Emergency injunction request to be heard at Sangamon County Circuit Court Thursday
SPRINGFIELD – Attorneys are making a last minute effort to stop Illinois taxpayers from paying for abortions, a law that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has determined will go into effect January 1, 2018, despite the state's inability to fund the new program and religious objections to it.
The legal group Thomas More Society moved for an emergency injunction to be heard on Thursday, December 28, to stop State of Illinois officials from providing tens of thousands of taxpayer funded abortions in the New Year. Additional legislators and groups will also seek to join the suit that day, including State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) and State Senator Neil Anderson (R-Rock Island).
The taxpayer lawsuit, filed at the end of November in the Sangamon County Circuit Court, was brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Illinois taxpayers, represented by county and statewide pro-life organizations, the Springfield Catholic Diocese, and a group of Illinois legislators from across the state.
“This emergency injunction would stop a New Year’s Day implementation of this law, under which Illinois taxpayers would be forced to pay for 20,000 to 30,000 or more abortions per year,” explained Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Special Counsel.
“Even apart from the sincere moral objections that many folks have to paying for abortions, there is no money in the Illinois state budget to pay for them. And, because of games played by Senate Democrats, in holding HB 40 until late September, after the May 31 cutoff for legislative action, this bill can’t be effective until June 1, certainly not on January 1,” he said.
Breen also serves as state representative for Illinois’ 48th District.
If implemented, despite what Thomas More says is its "illegality," HB 40 would "force every Illinoisan to pay for free abortions for those on Medicaid." The law would apply through the full nine months of pregnancy and for any reason, even when the latest scientific research has shown that the unborn child can feel pain and survive outside of its mother’s womb, the group said.
The State of Illinois has a tradition of allowing taxpayer lawsuits, which are brought by private individuals to protect the public treasury. Illinois law requires such a suit to be brought by a petition for leave to file a taxpayer complaint, which was granted by Judge Ascher on December 6, at the last hearing in this case.
Adopt not abort.
More people want to adopt babies. Than people want to abort babies.
This law is immoral.
We need Jeannie Ives for governor. The Madigan, Cullerton and Rauner families are not need in government.
Even Josef and Adolf would not make such a law to kill unborn babies.
God Bless the Unborn.
Carl Lambrecht
If these women decided to give birth rather than have an abortion, wouldn’t the Illinois taxpayer have to pay for not only the birth but also the future health care costs of the child? So if there isn’t money in the state budget for the abortion then there sure isn’t money for the birth plus future health care costs! Putting aside the morality of abortion, isn’t it cheaper to pay for the abortion rather than the birth?
The law violates Christians religious right of conscience, which is protected by Article one, SECTION 3. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM:
The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession
and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be
guaranteed, and no person shall be denied any civil or
political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State. No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship. ~ (Source: Illinois Constitution.)
The bill forces Illinois Christians to sin by financing the killing of unborn babies, murdering unborn babies is a sin to all true Christians. . The Bible says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17)
You cannot separate freedom of religion, right of conscience, and freedom of speech and still have the free exercise of religion!
Isn’t it cheaper to murder old people in nursing homes, rather than paying to take care of them? Putting aside the immorality of murder, isn’t it cheaper to murder old people?
Nice try, but not a valid comparison. Abortion is a legal medical procedure but murder of the elderly is illegal! The Thomas More Society is using an economic argument as a reason to not fund abortions. If the state does not have funds for abortions, how can there be funds for births? From an economic standpoint I as an Illinois taxpayer would rather pay for an abortion than to pay more for a birth of a child that is not wanted by the mother.
Taking it a step farther I would prefer that birth control had been used during the act rather than the woman ending up with an unwanted pregnancy. But isn’t birth control anathema to the Thomas More Society as well?
You also used an economic argument, so my comparison is valid.
Sorry, it’s not valid. You are comparing the economics of an illegal activity, i.e., murder of the elderly, while abortion is a legal procedure. You can’t compare the economics of a legal activity against an illegal one. Even if you made money by murdering the elderly, it’s still an illegal activity.
Your first argument was based on an economic reason, instead of a moral one because you wanted to avoid that. I pointed out how immoral unborn baby murder is by using the killing of the old people in nursing homes comparison. It is immoral to murder unborn babies… murder is defined as the taking of an innocent life and there is not a more innocent life than that of an unborn baby’s. Stopping an unborn baby’s beating heart is murder; I don’t know how people like you sleep at night
I sleep very well thank you!
I find it fascinating how conservatives talk about personal freedom, personal responsibility, and keeping government out of people’s lives for everything but what you can do with your body. But when it comes to what one can put into their body or what consenting adults can do in the privacy of their bedroom, conservatives are Big Brother.
As far as abortion goes, I think it should be a personal decision a woman makes with her doctor, her family, and her God.