A three-person panel of commissioners from the 13-member Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has decided not to review the egregious decision of IHRC administrative law judge Michael Robinson in the discrimination complaint filed by homosexuals Todd and Mark Wathen against Christian bed and breakfast owner Jim Walder.

In 2011, the now “married” Wathens, inquired about renting the Timber Creek Bed & Breakfast facility in Paxton, Illinois for their civil union ceremony. Because of his religious beliefs about the immorality of homoerotic activity and relationships, Mr. Walder informed Todd Wathen that he would not rent his facilities to Mr. Wathen and his partner for a civil union ceremony.

The Wathens then filed a discrimination complaint with the IHRC—a kangaroo-esque tribunal committed to normalizing homoeroticism through quasi-judicial means.

Last spring, Judge Michael Robinson issued his order which would require Mr. Walder to do the following:

– Pay $15,000 each to Todd and Mark Wathen as compensation for their emotional distress arising out of the issue.

-Cease and desist from violating the Human Rights Act by denying same-sex couples access to its facilities and services for marriages and civil unions.

-Offer the Wathens access to the facility, within one year, for an event celebrating their civil union.

-Pay the Wathens’ attorneys $50,000 in fees and $1,218 in costs.

Mr. Walder’s attorney, Jason Craddock, filed an “exception” which was reviewed by the three commissioners who have decided that Judge Robinson’s decision should stand.

If you’re not angry yet, here’s some information that may raise your hackles.

• All of the Illinois Human Rights commissioners are appointed bureaucrats—not elected.

• Only one of the three commissioners who reviewed the Walder case is an attorney.

• Two of the three commissioners who reviewed this case are homosexual activists: Terry Cosgrove and Duke Alden.

• Homosexual activist Duke Alden was appointed to the Illinois Human Rights kangaroo court by Governor Bruce Rauner.

Here’s a bit more information on homosexual activists Cosgrove and Alden:

• Terry Cosgrove was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2014. He is also a passionate and unrelenting foe of the right of preborn babies to be free from extermination. He is president and CEO of pro-feticide Personal PAC and “has lent assistance to NARAL, Planned Parenthood, NOW, National Pro-Choice Resource Center, Voters for Choice, Women’s Campaign Fund and the Emergency Abortion Loan Fund.” Cosgrove was also “honored” with the dubious “Freedom of Choice” award by the Chicago Abortion Fund. Cosgrove was appointed by former Governor Pat Quinn after donating $400,000 to help fund Quinn’s victory over Bill Brady.

• Rauner appointee Democrat Duke Alden is the chairman of Howard Brown Health, an “LGBT” health and social services organization. Alden served on the host committee for a “Presidential Debate Viewing Party” for “Chicago’s LGBT community to cheer on Hillary Clinton.”

The third commissioner on the panel was Patricia Bakalis Yadgir, a Quinn appointee whose husband is Director of Communications and Senior Policy Advisor for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and whose father is former state comptroller, former state superintendent of education, and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michael Bakalis.

Here’s where it really gets interesting. State law prohibits more than seven members of the same political party from serving on the IHRC. Currently there are 6 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and two “Independents.” And who do you think the two “Independents” are? None other than (no snickering) Terry Cosgrove and Patricia Bakalis Yadgir.

In reality, therefore, there are 8 Democrat and 5 Republican commissioners on the IHRC. And there were no Republicans on the panel reviewing the complaint against the Walders.

So, after learning a bit more about the commissioners who made the decision on the Wathen’s complaint, can anyone read this statement from the Illinois Human Rights Commission with a straight face:

The Commission provides a neutral forum for resolving complaints of discrimination filed under the Illinois Human Rights Act….Our primary responsibility is to make impartial determinations of whether there has been unlawful discrimination, as defined by the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Here are just a few comments about marriage, homoeroticism, and the plight of Christian owners of wedding-related businesses on which the intellectually slothful among us might spend some time ruminating:

• Marriage has an intrinsic nature central to which is sexual differentiation and without which a union is not in reality a marriage.

• The law cannot change the intrinsic nature of marriage. The law can no more transform intrinsically non-marital unions into marriages by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples than it could change cats into dogs by issuing them dog licenses.

• When homosexuals say they are attracted only to persons of their same sex, they are implicitly acknowledging that men and women are fundamentally different. Therefore, a union composed of two people of the same sex is fundamentally different from a union composed of two people of different sexes.

• A union composed of two people of the same sex is the antithesis of a marriage. It is an anti-marriage. The ceremony that solemnizes such a union is an anti-wedding. The cake that is served at the anti-wedding reception is an anti-wedding cake. The floral arrangements adorning an anti-wedding reception are anti-wedding floral arrangements.

• Neither Mr. Walder nor any of the florists, bakers, wedding-venue owners, or photographers who have been sued by petulant homosexuals have refused to serve homosexuals. Rather, they refused to create products or provide services for a type of event for which they have never created products or provided services and one which violates their religious convictions. In fact, many of the Christian business-owners who have been sued have served homosexuals on many occasions—an inconvenient fact for Leftists.

