How young women in Illinois get abortions without parental notification

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Inside the Daley Center, and in courthouses across the state, the cases unfold in careful confidentiality.

They are filed anonymously. The petitioner meets with a judge in an empty courtroom or in the judge's chambers; the judge knows her only as Jane Doe. The transcript and court records are sealed.

And at the end of a hearing, the young woman generally hurries home hoping her parents never know where she was.

These petitioners are pregnant women under 18 who have chosen to get abortions but don't want their parent or another adult family member to be notified, as is required under Illinois law. In those cases, the law offers an alternative: asking a judge to grant a waiver.

Most minors voluntarily involve their parents in the decision. But for the last two years, a small number of women have gone to court for what is called a judicial bypass hearing — a private, unseen moment amid the highly visible public debate over abortion.

Statistics are elusive; no statewide records are kept. But in Cook County, where by far the largest number of bypass hearings are held, 55 young women filed waiver petitions in 2014, according to a judge who hears such cases. Already this year, 55 women have filed petitions.

What other decisions will the state take away from parents?