The Thomas More Society (TMS) notes that the Democratic “supermajority” in Illinois — with Democrats holding the House and Senate as well as the governorship — could “convert the ‘Land of Lincoln’ into the ‘Abortion Capital of America’.” House Bill 2495 and Senate Bill 1942 would, according to TMS VP and Senior Counsel Peter Breen, “go well beyond the recent New York law and would turn Illinois into a third-trimester abortion destination and an underage abortion haven.”
In an emailed press release with accompanying memorandum, TMS notes that these bills would (emphasis added):
- eliminate any restrictions on post-viability abortions and allow abortions for any reason whatsoever throughout all nine months of pregnancy
- eliminate any requirement that the person performing a post-viability abortion use a method of abortion that would enhance the chances of the unborn child surviving the abortion
- eliminate the requirement that a second physician be present to provide immediate medical care for any child born alive as a result of a post-viability abortion
- eliminate any restrictions on where abortions may be performed
- allow non-physicians, including nurses and physician assistants, to perform abortions, both surgical and medical
- allow self-abortions
- undermine institutional and individual rights of conscience
- provide a basis to nullify regulations governing the operation of abortion clinics
- allow DCFS to use public funds to pay for abortions
- require health insurance policies to include coverage for all abortions, with no exemptions, even for churches and other religious organizations
- jeopardize enforcement of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 (which is the subject of separate bills that would expressly repeal the Act)
- eliminate any requirement to investigate fetal deaths or maternal deaths resulting from abortions or to record fetal deaths resulting from abortions
- impose no restrictions on fetal experimentation
- provide a basis for barring any common law cause of action for prenatal injuries and any statutory action for the wrongful death of an unborn child
Read the extensive details here.
The memorandum concludes by saying:
The Reproductive Health Act is an extreme bill that would basically enshrine abortion as a positive good in Illinois law. It would eliminate virtually all common sense regulation of abortion, including regulations that are constitutional, mandate coverage for abortion in health insurance policies – even in those policies provided by churches and religious organizations – provide an argument for the nullification of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 and undermine existing legal protections for institutional and individual rights of conscience. The Reproductive Health Act is a radical bill that the people of Illinois and members of the General Assembly should vigorously and aggressively oppose.
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