• The term “sexual orientation” should never have been added to anti-discrimination laws or policies. It is a rhetorical invention of the Left contrived to conflate heterosexuality and homoeroticism. Heterosexuality and homoeroticism are not flipsides of the sexuality coin. In any objective sense all humans are heterosexual in that their anatomy and biology are designed for heterosexual activity. Homoeroticism is a disordering of the sexual impulse.

• Unlike other legally protected classes that are objectively constituted and carry no behavioral implications (e.g., race, sex, nation of origin), homoeroticism is constituted by subjective feelings and volitional sexual activity. Therefore, homoeroticism is a condition about which humans have every right to make moral judgments.

Mr. Walder has two remaining options: He may file an appeal to have the case reviewed by the entire ideologically imbalanced 13-member IHRC or file an appeal with an appellate court. Let’s hope he and his legal counsel don’t stop now.

Take ACTION:  Please click HERE to contact Governor Rauner to express your opposition to his appointment of Democrat and homosexual activist Duke Alden and to urge him to investigate the Illinois Human Rights Commission’s efforts to circumvent the law prohibiting political imbalance on the Commission.

Listen to this as a podcast HERE.

The Illinois Family Institute is completely dependent on the voluntary contributions of individuals just like you.  Without you, we would be unable to represent our Christian values in Springfield or fight the radical agenda being pushed by the godless Left in our culture.

Please consider chipping in $25 or $50 to support our work to stand boldly in the public square.

Click HERE to make a tax-deductible donation.

To make a credit card donation over the phone,
please call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328.

Now that the possibility of a tax hike passing with the help of “16 lame duck” legislators is not going to happen, Republicans cheer and Democrats lament, right? Not necessarily.

According to our state’s constitution, the governor has a lot of power when it comes to preparing the state’s budget, and, in fact, is constitutionally bound to present a balanced budget every year. Long-time Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has no such constitutional requirement.

Several Republican Illinois legislators have long assumed that Bruce Rauner would willingly sign a tax increase as part of a budget deal with Madigan. Those aren’t the headlines Rauner wants going into 2018’s gubernatorial election, however, so a super-majority Democrat controlled General Assembly doing the dirty work without the need of his assistance would have been ideal. And, of course, Democrats raising taxes again supplies a terrific weapon for all Republican campaigns.

Except that now, as Rich Miller reports, the Democrats won’t be doing Rauner that favor. So it’s back to the status quo, which really isn’t the status quo in that the numbers don’t stay the same, they continue to get worse.

Neither party has offered an honestly balanced budget in many years, and Governor Rauner, as chief executive, might possibly be blamed for the little things — here are just a few facts from the Illinois Policy Institute article “Illinois’ $204B Debt Crowding Out Payment for Social Services” (we have put them into bullet points for easy reading):

• Illinois will spend $1 billion more on annual debt payments than it will on human services in fiscal year 2017.
• Social service agencies in Illinois, such as The Center for Youth and Family Solutions, on average wait almost a year to get paid for the services they provide to the state’s low-income families, disabled and seniors. Many agencies have closed their doors, unable to pay their employees and rent.
• Illinois is sitting on a mountain of debt worth $204 billion.
• Illinois spends so much on debt that those costs now consume almost 18 percent of the state’s general fund budget.
• Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills is what often gets the most public attention. While significant – the money due to vendors reached $9 billion in November – it only makes up a small part of Illinois’ total debt.
• The real burden lies in Illinois’ $28 billion in bonds and its $111 billion unfunded pension liability. The $139 billion total is double what it was just 15 years ago.
• Another $56 billion is owed on government-worker retirement health insurance liabilities.
• Combined, these debts all add up to $204 billion. And that’s the rosy scenario. If more realistic investment-return assumptions are used, Illinois’ pension debt nearly doubles.
• Unfortunately, the state has just $79 billion in assets to meet its $190 billion obligation, leaving a $111 billion hole for taxpayers to pick up.

So is raising taxes a solution? Fiscal conservatives understand the answer is “no” — the Illinois Policy Institute’s Ted Dabrowski recently laid out the ABC’s:

For many, tax hikes look like the only solution to Illinois’ fiscal woes. But tax hikes will only make things worse. Illinoisans are already burdened with some of the highest taxes in the nation, including the highest property taxes of any state.

As a result of Illinois’ dysfunction, the state is bleeding people and its tax base. Between July 2014 and July 2015, approximately 300,000 people left Illinois for good and only 200,000 moved in, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This resulted in a loss of 105,000 residents on net to other states – an all-time high for Illinois. Tax hikes will only chase more residents away.

So what is the solution? Fiscal conservatives understand that, too — again here’s Ted Dabrowski:

The only way to keep Illinoisans here is to bring fiscal sanity back to the state through major spending reforms that bring Illinois’ budget in line with what ordinary Illinoisans can afford.

Fiscal sanity? Spending reforms? Uh, yes, and maybe that’s a nicer way of saying it than the plain truth — which is that Illinois needs to cut its spending by many billions of dollars if it is to ever make the budget math work.

Since Democrats have no wish to cut spending, and Republicans completely lack the ability to draw up a genuinely balanced budget and then sell it successfully to the people of Illinois, it’s a good bet we’ll just see more of the same. The budget can will be kicked down the road into the 2018 election year when tens of millions of dollars will be spent by each party trying to portray the other side as the villain.

