Illinois will no longer attempt to enforce a law meant to silence and punish pro-life pregnancy centers (PRCs). According to Crain’s Chicago Business, on December 12, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul “filed the proposed agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division in a lawsuit filed this summer by anti-abortion advocates and anti-abortion pregnancy centers. The agreement orders a permanent injunction forbidding enforcement of the act against the plaintiffs.”
According to an emailed press release from TC Public Relations, the permanent injunction order was signed on December 14 by U.S. District Court Judge Iain D. Johnston. The release notes, “Judge Johnston’s preliminary injunction order called SB 1909 ‘stupid and very likely unconstitutional,'” despite the fact that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told “CNN This Morning” in response to the judge’s preliminary injunction that he was “confident this is constitutional. It’s legal.”
In July, Gov. Pritzker signed into law SB 1909, an amendment to the state’s pre-existing Consumer Fraud & Deceptive Business Protection Act that specifically targeted PRCs. This law 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.
The same day the amendment was signed, the Thomas More Society, the National Institute of Family & Life Advocates, Women’s Help Services and Relevant Pregnancy Options Center, the Pro-Life Action League, and the Rockford Family Initiative all joined together and filed suit against the amendment.
Peter Breen, VP and head of litigation at the Thomas More Society, explained, “SB 1909 exempts abortion facilities and their speech, while exclusively regulating pro-life organizations and their speech, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment… This law is just one of a number of illegal new laws enacted across the country that restrict pro-life speech — we hope this permanent injunction, with full attorney’s fees, serves as a warning to other states that would seek to follow Illinois and try to silence pro-life viewpoints.”
AG Raoul said in a statement, “As filed, this proposed order is agreed to by the parties in this case and in no way affects my ongoing work protecting women’s rights to access the full range of reproductive health services.”
The amendment against PRCs amounted to viewpoint discrimination. PRCs see the destructive repercussions of abortion, as many of these centers offer post-abortive recovery support groups to support clients through post-abortion trauma. In addition, they offer hope and tangible help to women who may be undecided about how to handle an unexpected pregnancy.
Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League said,“[PRCs] want to help women who are exploring their options… There’s emotional support, there’s financial help, there’s medical help. And why would anyone want to stop that?”
The answer to this question may lie in the fact that the abortion industry fills the campaign coffers of many pro-abortion politicians. If a woman chooses life because of the work of a pregnancy center, the abortion industry loses money they would otherwise have made from the killing of that woman’s child in an abortion. Women and families deserve better.
Editor’s Note, 12/14/23: This article has been updated with additional information from an emailed press release.
