While supporters of a proposed parental notification law say they will present something to the City Council Government Operations Committee on Tuesday, it may not be the ordinance leaked to the media earlier this month.

In fact, it may not be an ordinance at all, due to state laws that some say prohibit home-rule communities like Aurora from regulating the practice of medicine.

Alderman Rick Lawrence, 4th Ward, drafted the proposal, which would mandate that doctors inform parents or guardians 48 hours before performing any medical procedure on a minor. He released the draft to the media on Oct. 11, and by the end of that week, Alderman Chris Beykirch, 8th Ward, and Alderman-at-Large Richard Irvin had joined him in co-sponsoring the proposal.

Lawrence refused to speak to this newspaper. But this week, Beykirch said that what they end up proposing to the committee on Tuesday could be the ordinance, or it could be a resolution urging the state of Illinois to sort out its own parental notification laws, or both.

He said the trio's legal counsel is aware of state laws that reserve the regulation of medical practices as a state power and admitted the matter is under review.

"We may just want to push for movement from the state government," he said, adding that he would be willing to travel to Springfield to plead the case.

Lawrence and Beykirch have both said that this proposal is not aimed at Planned Parenthood, which opened a 22,000-square-foot facility on the East Side last month, or at the practice of abortion.

The draft ordinance has received the support of Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood and has drawn critics from the ranks of abortion rights activists, like Bonnie Grabenhofer, president of the Illinois National Organization for Women. Planned Parenthood officials declined to comment.

The ordinance, as written, makes exceptions for victims of sexual and physical abuse, provided they sign a statement to that effect and can produce another family member to notify. It also makes exceptions for emergency situations.

Illinois is one of 34 states with parental notification laws, many of which have been challenged by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union. Illinois' law was passed in 1995 and specifically references abortion, but has never been enforced.

After 11 years of deliberation, the state Supreme Court issued rules for minors seeking exceptions to the law last year, but a district judge must still decide whether courts are prepared to handle the number of minors seeking "judicial bypass" of the regulation.

Colleen Connell, attorney and executive director of the Illinois ACLU, has been fighting the state law every step of the way. She said this week that her organization would likely mount a challenge to Aurora's ordinance, if it passes, adding that she has never heard of a local municipality passing a law like this.

She referenced three state laws, including the Illinois Medical Practice Act of 1987, that she said specifically prohibit home-rule communities from regulating the practice of medicine.

But she also plans to challenge the law as unconstitutional, and on the grounds that it oversteps the city's authority to direct the court system. The ordinance, seemingly modeled after the state law, includes the same steps for judicial review, and Connell said she does not believe the city can direct the circuit court system in this manner.

"I think this is a wrong-headed effort that creates more problems than it solves," she said.

Medical-care providers in Aurora noted that while parental consent is required for most medical procedures, state law currently provides exceptions for minors seeking reproductive health care. In fact, according to staff at Dreyer Medical Clinic, state privacy laws allow unaccompanied minors to get sexually transmitted disease testing without consent, and the clinic cannot give out the results to parents.

Stacey Ries, director of legal affairs at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, said she finds the draft ordinance vague. She said it doesn't specifically lay out procedures for alcohol and drug abuse treatment, or mental health care, and that the state law would seemingly trump it in a number of ways.

For example, she said, a pregnant minor is considered emancipated under state law and would be allowed to get medical treatment without consent or notification.

While Beykirch could not nail down exactly what would be proposed on Tuesday, he said the three aldermen are working together to solidify their plans.

"We will have some presentation to the committee next week," he said. "It may or may not be this ordinance. But you will see a unified effort from the three of us."

Online: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/612213,2_1_AU20_PARENTAL_S1.article.