The Illinois GOP has just launched yet another crusade to make Democrat House Speaker Mike Madigan as the chief villain. Here’s a better idea. Since Madigan knows how to win, Republicans should work on converting him into a Republican fiscal conservative. With Madigan’s political and communications skills, Illinois can then get back on the right track. Who knows, with Madigan’s abilities and Illinois’ potential, our state might soon be competing with states like Texas for businesses and experience the growth levels it once enjoyed.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send an email to your state representative and to Governor Rauner to urge them to do the hard work of cutting the waste and bloat in Illinois government instead of constantly looking for new ways to tax the people. The size of government is the problem!

Here are just a few recent headlines for your reading pleasure:

State Budget Deadlock Continues To Harm Social Service Organizations

Illinois’ Billions: Pension Debt and Unpaid Bills Total More than $140B

State of Illinois’ Pension Debt Jumps to $130 Billion

Social Services in Illinois Say Situation Still Bad With Temporary Budget

The Illinois Family Institute is completely dependent on the voluntary contributions of individuals just like you.  Without you, we would be unable to represent our Christian values in Springfield or fight the radical agenda being pushed by the godless Left in our culture.

Please consider chipping in $25 or $50 to support our work to stand boldly in the public square.

Click HERE to make a tax-deductible donation.

To make a credit card donation over the phone, call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing an Illinois doctor and two pregnancy care centers filed suit in state court against Gov. Bruce Rauner after he recently signed a bill into law that forces doctors and medical facilities to promote abortion regardless of their ethical or moral views on the practice.

ADF sent a letter to Rauner in May on behalf of numerous pro-life physicians, pregnancy care centers, and pregnancy care center network organizations advising him that the bill, SB 1564, would violate federal law and therefore place federal funding, including Medicaid reimbursements, in jeopardy. ADF also warned legislators about the problems with the bill last year. The lawsuit claims the new law, which is actually an amendment to the existing Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act, violates state law and the state constitution.

“No state should attempt to rob women of the right to choose a pro-life doctor by forcing pro-life physicians and entities to make or arrange abortion referrals. What’s even worse is that Illinois did this by amending a law designed specifically to protect freedom of conscience,” said ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman. “The governor should have vetoed this bill for many reasons, including its incompatibility with Illinois law and the state constitution, which specifically protects freedom of conscience and free speech.”

The new law forces medical facilities and physicians who conscientiously object to involvement in abortions to adopt policies that provide women who ask for abortions with a list of providers “they reasonably believe may offer” them. Illinois law prohibits government from placing burdens on religious conscience without a compelling interest for doing so. Additionally, the Illinois Constitution protects “liberty of conscience,” saying that “no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his religious opinions.” It also protects free speech, which includes the right not to be compelled by government to speak a message contrary to one’s own conscience.

“Pro-life health care professionals shouldn’t be forced to hand out lists describing how to contact abortionists, yet that’s what this law mandates that they do,” explained ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “If this profane amendment to Illinois’ conscience protection law remains on the books, doctors and medical staff committed to saving all lives will be forced to promote the killing of some children, women will lose access to doctors who unconditionally value human life, and pregnancy resource centers that offer free help and hope to pregnant women will be forced to refer to abortionists. This is the kind of government coercion that the state constitution, the state Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the very law that was amended were all designed to prevent.”

Mauck & Baker LLC attorney Noel Sterett, one of more than 3,000 private attorneys allied with ADF, is co-counsel in the case, The Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford v. Rauner, filed in the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Winnebago County.

Attorney Noel Sterett, co-counsel in the case and partner at Mauck & Baker, LLC, in Chicago, says, “These crisis pregnancy centers have been doing tremendous work serving their community for years, but now their core mission is being threatened. People disagree on whether abortions end human lives, but I’d hope we can all agree that pregnancy centers dedicated to protecting the unborn should not be forced to recommend abortion to mothers.”

This bill will put more impaired drivers on the road,
more impaired employees in the workplace
and more children at risk.

Before the regular session ended on May 31st, State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) and State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) were able to pass legislation to decriminalize marijuana. The bill passed in both the Illinois House and Senate. Any day this dubious bill (SB 2228) will be sent to Governor Bruce Rauner, who will then have 60 days to sign it into law or veto it.

SB 2288 reduces criminal penalties from possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana to a civil law violation of $100 to $200. There are no limits to the number of civil law violations a person can receive, plus their record will be expunged every January 1st and July 1st.

What these lawmakers have done is removed a deterrent to drug use and addiction. They are moving full steam ahead toward full legalization. “Medical” marijuana and incremental decriminalization are the first necessary steps.

“The key to it is medical access, because once you have hundreds of thousands of people using marijuana under medical supervision the whole scam is going to be bought. Once there’s medical access…then we will get full legalization.” Richard Cowan, former director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send an email or fax to Governor Rauner.  Please urge him to veto SB 2228. Also, please call his Springfield office at (217) 782-0244. A tally report is given to the governor at the end of each day. There is a huge liability issue at stake that the governor should be concerned about. Who will assume responsibility for the increase in road fatalities, psychotic incidents, youth addictions, not to mention employer liability?

