SPRINGFIELD – As if the abortion industry is competing among states to see which will be deemed the "most radical," Illinois Democrat lawmakers are gathering around the ultimate abortion package now moving in the Illinois General Assembly with no barricade in sight.
The Thomas More Society says House Bill 2467 and Senate Bill 1594 is a package of “the most radical … abortion legislation that has ever been introduced in Illinois, and…the most radical proposed in any state to date."
“The Democratic supermajority’s proposals now pending in the Illinois General Assembly are the most pro-abortion legislative measures of their type in the country,” said Peter Breen, Vice President and Senior Counsel for the Thomas More Society, and former Illinois House Minority Floor Leader.
“The barbaric procedures promoted by this legislation are nothing short of infanticide. These bills go well beyond the recent New York law and would turn Illinois into a third-trimester abortion destination and an underage abortion haven," Breen said in a statement. "Pritzker and his Democratic supermajorities would convert the ‘Land of Lincoln’ into the ‘Abortion Capital of America.’”
According to the Society analysis, the bills would:
- Allow abortions for any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy
- Eliminate any restrictions on where abortions may be performed
- Allow non-physicians, including nurses and physician assistants, to perform abortions, both surgical and medical
- Undermine and threaten institutional and individual rights of conscience
- Jeopardize any meaningful regulation of abortion clinics
- Require private health insurance policies to include coverage for all abortions, with no exemptions, even for churches and other religious organizations
- Eliminate any requirement to investigate fetal deaths or maternal deaths resulting from abortion
- Repeal law prohibiting “kickbacks” for abortion referrals
- Repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995, which has been responsible for a reduction of more than 55% in abortions among Illinois minors since 2012
Of the 73 Democrats that make up the super-majority in the Illinois House, 42 are listed as HB 2495 co-sponsors. Of the 40 Democrats in the Illinois Senate, seven have signed on to reverse requiring minor girls to notify their parents before undergoing an abortion.
Breen continued, “These bills violate the deepest moral and ethical convictions of millions of Illinoisans. While the Democratic supermajorities in the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker seem dead set on speeding these radical measures into law, the citizens of this state can and must make their voices heard to slow down and stop this process. We especially don’t want to go back to the bad old days in our state, when thousands of secret abortions were performed in Illinois on underage girls, both those from our state and the many girls brought here from out of state.”
Those sponsoring and co-sponsoring the House Bill are Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy - Emanuel Chris Welch - Sara Feigenholtz - Marcus C. Evans, Jr. - Jehan Gordon-Booth, Carol Ammons, Thaddeus Jones, Katie Stuart, Elizabeth Hernandez, Ann M. Williams, Deb Conroy, Martin J. Moylan, Daniel Didech, Mark L. Walker, Anne Stava-Murray, Gregory Harris, Anna Moeller, Celina Villanueva, Delia C. Ramirez, Sonya M. Harper, Justin Slaughter, Theresa Mah, Aaron M. Ortiz, Bob Morgan, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Will Guzzardi, Robyn Gabel, Michelle Mussman, Lamont J. Robinson, Jr., John Connor, Jonathan Carroll, Rita Mayfield, LaToya Greenwood, Robert Martwick, Jaime M. Andrade, Jr., John C. D'Amico, Luis Arroyo, Michael J. Zalewski, Camille Y. Lilly, Karina Villa, Kathleen Willis and William Davis
Those sponsoring and co-sponsoring the Senate Bill are Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. - Melinda Bush - Laura M. Murphy - Linda Holmes - Robert Peters, Laura Ellman and Iris Y. Martinez
