Live Action News has previously addressed abortion advocates’ aggressive efforts to repeal Illinois’ parental notification law, which significantly and negatively impacts the abortion industry’s bottom line. In direct opposition, Parents for the Protection of Girls, a coalition of concerned parents and community leaders in the state (some of whom differ significantly on abortion in general) has come together to “[protect] girls against medical injury and sexual abuse.”
At a press conference in March, the Coalition presented findings from a March 2021 poll of 600 registered voters in Illinois. The responses suggest that the state’s law requiring parental notification before a minor undergoes an abortion enjoys bipartisan support among both “pro-life” and “pro-choice” adults in the state.
The poll was commissioned by Illinois Family Institute and several other pro-life organizations, and was conducted by The Tarrance Group, which bills itself as a “Republican strategic research and polling firm[]….” A media advisory dated March 15th, 2021 and provided to Live Action News by the Chicago-based Thomas More Society noted that the poll took place from March 7-10, 2021, and had a +/- 4/1% margin of error. Two questions in the poll related to “parental notice.”
READ: Sex trafficking survivor begs Illinois lawmakers to keep parental notification law
Question 7 read, “Do you consider yourself to be pro-life or pro-choice?”
Interestingly, the poll skewed heavily “pro-choice”: 31% identified as strongly pro-life, 6% identified as pro-life (for a pro-life combined total of 37%), 11% identified as pro-choice and 44% identified as strongly pro-choice (for a pro-choice combined total of 55%).
Question 8 read, “If a minor under age 18 is seeking an abortion, do you think the law should require her parent or guardian to be notified before the procedure?”
To this question, 72% of all respondents answered “yes” or “strongly yes” — with 56% saying “strongly yes” and 16% saying “yes.” Notably, 58% of pro-choice respondents said “yes” to notifying parents before a minor daughter has an abortion, and 76% of minorities polled also supported the Parental Notice of Abortion Law.
Live Action’s own past investigation, which visited multiple Planned Parenthood facilities, showed the willingness of abortion industry leader Planned Parenthood to aid actors posing as sex traffickers by explaining to them how to help minors get abortions without parents being notified. Below is just one of the videos obtained from a Planned Parenthood location:
Renee Pollino is one Illinoisan who supports abortion but favors parental notification. The owner of social justice cafe “My Half of the Sky” — which employs women who are sex trafficking survivors — shared her support for the law in a video message. “No matter what side of the fence you are politically or religiously, that we can all agree that young girls need to be protected,” she said. “The issue at hand is that minors are vulnerable.” She addressed the connection between sex trafficking and abortions on minors, saying, “There hasn’t been one woman who has worked for me or who I’ve been friends with who is a survivor, who hasn’t had numerous abortions as a minor. One of my friends, her first abortion was at 8 years old — the first of five.”
Pollino added, “The facts are, minors need to be protected. It is a surgery, it is a procedure, and it’s really important that they get the medical attention that they need after [abortion] as well so that they can recover and be cared for.”
“Human trafficking is a serious issue, and traffickers should never get a clear path to further exploit girls,” Pollino emphasized. “We shouldn’t make it easy for them. We shouldn’t make laws to make them have a walk in the park.”
Pollino shared one woman’s tragic story that highlights the need for parental notification laws. “I have one former employee whose mom could not find her daughter for six years. She searched everywhere — the FBI, the police. In the meantime, in those years [the daughter] had three abortions. Had those laws protected her and said, ‘Hey, you can’t have an abortion without parental consent,’ I promise you that that mom would have found her daughter a lot sooner.”
Pollino concluded, “We have incredible laws that are there for a reason. The purpose of laws is to protect citizens, especially the vulnerable.”
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