Too many lawmakers have been erroneously led to believe that our prisons and judicial system are overrun with “petty” marijuana offenses.  This is NOT the truth.  Please read a former Will County and Cook County Assistant State Attorney as he exposes this myth in an article he wrote exclusively for Illinois Family Institute: Cannabis Myths Exposed

This legislation was co-sponsored by State Representatives Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), Carol Ammons (D-Champaign), Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), Michael Zalewski (D-Riverside), Ed Sullivan (R-Mundelein), Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago), Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria), and Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago).

In the Illinois Senate, this legislation was co-sponsored by State Senators Michael Noland (D-Elgin) , Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago), Jason Barickman (R-Pontiac), Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), Don Harmon (D-Chicago), Pam Althoff (R-Crystal Lake), Karen McConnaughay (R-West Dundee), Linda Holmes (D-Aurora), Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey), Emil Jones III (D-Chicago), Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago), Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), and Iris Martinez (D-Chicago).

Background

Contrary to one of the reasons lawmakers give for decriminalization, prisons are NOT overcrowded with marijuana users. Click Here and Here  and Here.

Marijuana is NOT Harmless. Cannabis Use is classified as a Disorder in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes medical marijuana outside the regulatory process of the FDA and opposes legalization because of the potential harms to children and adolescents.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s policy statement warns of the negative effects on children.

The American Academy of Neurology warns that medical marijuana legislation is not supported by medical research.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine recognizes “there are several potential medical and public health consequences of marijuana use that require further research.”

Fatal car crashes involving marijuana double after states legalize the drug. States that have relaxed their laws are seeing a 24.4% increase in car fatalities.

Psychotic incidents increase with marijuana use. Click Here and Here and Here and Here and Here.

Children will be affected. As perceived risk decreases, use increases. Colorado has seen a jump in school drug cases.  Click Here and Here. Furthermore, a diminished IQ and cognitive performance and even brain abnormalities have been detected with “casual” use.

Drug use will become a big problem for employers.

With the state our state is in, why would lawmakers make it worse?

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Written by Teri Paulson

There is a scene in the movie 1984  in which Winston is reminded of this statement that he wrote in his diary: “Freedom is the freedom to say 2 + 2 = 4.” An updated version might say, “Freedom is the freedom to call a man a man and a woman a woman.”

There’s a sense in which we surrendered this battle a long time ago when we quietly and foolishly capitulated to the expulsion of God from government and public policy. It seemed so harmless then.

But government recognition of God is the lynchpin of freedom. Once a government stops recognizing God as an authority over itself it is only a matter of time before it stops acknowledging the existence of any morality external to itself that is binding upon its actions. Unrestrained by God and his moral law, government officials are free to make up the rules as they go along. Stated simply, government without God becomes God. Citizens get whatever liberties the people who happen to be in power at the time decide to give them. Welcome to America in the 21st century.

Christian business-owners are forced to participate in homosexual “weddings” or risk losing their livelihood. Laws are passed and edicts issued to force us to pretend that men are women and women are men. If Gov. Bruce Rauner signs SB 1564 into law pro-life doctors and nurses will be forced to discuss the “benefits of abortion” with their patients. Freedom of conscience and the right to speak and live in obedience to truth is on the verge of obliteration. Will anyone miss it when it’s gone?

I’m not sure they will.

We’re about to lose these rights in part because we haven’t been exercising them. Ironically, the problem is also the solution. God’s truth in the public square is still what is desperately needed  whether it staves off national disaster or not. Unfortunately, what could be a shining moment for the church is looking more and more like a non-event. Where are the letters to the editor from local church leaders? Where are the pastors speaking out at local school board and civic meetings? Where are the sermons preparing us for the persecution that’s all but inevitable? What’s the plan, oh Mighty Men of God?

My greatest fear is that the plan is to do nothing, say nothing, stand for nothing. Our biggest failing is not intolerance. It’s indifference. Are we our brothers’ keepers or not? Cain thought that was a throwaway question. Do we?

Two plus two is about to equal five.  What’s the plan, oh mighty men of God?

ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to Illinois Governor Rauner, urging him to uphold religious freedom and conscience rights for medical personnel in Illinois.  Ask him to veto SB 1564 and the tyranny it represents.

After you send an email, please also call the Governor’s office at (217) 782-0244 or (312) 814-2121. Once you’ve done this, please pray that Gov. Rauner and his staff will understand how coercive and unjust this legislation is.

Teri Paulson is the Director of Women’s Discipleship New Hope Community Church, Palatine, IL

Leftists in our leftist-controlled state are seeking to amend the “Health Care Right of Conscience” law so as to deny the right of conscience of medical professionals who oppose feticide, artificial contraception, and certain end-of-life protocols that intentionally and prematurely end lives.

Senate Bill 1564 (SB 1564) has passed both houses in Springfield, and as soon as Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) sends it to Governor Bruce Rauner, he will have 60 days to decide if he will sign it into law or veto it.

This law would, for example, compel medical professionals who oppose feticide to help women find abattoirs and doctors committed to the practice of feticide. And this law would undermine the free exercise of religion by forcing those medical professionals whose commitment to life derives from their faith—including those who work in pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.

