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Judge Rules Wisconsin Must Cover Sex-Change Treatments under Medicaid

U.S. District Judge William Conley has ruled that Wisconsin cannot exclude gender-reassignment treatments from coverage under the Medicaid program. Judge Conley struck down a 1997 Department of Health Services directive that excluded “transsexual surgery” and hormonal treatment, ruling that denying the treatments constituted sex discrimination under the federal Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The Judge misleadingly concluded that “there is now a consensus within the medical profession that gender dysphoria is a serious medical condition, which if left untreated or inadequately treated can cause adverse symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, serious mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation.” He added that insurance companies now “acknowledge that gender-confirming hormone and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria can be medically necessary.”

Wisconsin estimates that as many as 5,000 enrollees in its Medicaid program may have some form of gender confusion and that treating them could cost as much $2.1 million. The state contends that, contrary to the Judge’s ruling, there is no proven benefit to “transsexual surgery,” and that the scientific literature indicates that supporting gender confusion causes significant emotional harm in patients, up to and including attempted suicide.

A study published by the National Institutes of Health entitled “Transsexual attractions and sexual reassignment surgery: Risks and Potential Risks” states that “Physicians and mental-health professionals have a professional responsibility to know and communicate the serious risks, in particular risk of suicide, that are associated with SRS (sexual reassignment surgery).” The study notes that transsexual attractions in youth often resolve themselves on their own, and/or may be successfully treated through counseling.

The study warns that the idea that one’s sex is fluid and a matter of choice has taken on “cult-like” status:

“It is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges.” 

The study also notes,

“despite the “lack of contravening evidence that SRS conveyed any benefits compared with any unoperated-upon control groups, the practice of SRS has continued and has been extended into younger age groups.”

Sadly, there is a growing movement of former transsexuals who have learned the hard way that one’s sex is immutable. They have experienced “sex change regret” and have “de-transitioned” back to their true sex. One former transsexual relates the painful surgical process of repairing the damage done to his body: “I still have scars on my chest, reminders of the gender detour that cost me 13 years of my life. I am on a hormone regimen to try to regulate a system that is permanently altered.” Providentially, this man was able to experience love and marriage as God intended: “Eventually, I met a wonderful woman who didn’t care about the changes to my body, and we’ve been married for 21 years.”

Unfortunately, in his ruling, Judge Conley chose to ignore the existence of regretful former transsexuals as well as evidence demonstrating the dangers of attempting to change one’s sex.  By so doing, he is causing great harm to young people and others who are suffering from temporary and treatable gender confusion.




Now More Than Ever

It wasn’t so long ago that such a thing would be unthinkable: a standing ovation for abortion in the New York State Senate chamber with the passage of legislation permitting abortion for any reason up until the moment of birth. Already in New York City, one in three babies are aborted. The bill goes so far as to drop the requirement that doctors perform abortions and decriminalizes acts of violence that result in the deaths of unborn babies. In other words, if an unborn baby dies in the commission of an act of violence against his or her mother, the perpetrator will no longer be held criminally liable for the baby’s death.

So much for “safe, legal and rare.” With this patently facetious mantra, it took Democratic president Bill Clinton only two days into his presidency to reverse policies restricting abortion instituted by his Republican predecessors Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Virtually all Democratic candidates in recent memory, from candidates for president on down, have campaigned on their commitment to preserving the legal right to kill the unborn. It wasn’t always this way. In 1937, in response to doctors performing abortions during the Great Depression, the National Federation of Catholic Physician’s Guild issued a statement condemning abortion. In those days the opponents of abortion were more likely to be Democratic than Republican. President Roosevelt’s New Deal drew considerable support from the Catholic Church’s desire to protect and nurture all life–including the unborn.

Some of the first vocal proponents of abortion were, surprisingly, Republicans. Moderate Republican governor Nelson Rockefeller shepherded through his state’s abortion reform law in 1970. In 1967 in California, that icon of conservatives, a then “moderate” Ronald Reagan, signed a similar bill loosening restrictions on abortion. But the issue was gaining steam, and by the 1970’s conservative Republicans, campaigning on opposition to abortion after the disastrous Roe vs. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1973, were able to wrest control of the GOP.

The battle lines were drawn in 1976 when the first presidential election since Roe vs. Wade brought the issue to the forefront. Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter, despite his Evangelical Christian bona fides, walked a tightrope trying to appeal to both sides. From then until the present, Democratic politicians have declared, despite massive evidence to the contrary, that they only wish to have abortion “safe, legal, and rare.” In 1976, the outrage against such duplicitous arguments produced a successful effort to end Medicaid funding for abortion with the Hyde Amendment, the first significant legislative victory for anti-abortion activists after Roe vs. Wade.

While abortion activists argue for unrestricted access to abortion throughout pregnancy, polls show that support for late-term abortions continues to decline, with a paltry 13 percent of Americans supporting abortion during the third trimester. The enthusiastic crowds at the annual March for Life are further evidence of the widespread desire to protect innocent human life in the womb. The most recent March for Life saw an unprecedented show of political firepower, with addresses by the president, vice-president and House speaker, all heralding the gains that the movement has made under the presidency of Donald Trump, who stated: “Under my administration, we will always defend the very first right in the Declaration of Independence, and that is the right to life.”

