I'm so excited! We will travel down to Springfield with other allies and organizations to promote the Stop PNA Campaign. There will be a training, state legislator meetings, and a youth-led rally. Anyone 14 and older can attend without a parent or legal guardian, but they have to have the permission form signed by one. Anyone under the age of 14 can attend, but they need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

If you are interested and want to help in the fight to repeal this law visit:
www.stoppna.org

You will find all the forms and information needed to attend Advocacy Day on the website.

To learn more about judicial bypass and groups doing great work helping the young people affected by this visit:
http://ilbypasscoordinationproject.org/
http://icah.org/
http://www.personalpac.org/
http://www.1in3campaign.org/en/