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Danville Abortion Mill Press Conference

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Members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus, local pastors, pro-life advocates and dozens of local citizens gathered in front of the old Dillman Eye Clinic on North Logan Avenue in Danville, Illinois at noon Monday, March 27th to protest the planned opening of an abortion facility.

State Representative Chris Miller (R-Oakland) opened the press conference and was joined by State Representatives Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville), Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) and Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur). Rep. Miller is also the chairman of the Illinois Freedom Caucus.

In his opening remarks, Rep. Miller lamented the fact that this newly planned clinic is just yet another example of the expansion of the abortion industry, calling Illinois, “the baby killing capitol of the Midwest.” Miller went on to criticize Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker who issued a proclamation on March 10th to be “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.”

Speaking about the tyrannical “Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act” (SB 1909) and the wonderful “Ultra-Sound Opportunity Act” (HB 1148), Miller added:

The pro-death advocates want to talk about choice, but they’re the same ones who are actively promoting legislation to shut down crisis pregnancy centers here in Illinois. They’re also the same ones who are against legislation that requires abortion providers to provide 4D image scans for anyone that’s seeking an abortion. The reality is that abortion is only a matter of choice when the choice is to pay an abortion provider to have an abortion.

State Rep. Niemerg was the second speaker, and he began his statements by insisting that “the people of Danville don’t want this abortion clinic in their community.” He continued by reporting how his office is getting a flood of calls from local residents who are upset with this development.

Rep. Niemerg grieved the fact that abortion “is the most protected industry in Illinois,” saying:

Abortion providers in Illinois get proclamations from the governor, recognizing them. They get to perform abortions on minors. Minors who can’t go on a school field trip without a parent or guardian signature, but can have abortions in Illinois without parental notification.

Abortion providers get immunity from lawsuits. Abortion doctors that have lost their licenses in other states can open up a clinic here in Illinois and get their licenses restored, no questions asked. This new clinic in Danville won’t have to live up to the same standard of care we require for other providers. They get to provide cheaper, less safe care with zero liability. But of course, abortion advocates in Illinois say they are taking care of women.

It is a complete farce. We don’t need more abortions in Illinois and we certainly don’t need this clinic.

Rep. Brad Halbrook followed by highlighting the dearth of health care providers, saying:

If we really wanted to do something to improve healthcare in rural Illinois, we would work to find a solution to the doctor’s shortage that we are now experiencing. About 75 of 102 Illinois counties are considered primary care deserts. We have a physician shortage in rural Illinois, and the far left solution is akin to a mechanic changing the tires on a vehicle to fix the fuel pump. The physician shortage is real…

One of the things that my office encounters a lot is the exasperating process of assisting licensed physicians and nurses from other states to get licensed within the state of Illinois. They often have to wait months to get licensed here. Many professionals simply just give up and go get licensed elsewhere. The state of Illinois pulls out all of the stops to help get abortion providers up and running, and then they even go do further things than that. This double standard needs to stop. We should be prioritizing nurses and doctors who save lives instead of propping up and promoting those whose practice is oriented around destroying lives.

Speaking to the moral and spiritual warfare side of abortion, Pastor Paul Rebert of First Baptist Church of Danville:

A society that kills for convenience, that tolerates and promotes the victimization of those without a voice, but feels it has the right to decide which innocent lives live or die. That advances the logical fallacy that because a human being is on the wrong side of a cell wall, it no longer deserves to live. A society that elects officials that are elected on the platform of genocide is one that is in deep need of God’s mercy. And there in our community, it’s not only a resistance to those who want to put this forward, but there is a broken-heartedness over children who are going to lose their lives. I think of the words of Habakkuk who looked out on a society like we see in America, like we see in Illinois, and he said these words.

“In the midst of wrath, in the midst of a society who deserves God’s wrath. God, would you be merciful?”

And so, we as a group, we come and we ask the Lord to be merciful. Merciful to children who will no longer exist. Merciful to moms who once this is all over will live oftentimes a guilt-ridden life, whether they admit it or not. Mercy for a community who desperately needs God’s grace. And while decision makers in Chicago make choices, we as pastors are left to pick up the pieces of destroyed lives. That’s what we’re left to do.

And so, we need God’s mercy. Mercy in a battle over the lives of those who’ve been victimized because they’ve been sold a bill of goods. This is their right. Mercy for those who live in depression, then hopelessness and despair because they think that there isn’t any other way out, and the way they thought would help actually ends up doing more harm and destruction.

When I say beloved, there is an answer, and his name is Jesus. He is the solution to what we face. He loves you. He gave us life for you. He will help you. He will save you. And can I commend to you his words?

“Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

That’s the answer to our community…

Pastor Rebert closed his remarks in prayer.

Other speakers included Mary Kate Zander of Illinois Right to Life and Mark Lee Dickson, of Right to Life of Eastern Texas.

Background

The work before us continues here in deep blue Illinois. Our ongoing mission is to educate family members, friends and neighbors about the evils of abortion. We’ll need to continue working to change hearts and minds regarding the science of when life begins, and, most important, the fact that we are all created in the image and likeness of our Creator.  As such, every human has an intrinsic and inestimable dignity and worth. (Genesis 1:27)

Our culture is drifting far and fast away from God. We no longer seek for or value the things of God. We see proof of that in a birth rate which is disastrously low and STI rates which are disastrously high. The disregard for life is also evidenced in the gang violence in our cities and by the skyrocketing suicide and overdose rates plaguing communities throughout the nation. Abortion is merely a quick fix that enables us to get back to these hedonistic pursuits.