IFI is hearing the usual irrational arguments from leftists about choice and the inability of society to agree on when the “product of conception” becomes human and/or is entitled not to be exterminated. Leftists say that because there is no consensus about when the product of conception between two humans becomes a human and/or deserves protection, the government should allow each individual to decide for herself. Ironically, leftists believe that each individual doctor should be legally prohibited from making a similar decision and acting in accordance with that decision.

A rational society cannot rationally encode in law the proposition that the product of conception between two humans is at once human and not human or at once deserving of the right merely to exist and undeserving of the right merely to exist. When leftists proclaim that every woman should have the right to decide whether to end the life of the product of conception between two humans that is growing within her, they must have concluded either that the life being nourished is not human–which is objectively false–or that it is undeserving of protection. To say it matters not whether feticide is practiced or not makes them sound eerily like Stephen Douglas who said he didn’t care whether slavery was voted up or down.

Some years ago, Northwestern University law professor Andrew Koppelman expressed his desire that abortion be rare. If the growing things being nourished by women’s bodies are not human or are so devoid of personhood as to be undeserving of constitutional protection, why wish their destruction to be rare?

If, as the left claims, there is uncertainty about when the product of conception between two humans becomes human, how ghastly it is to err on the side that presumes it becomes a person at birth (or at some other arbitrary point) and then one day discover they were wrong.

As a thought experiment, imagine a law that compelled Americans in the antebellum South who knew that African Americans were humans equal in all respects to whites to facilitate slavery. Oh, wait, we don’t have to imagine it. With the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Democrats sought–as they are seeking now–to force Americans to violate their consciences in the service of a grievous moral injustice that denies a group of weak, vulnerable humans their dignity, their freedom, and their rights.

Until the day when Americans restore moral sanity to our legal and cultural landscape by recognizing that the unborn have a right to be protected from the merciless and lethal assaults of abortionists, our laws should at least protect the rights of those who cannot, will not, and should not be forced to facilitate evil.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to Illinois Governor Rauner, urging him to uphold religious freedom and conscience rights for medical personnel in Illinois.  Ask him to veto SB 1564 and the tyranny it represents.

After you send an email, please also call the Governor’s office at (217) 782-0244 or (312) 814-2121. Once you’ve done this, please pray that Gov. Rauner and his staff will understand how coercive and unjust this legislation is.

Thank you!

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It’s time to send a message to Governor Bruce Rauner, please veto a pro-abortion bill that would violate the rights of pro-life doctors, medical personnel and pregnancy care workers.

Last week the Illinois House debated and passed SB 1564 by a vote of 61-54 — a bill that would force doctors, nurses, pharmacists to distribute information to help patients find morally objectionable medical services such as abortion, sterilization, and certain end-of-life care.  This proposal was passed by the Illinois Senate on April 22, 2015 by a vote of 34-19.

SB 1564 now heads to the office of the governor.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to ask him to please uphold religious freedom and conscience rights for medical personnel in Illinois.  Ask him to veto SB 1564 and the tyranny it represents.

After you send an email, please also call the Governor’s office at (217) 782-0244 or (312) 814-2121.  Once you’ve done this, please pray that Gov. Rauner and his staff will understand just how coercive this legislation is.

Thank you!

SB 1564 undermines the freedom
of conscience and invites intimidation and
legal action against pro-life healthcare providers.

Last year, State Senator Daniel Biss (D-Skokie) introduced SB 1564 to radically alter the Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act.  This proposal was passed by the Illinois Senate on April 22, 2015 by a vote of 34-19. It then moved to the Illinois House where it was picked up by State Representative Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston).

Late in the afternoon of May 25th, the Illinois House debated and passed this ominous new mandate by a vote of 61-54.  (See roll call below.)  The bill now heads to the office of the governor.

SB 1564 would force doctors, nurses, pharmacists to distribute information to help a patients find objectionable medical services such as abortion, sterilization, and certain end-of-life care.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to ask him to please uphold religious freedom and conscience rights for medical personnel in Illinois.  Ask him to veto SB 1564 and the tyranny it represents.

Emails are noticed, but we also need a flood of calls to the Governor’s office: (217) 782-0244 or (312) 814-2121.  Once you’ve taken action, please pray that he will understand how coercive this legislation is.

You may want to point out that according to the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, 95 percent of physicians in a national poll agreed, “I would rather stop practicing medicine altogether then be forced to violate my conscience.”

It is important to know that SB 1564 will also negatively affect crisis pregnancy centers that provide health care services by requiring that these life centers give referrals to Planned Parenthood or other venues that promote abortion.

IFI is deeply grateful to those lawmakers who spoke out during debate today, including:  State Representatives Peter Breen (R-Lombard), Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), Barbara Wheeler (R-Cyrstal Lake), Tom Morrision (R-Palatine), C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), Sheri Jesiel (R-Antioch), and Margo McDermed (R-Frankfort).

(Click HERE to learn more about the problems of SB 1564.)

