SPRINGFIELD - Acting with unexpected speed Wednesday, the Illinois Supreme Court moved the state a step closer to enforcing a long-ignored law requiring parents to be notified before their minor daughters get an abortion.

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was passed in 1995 but never enforced because the Supreme Court refused to issue rules spelling out how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement.

But now the court has new members and it has issued the necessary rules - just two days after announcing it would take up the issue.

"They work fast," said Thomas Brejca, president of the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based legal advocacy group that had asked the court to adopt the rules. "We're very pleased that they've taken this action. We've reviewed the rule. It looks to be in good order."

Before the notification law could take effect, a federal judge still would have to lift the 1996 order barring its enforcement.

One way that could take place is if Attorney General Lisa Madigan, as the state's top legal officer, asked the federal court to act. Spokeswoman Cara Smith would say only that Madigan is reviewing the law and the new rules before deciding what to do next.

Abortion rights supporters had hoped the Supreme Court would give the public a chance to comment on any rules.

The president of Chicago-area Planned Parenthood called the court's action "a shameless political move" to energize conservative voters before the fall election. Steve Trombley said Planned Parenthood will look at ways to block the law.

"We oppose these laws because we believe they put teens in danger," Trombley said. "Most teenagers already involve a parent (in abortion decisions) and, of those who don't, many of them don't do so for good reasons."

Most states already have parental notification or permission laws. One expert said 34 states now enforce such laws.

Supporters of notification laws say teenagers from surrounding states are coming to Illinois to get abortions and skirt their own states' laws.

The Illinois law allows minors seeking abortions to avoid the notification requirement by going to court and asking for a waiver. The new rules say the judge should try to issue a decision at the end of the hearing, but if that's not possible then the judge should rule within 48 hours.

If the waiver is rejected, the decision can be appealed to an appellate court and ultimately the Illinois Supreme Court. The rules say there would be no oral arguments on appeals and decisions would have to be issued within two days by the appellate court and five days by the Supreme Court.

The rules don't say anything about when judges should or shouldn't grant waivers to the notification rule. That already is covered by the 1995 law, which allows waivers if the minor is a victim of sexual abuse, neglect or physical abuse by either parent.

Lorie Chaiten, director of the Reproductive Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, called the rules cumbersome and said they could be so discouraging that girls might seek unsafe abortions "in back alleys."

A court spokesman said the rules were adopted unanimously by the seven justices but would not comment further on how they were drafted.

The issue already has gotten entangled in Illinois politics.

The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, had asked the court to adopt rules so the law could be resurrected. He said most people support notification, and abortion-rights advocates are indulging in "scare tactics" to oppose the idea.

Birkett said he has been discussing the issue for at least two years. Noting the court has a 4-3 Democratic majority, he dismissed the idea that the court acted now in order to help Republican candidates.

His running mate, Judy Baar Topinka, generally supports abortion rights but also has endorsed parental notification laws.

She was not eager to discuss the issue Wednesday, refusing to take questions about it after a news conference where she accused Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich of hiding from reporters.

Blagojevich's office released a three-sentence statement. It endorsed abortion rights and said it's up to Madigan to make sure the law protects victims of rape and incest.