In response to the explosive growth of the abortion industry in Illinois, followers of Jesus Christ must be diligent in praying for the courage, strength, and wisdom to engage the culture forthrightly on the abortion issue. According to an article posted by WCIA.com:

President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois Jennifer Welch sent a statement to WCIA 3 saying: ‘[We] support expanding equitable access to abortion care to all those who need it in our safe haven state.’ She also said reproductive healthcare is a human right and we need as many providers as possible.

Expanding the number of abortion facilities in Illinois to accommodate the dismemberment and destruction of innocent pre-born human beings does not constitute the gain of women’s “reproductive healthcare.” Abortion robs the pre-born of bodily autonomy, body integrity, and the most fundament human right: the right to life.

We agree with Pastor Paul Rebert: “Lord have mercy!”



The Revival of “In God We Trust” in Schools

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An Illinois lawmaker’s bill to publicly display the motto “In God We Trust” in public schools is the latest challenge to the secularism that is the status quo in many public schools across the country.  Though displaying the motto would not be mandatory, State Representative Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) says his legislation (HB 341) would encourage a return to Christian principles: “As a God-fearing Christian, I believe that the lack of such is the problem in our country today.”

This bill has three co-sponsors in the Illinois House thus far: State Representatives Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport), Chris Miller (R-Robinson) and Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville).

Illinois is the latest state with legislation that would permit the posting of “In God We Trust” in public schools.  Lawmakers in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee have recently voted to require or allow the motto to be posted in public schools.  Sheriff’s deputies in Jefferson County, Illinois, have joined the movement by voluntarily placing “In God We Trust” decals on their squad cars.  Similar bills have already been introduced this year in Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York and South Carolina.

Atheists like Hemant Mehta of friendlyatheist.pathos.com are outraged by attempts to refer to a Higher Power:

“We certainly don’t need religion to teach common decency and morality when it’s the Christians currently running the government who provide us with a steady stream of corrupt acts and cruel policies.”

Evidently not a very “friendly atheist.”  Critics also say the motto can be alienating to students who are not religious, and allege that it is a violation of the separation of church and state.

But that cornerstone of American secularism – the vaunted “separation of church and state” – never appears in the United States Constitution, but rather first appears in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association dated January 1, 1802.  Jefferson’s chief concern appears to be avoiding the establishment of any denomination as the “state church.”

Garrett Epps, writing in The Atlantic, and arguing against public expressions of faith, claims that the concept of the “separation of church and state” originated not with Jefferson, but with the American theologian Roger Williams, founder of the first Baptist congregation in the British New World.  According to Epps, Williams coined the phrase in 1644 to “signify the protection that the church needed in order to prevent misuse and corruption by political leaders.”

Epps is seemingly unaware that he has undermined his own argument.  The “separation of church and state” is meant to protect the churches from government intrusion – not the populace from exposure to religious teachings.

Those who oppose the influence of Christianity in society are fond of (mis)quoting Thomas Jefferson, one of several deists among the Founding Fathers.  But deism is not atheism, and while Jefferson did not believe in supernatural revelation, he affirmed his belief in one God as well as in divine providence, the divine moral law, and in personal judgment including rewards and punishments after death.

The opponents of Christianity would also do well to study the life of George Washington, the first president of the United States.  George Washington was a devoted Anglican his entire life.  As General of the Army of the Potomac, Washington openly endorsed religious practice – this, mind you, while as a public servant.  He encouraged his soldiers to attend to their religious duties, including “to implore the blessing of Heaven” upon the nascent American Army.  Washington’s archived papers contain hundreds of biblical quotations, figures of speech, idioms, proverbs, and allusions related to his Christian faith.

George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787 during the time when the writing of two key founding documents in American history were written: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  The Constitution explicates how the new United States was intended to function.  The Declaration of Independence lays out the rationale for the new nation, and in so doing mentions God four times and states that our rights come from our Creator.

It seems inconceivable that important aspects of American history are deliberately withheld from public school students – especially when the vast majority hold to a belief in God and subscribe to Christian beliefs.  A Pew Research Center survey found that “an overwhelming majority of the youngest adults continue to believe in God or a higher power: Eight-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 say they believe in at least some kind of spiritual force.”

It is the height of duplicity to deny the posting of what was unanimously declared by the 84th Congress to be the official national motto of the United States, and which appears on the currency in the purses and wallets of students.  The “In God We Trust” movement is a welcome reaffirmation of the Divine guidance upon which our great country was built.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state representative to ask him/her to support and co-sponsor HB 341.  Simply acknowledging God does nothing to establish a church or a religion, but subtly points to the fact that we are dependent daily on God’s goodness, mercy and grace.

Christian Life in Exile
On February 22nd, IFI is hosting a special forum with Dr. Erwin Lutzer as he teaches from his latest book, “The Church in Babylon,” answering the question, “How do we live faithfully in a culture that perceives our light as darkness?” This event is free and open to the public, and will be held at Jubilee Church in Medinah, Illinois.

Click HERE for more info…