A district court judge has issued a ruling striking down part of Illinois’ Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HCRCA) as unconstitutional, while upholding an amendment to the Act that would force pro-life pregnancy centers and physicians to refer clients for abortion.
On Friday, April 4, 2025, the court struck down “a key provision of the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HCRCA) which had sought to compel pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers to promote pro-abortion talking points with women in need,” according to a press release from the Thomas More Society. However, in the case of Schroeder, et al. v. Treto, Jr., the split court decision upheld “a separate amendment to the HCRCA,” which “gutted conscience protections for pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers and required them to refer for abortion.”
District Court Judge Iain Johnson wrote that the “State can’t require medical professionals to discuss with patients what the State believes are the benefits of abortions”; however, the court is allowing pregnancy centers and pro-life physicians to be forced to “effectively endorse a course of conduct they find morally abhorrent” — forced to refer women to places that will kill their preborn babies, despite Plaintiffs’ objections on the basis of free exercise and free speech.
While the Plaintiffs and their legal representation are glad that part of the law has been struck down, Judy Cocks, Executive Director of 1st Way Life Center, one of the Plaintiffs, noted that this is not a full victory.
“I have yet to see what the so-called ‘benefits of abortion’ are — what I see regularly at our centers, instead, is the pain and regret that comes with abortion,” said Cocks. “At the same time, we are deeply troubled that the court’s decision upholds Illinois’ abortion referral mandate. We cannot, in good conscience, recommend or refer for abortion… Our women deserve options rooted in love, not mandates that harm our communities and the women and children we serve.”
According to the press release:
In 2016, Illinois passed Senate Bill 1564, amending Illinois’ HCRCA to require healthcare providers to discussing abortion’s “benefits” and, upon request, referring clients to abortion providers, in order to receive legal protection for conscientious objection.
The law was signed into law by then-Governor Bruce Rauner despite pushback from pro-life groups. Thomas More Society sued against both mandates, on behalf of Dr. Ronald Schroeder, 1st Way Pregnancy Support Services, and Pregnancy Aid South Suburbs.
In 2017, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking both amendments to the HCRCA—legal protection that had been in place for nearly a decade prior to final judgement.
In 2023, Illinois agreed to stop its draconian attempt to shut down pregnancy centers by way of a different amendment — this time, to the state’s Consumer Fraud & Deceptive Business Protection Act. Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 1909, which, as Live Action News previously reported:
… sought to further dictate the speech of PRCs regarding abortion and claimed that explaining the risks of abortion and instead presenting other life-affirming options instead of abortion was somehow misinformation and deception.
The amendment would also have allowed the Illinois Attorney General to begin investigations into PRC practices without any complaints of fraud or deception being provided, and the AG could potentially penalize PRCs, even to the point of shutting them down.
It was also Judge Iain Johnston who permanently barred the state from enforcing SB 1909, writing in his order that the bill was “stupid and very likely unconstitutional,” despite assurances from Pritzker that it was entirely legal.
Representatives from the Thomas More Society (TMS) have stated their plans to appeal the most current district court ruling to a higher court.
“We welcome the court’s ruling striking down Illinois’ attempts to force our pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers to parrot pro-abortion talking points, in violation of their First Amendment rights — a victory we’ve fought for since this case began nearly a decade ago,” said Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Thomas Olp. “But we are greatly concerned that the court did not fully protect conscience rights, leaving our clients forced to compromise their deepest beliefs. We look forward to continuing this fight against the State of Illinois in the Seventh Circuit.”
Peter Breen, TMS’ Executive VP and Head of Litigation, said, “Forcing pro-life doctors and pregnancy centers to facilitate abortion unconstitutionally burdens their faith and conscience. We will keep fighting Illinois’ abortion referral mandate and appeal to the Seventh Circuit, to ensure our pro-life clients can continue serving women and children, in accord with their faith and without penalty. This fight is far from over.”