It’s one of those issues that many lawmakers and perhaps even Governor Bruce Rauner don’t want you to think about. That is, state taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. But life activists are keeping Planned Parenthood on the moral and political radar with protests that call attention to the organization’s big abortion business which includes the harvesting and sale of aborted baby body parts. And just think, its all subsidized by your paycheck.

Outrageous!  The Illinois Human Rights Commission has issued a decision in which they fined a Christian business-owner $80,000 for refusing to violate his conscience regarding hosting a same-sex ceremony. And to make matters worse, they are mandating that this Christian citizen offer to do the very thing he doesn’t want to do.

This is the epitome of tyranny.

Do we understand what is happening here? This bigoted decision is the latest strike in the war against religious liberty. Intolerant lawmakers and bureaucrats are now using the heavy hand of government to force citizens to act in accordance with a decidedly liberal worldview.

Six years ago, Leftists in Washington D.C. decided to force all Americans into socialized health insurance whether they wanted to or not.

Last year here in Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner joined with Leftists to pass a law that censors professional counselors and clergy, prohibiting them from helping minors who suffer from unwanted same-sex attraction or gender-confusion.

Today, there is legislation pending in the Illinois House which would quash rights-of-conscience protections for pro-life medical professionals by forcing them to refer patients to abortion-providers. Unfortunately, this freedom-extinguishing bill has already passed the Illinois Senate.

Ironically, Gov. Rauner is aggressively fighting the tyranny of public sector unions who force members to pay fees that are used to promote dubious political agendas, saying to the press that he wants to “fight for the freedom of political expression and the right of free speech for government employees.”

The governor says that this is “a fundamental issue.”  If he truly believes this, why wasn’t he willing to fight for the same freedoms of speech and expression for professional counselors and clergy who are willing and able to help minors who want help?

If Gov. Rauner truly believes that our constitutionally protected freedom is “a fundamental issue,” is he willing to fight for the rights of Christian business- owners who do not want to participate in immoral same-sex ceremonies?

If Gov. Rauner truly believes that freedom of speech is “a fundamental issue,” is he willing to stand up to the despotism of the Left, and tell them to stop pushing legislation that will have government coercing speech for pro-life medical workers?  Will he commit to vetoing such legislation?

How have we come to a place where we allow the government to violate the First Amendment rights of citizens, telling them they must do what their consciences and their faith tells them they must not?

How un-American!

Written by Laurie Higgins and David E. Smith

Christian Jim Walder, owner of the Timber Creek Bed & Breakfast in Paxton, Illinois, who because of his faith declined to allow his facilities to be used for the celebration of a same-sex union is not backing down even as the state of Illinois stands ready to persecute him and destroy his business.

Mr. Walder has released the following statement in response to Judge Michael R. Robinson‘s tyrannical decision to fine him $80,000 and force him to offer his facility to a homosexual couple to celebrate a type of union God opposes:

Evidently religious freedom does not exist within the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act or the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. 

In our opinion, neither the State of Illinois nor the U. S. Supreme Court has the authority to tamper with the definition of marriage. God alone created marriage and declared thousands of years ago that it was to be between a man and a woman. Not two men. Not two women. We may be out of step with an increasingly anti-Christian culture, but we are in compliance with God’s design and that is what ultimately matters. 

To be absolutely clear, we cannot host a same-sex wedding even though fines and penalties have been imposed by the Illinois Human Rights Commission.  Our policy will not be changing. We are not looking for a fight, but when immoral laws are purposely passed (or deemed constitutional) that blatantly conflict with God’s Word and when the heavy hand of government tries to force us as Christians to embrace sinful behavior, we have a moral obligation to resist and stand for biblical truth. “It is better to obey God than men” (Acts 5:29).  

Please take a moment to stand with Mr. Walder by speaking out against this unjust erosion of religious liberty. Tell people in your church, your neighbors, and your family members about this miscarriage of justice. Write a letter to your local newspaper about this proposed discriminatory act against a Christian man of faith. The First Amendment guarantees the right to the “free exercise” of religion, which includes the right to act upon beliefs regarding the morality of activities and behaviors.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send an unequivocal and respectful message to Keith Chambers, the executive director of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and Gov. Bruce Rauner to express your opposition to Judge Robinson’s decision.

Please keep Mr. Walder, his family, his business, and his attorneys in your prayers. Pray that the members and staff of the Illinois Human Rights Commission recognize the federal civil rights of Jim Walder and choose not to undermine his First Amendment protections.

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Initial press reports suggested that the case against the Christian owner of the Timber Creek Bed and Breakfast in Paxton, Illinois, Jim Walder, was settled. The Illinois Human Rights Commission has clarified that administrative law judge Michael R. Robinson’s decision that Jim Walder should pay an $80,000 fine and be required to offer his facility to a homosexual couple to celebrate their civil union can be appealed by filing “exceptions.”

Either party to the suit has 30 days to file exceptions. If they file exceptions, the case goes before a panel. If no exceptions are filed, the recommendations made by Robinson will take effect.

Here is what Robinson has ordered:

• Pay $15,000 each to Todd and Mark Wathen as compensation for their emotional distress arising out of the issue.
• Cease and desist from violating the Human Rights Act by denying same-sex couples access to its facilities and services for marriages and civil unions.
• Offer the Wathens access to the facility, within one year, for an event celebrating their civil union.
• Pay the Wathens’ attorneys $50,000 in fees and $1,218 in costs.

