Flossmoor resident and pro-life activist Kris Cortes is taking Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn to task over his support for the repel of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act that now requires minors to inform a parent or guardian before having an abortion procedure performed.
“Why can’t a girl under 18 legally get married, drink beer, buy a Juul, vote, run for public office, buy her own cellphone service or car insurance, or join the military, yet Eric Zorn believes this same minor child should legally be able to have an abortion without her parents even knowing about it, let alone her parents agreeing to it,” Cortes recently wrote in response to Zorn advocating for the repel.
In his March 21 column, Zorn argues the inner-workings of a particular family may be too frayed or rough around the edges for such communication, making it sometimes necessary for minors as young as 12-years-old to have the same freedom of choice when it comes to alerting a parent about plans for an abortion as they do when deciding rather or not to inform them about such developments as treatment for sexually transmitted infections or receiving obstetric care.
“The fact that it is inconsistent with other laws related to intimate sexual and reproductive activities of minors reveals that it’s not aimed at bolstering family communication or increasing support for young women, but at discouraging abortion,” Zorn adds.
Cortes, who along with her husband, Dennis, were instrumental in a “life-affirming” center affiliated with Chicago-based Aid for Women recently being erected in Flossmoor, counters all the medical research is on her side.
“Brains are built over time, from the bottom up,” she quotes the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University as establishing. “The basic architecture of the brain is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood. Simpler neural connections and skills form first, followed by more complex circuits and skills.”
Cortes says all that to say the decision of abortion may be too big to make for one so young, especially all by themselves.
“Our laws rightly don’t consider them capable of handling the same rights as mature adults, including making important life-changing decisions such as having an abortion,” she added. “In our society where we’ve delayed adulthood until age 26 before our children get kicked off our health insurance via our current federal health care law, we now concurrently say our 12-year-old girls are mature enough to handle having an abortion on their own?”
Senate Bill 1594 has now been referred to the Public Health Committee.
Alerts Sign-up