Ubiquitous ACLU attorney John Knight has erroneously stated that  “For the first time, the Human Rights Commission has made clear that owners of businesses serving the public in Illinois cannot pick and choose who [sic] to serve based on their personal religious views.” “Progressives” can’t seem to get it through their dogma-drenched minds that Christians in wedding-related businesses are not deciding whom to serve. They are deciding which kinds of events to serve, facilitate, and profit from. 

Attorney Betty Tsamis, who represents the Wathens, made a similar claim but got dangerously close to inadvertently acknowledging the truth: “It would have been shameful to reverse this history simply because some business owners object to the legal protections afforded same-sex relationships.” Tsamis veered slightly off-message by focusing on “same-sex” (i.e., homerotic) relationships rather than persons. Her slip suggests the truth that it is a type of volitional activity and ceremonies that solemnize and celebrate it that many people of faith, including Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and orthodox Christians, cannot in good conscience serve. 

While the Left continues to add conditions (all sexual in nature and behaviorally constituted) to anti-discrimination policies and laws, they are bit by bit removing religion.

It is imperative that we speak out against this unjust erosion of religious liberty. The First Amendment guarantees the right to the “free exercise” of religion, intrinsic to which is the right to act upon beliefs regarding the morality of activities and behaviors. 

Take Action: Click HERE to send an unequivocal and respectful message to Kevin Chambers, the executive director of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and Gov. Bruce Rauner to express your strong opposition to Judge Robinson’s decision.

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So many organizations and entities have noble and good beginnings. For instance “The Ivies” and the Seven Sisters colleges, most of which were either Christian schools or seminaries that, over the last century, have departed faith moorings.

Other organizations have nothing but evil inceptions; case in point Planned Parenthood.

The original intent of Planned Parenthood has been veiled with a facade of honorable work, but the truth is despicable to the core.

Planned Parenthood’s predecessor, The American Birth Control League, was founded by Nazi-inspiration Margaret Sanger, the godmother of modern eugenics, in 1921. As I wrote in the article, Margaret Sanger’s Dream Come True: Eugenics by Abortion:

The real Margaret Sanger espoused sinister motives for advancing birth control and abortion: she fully endorsed eugenics for the betterment of race and society.

Sanger was a Darwinist who embraced a utilitarian view of human life, and proposed to rid our nation of the criminal element and “inferior races” through abortion and breeding programs.

“To deal with the problem of resistance among the black population, Sanger recruited black doctors, nurses, ministers and social workers ‘in order to gain black patients’ trust’ in order ‘to limit or even erase the black presence in America’.”

Many Americans found the name, The American Birth Control League, anti-family and distasteful. Thus, the name was changed to The Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1942, with Sanger as president.

Just think about an entity whose stated goals included:

• Children should only begotten under conditions which render possible the heritage of health
• Sterilization of the insane and feebleminded
• To enlist the support and cooperation of legal advisers, statesmen and legislators in effecting the removal of state and federal statutes which encourage dysgenic breeding*

This was no family-friendly, baby-friendly organization; this was an entity designed from its inception to limit the breeding of inferior people, and to, inversely, encourage the breeding of “superior” humans.

Today Planned Parenthood performs approximately 300,000 abortions per year — about 1/3 the total number of abortions performed annually in the United States. Extrapolated out since Roe v. Wade in ’73, that would be approximately 13 million babies slaughtered by taxpayer-funded PP.

Present day Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards has remarked that “abortion is key to women’s opportunity.”

Opportunity? How is killing one’s own child the key to any opportunity?

The post-abortive women I’ve spoken to found abortion key to only guilt, overwhelming shame, and brokenheartedness, and only found reprieve via the grace and forgiveness of God.

Think on this; we are instructed in Deuteronomy 30:

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

But Planned Parenthood was founded and conceived as a means to choose death and cursing, and should not receive one dime of taxpayer assistance.

Unfortunately, currently the taxpayer moneys fund $528 million of PP’s budget per annum. Is it any wonder God’s hand of protection around America seems to be departing?

And contrary to the noisy, incessant arguments made by Planned Parenthood and the radical pro-aborts, there is a viable alternative, Community Health Centers, which actually help, rather than harm, women, men, and children.

there are over 1,200 Community Health Centers serving more than 24 million people at over 9,200 sites located throughout all 50 states and U.S. territories.

Every day, health centers meet escalating health needs and bring good health to needy communities, without regard to family income, health insurance status, race, culture or health condition. In communities fortunate enough to have a health center, fewer babies die, emergency room lines are shorter and people live longer, healthier lives.

Three words in the descriptive trump all else: “fewer babies die.”

The ancient Hippocratic Oath includes:

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

Though physicians in the 21st century typically take the oath of their particular medical school upon graduation, and not a standardized oath, the content of such oaths points toward “healing arts” rather than ghoulish methods of death and dismemberment of innocents.

Planned Parenthood was, and is, a nefarious organization, conceived by wicked woman. Thanks to PP and other abortion providers, over 57 million babies have been murdered in 43 years: over 57 million infants are in heaven, and Margaret Sanger, barring a Paul-like, deathbed conversion, is paying the due recompense in hell.

Given the REAL choice of Planned Parenthood OR Community Health Centers, the former snuffing out lives, the latter saving lives, America should choose Community Health Centers.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send Governor Bruce Rauner an email or fax asking him to cease all state business with Planned Parenthood in Illinois.

Let’s demolish once and for all the Planned Parenthood facade of “health provider” and choose better: let’s choose life, and insist our elected officials understand the consequences of not supporting our choice.

*The belief that deterioration of the human gene pool occurs by the increased survival and reproduction of people with undesirable traits.

The Illinois Family Institute is completely dependent on the voluntary contributions of individuals just like you.  Without you, we would be unable to fight the radical agenda being pushed by the godless Left.

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“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall
and stand in the breach before me for the land…” ~Ezekiel 22:30

Written by Pastor John Kirkwood

CRY OUT FOR LIFE: Join us on Saturday, October 24^th for a Pro-Life Rally and Jericho March at the Illinois Governor’s mansion in Springfield.

Illinois Family Institute in cooperation with the Christian Emergency League is calling for Pro-Life Illinoisans to rally at 410 E. Jackson St. from 11 AM until Noon to pray and recite scripture, to sing hope into the darkness, and to call on the Lord’s blessing as we answer His call to “rescue the weak and the needy, and deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Click HERE for a flyer.

Since the Planned Parenthood scandal erupted, nearly a dozen governors have initiated an investigation into Planned Parenthood, while at least 5 states have already cut off funding.  Yet Illinois remains silent.

In Minnesota, the governor and legislature refused to address the situation, so Minnesota pro-life groups turned out over 1,500 people to surround the Executive Mansion and to call for justice. Why not Illinois?

In Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner has been strangely silent on this issue while not one journalist will even dare to utter “Planned Parenthood” in his presence.  Those who value the sanctity of human life cannot afford to wait for politicians and journalists to do the right thing.  We the People must lead!

In 2011, when homeschooling was threatened in Illinois, thousands called and turned out in protest.  How much more for Life?

When traditional marriage was wavering on the docket in 2013, nearly 6,000 turned out to stand in the gap.  Are the lives of the unborn any less important?

Yearly, when gun rights hang in the balance, second Amendment enthusiasts turn out 8,000+ strong to shout, “Shall not be infringed.”  Is the sacred right to life to any degree less than that right which we esteem to protect?

Imagine Springfield reverberating with the vicarious voice of the unborn!

Take ACTION:  Join us on Saturday, October 24^th as we rally, sing, pray, and speak out for the least among us. Starting at 11 AM, we will rally with love for our unborn neighbor in front of the governor’s mansion! (See map HERE.)  Bring your families, your youth groups, your small groups, your tea-parties, and your pro-life brethren as we shake the foundations of death and indifference in our state’s capital.

For more information, click HERE or call (708) 781-9328.  Check back for buses leaving in your neighborhood or contact us to let us know if you can sponsor a bus.

Support the work & ministry of Illinois Family Institute!

Mauck & Baker is a well-respected Chicago law firm committed to protecting religious liberty through the application of biblical principles. In the service of this commitment, they have issued a statement regarding Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s deeply troubling abandonment of conservative principles through his enactment of a controversial, anti-autonomy law that prohibits mental health professionals from helping minors who seek assistance in resisting unwanted, unchosen same-sex attraction, rejecting a “gay” identity, and/or accepting their physical embodiment:

Rauner Signs Bill Restricting Sexual Orientation Counseling for Minors

(Chicago, Illinois) Late last Friday, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law the deceptively titled “Youth Mental Health Protection Act,” becoming one of only three states to make it illegal to counsel minors on how to cope with or overcome unwanted same-sex attraction. The Act further provides that “no person or entity may, in the conduct of any trade or comer… represent homosexuality as a mental disease, disorder, or illness.”

The law is written broadly enough to put at risk not only licensed counselors but also pastors and others  who are in “commerce” (compensated for counseling) and refer to homosexuality as an illness or “disorder” (i.e. sin) to any counselee, minor or adult, with the purpose of helping the counselee be free from same-sex attractions. Those who continue to provide such counseling and care will face disciplinary actions by the state and are subject to suit under the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act.

Attorney John Mauck, partner at the law firm Mauck & Baker responded, “According to Scripture, it is possible for all of us who have sinful tendencies and compulsions to change and become holy in God’s sight. The Apostle Paul indicates this is also true for those involved in homosexual conduct. In 1 Corinthians 6:11, speaking of ‘homosexual offenders’ and others, Paul writes, ‘such were some of you.’”

Licensed counselors, minors who struggle with same-sex attraction, or pastors, are encouraged to contact Mauck & Baker to discuss their civil rights and join with others interested in challenging the law. Also, the full length documentary, “Such Were Some of You” from Pure Passion Media is a valuable resource for testimonies of ex-gays and how Jesus helped them leave the gay lifestyle. To purchase the DVD for $15, call (312) 726-1243 or email info@mauckbaker.com.