The new Democratic mantra: “While personally opposed to abortion, the U.S. Supreme Court is the law of the land, and thus I must respect Roe vs. Wade” is beginning to wear thin. As we lament the 45th anniversary of that calamitous legal decision, the effect of this assertion wanes and the abortion issue is becoming an even more highly charged issue.

Democratic leaders have used the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade to reiterate their support for legal abortion and launch new onerous legislation in Illinois and other states–hoping to expand so-called “reproductive rights” and access at the expense of innocent human lives. Now is the time for people of faith–Democrats and Republicans alike–to raise their voices in defense of the most vulnerable among us: the unborn.






Stop Illinois Funding of Abortion

The Illinois General Assembly is winding up its work for the 2018 Spring session and will try to adjourn for the summer by Thursday, May 31st. That means that things could move very quickly over the next six days. We will try to keep you posted on the issues that concern you and your family. (As a result, you may get multiple email alerts next week.)

Even though the state of Illinois is on the brink of bankruptcy, various news reports suggest that state lawmakers are making progress toward the constitutional requirement of passing a balanced budget. Of course, the budget continues irresponsible spending and does little to address Illinois’ massive pension problem or the $8 billion of unpaid bills, which has accrued $1.14 billion in late fees.

To put this in perspective, the state expects approximately $37 billion in revenue in the 2019 fiscal year, which begins on the first of June.

A major concern with this budget has to do with the new mandate to require Illinois citizens to pay for elective abortions through state Medicaid and state employee health insurance plans.

Yes, this is the funding aspect of HB 40 which was signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner last year. This wicked new law removes all prohibitions on using tax dollars for abortions under Medicaid and removes the ban on state employees’ insurance policies paying for abortions. Since this legislation did not contain specific funding appropriation, payment for elective abortions will come out of state Medicaid and health insurance funding.

During floor debate last year, Illinois State Representative Peter Breen (R-Lombard) warned his colleagues that HB 40 may cost taxpayers up to $60 million per year to kill an additional 10,000 to 15,000 pre-born human beings. That is in addition to the 40,000 abortions Illinois commits annually on average.

To be clear, we do not yet know how many taxpayer-funded abortions will be committed each year, but we can call upon Springfield lawmakers to vote against any budget bill (and there are multiple) that appropriate tax funds for elective abortions.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative, urging them to reject any budget agreement that uses tax resources to fund abortion.

The working families of Illinois have no fiscal or moral obligation to provide the abortion industry with resources to destroy our innocent and defenseless humans.

Since the vast majority of Illinois voters have been historically against using their tax dollars for abortion, it would be wise for pro-life advocates across the state to speak out loudly (but politely) now. Moreover, we must continue to work to convince legislators at every level of government of the sanctity of life from conception to natural death.


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Rep. Breen & Sen. McConchie File Legislation to Ban Use of Taxpayer Funds for Elective Abortions

Today, State Representative Peter Breen (R-Lombard) and State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) filed the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which would prohibit units of government in Illinois from using taxpayer funds for elective abortions, reversing key provisions of the recently enacted House Bill 40. Breen and McConchie are pressing for full debate and a floor vote on the measure during the upcoming fall veto session later this month, before HB 40 goes into effect in 2018.

“With the signing of HB 40, Illinoisans will be put on the hook for roughly 75% of the state’s 40,000 annual elective abortions,” said Breen. “Strong majorities of Illinoisans, especially folks in the suburbs and downstate, oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act will respect both their pocketbooks and their consciences. Considering the average cost of $1,000 per Medicaid abortion, we don’t have the $30 million required to cover 30,000 abortions every year.”

“The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act is a critical piece of legislation that respects the moral and fiscal concerns of our residents,” said McConchie. “In states that have legalized Medicaid abortions, over 50% of all abortions become taxpayer-funded. The residents in my suburban district are overwhelmingly opposed to this new spending scheme.”

The legislators are relying on data from the Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood, about income levels of those seeking abortions and payment data from other states that provide elective abortion funding. Guttmacher indicates that 75% of women seeking abortions are below 200% Federal Poverty Level, and that, in states with elective abortion, over 50% of all abortions are paid for by Medicaid. See, https://www.guttmacher.org/report/characteristics-us-abortion-patients-2014. Because Illinois’ Medicaid system extends eligibility to pregnant women up to at least 213% Federal Poverty Level, those who will be eligible for taxpayer funded abortions may be even higher than 75%. See, http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=14091 (pregnant women considered at least family size 2, as Illinois law counts unborn children in family size). The legislators also received information from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services showing that the average cost, over the past five years, for a Medicaid abortion and ancillary services is approximately $1,000 per procedure.

Breen drafted the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act on the model of the federal Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding for abortions, other than for abortions sought in connection with pregnancies that result from rape or incest, or that threaten the life of the mother. Abortions under these circumstances constitute roughly 1% of all abortions. Federal law already requires states to provide Medicaid abortions under these three conditions, and the proposed Act recognizes those federal provisions.

While the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act reverses the substantive provisions of HB 40 and prevents taxpayer funding for abortion at all levels of government, it adds new public policy language on abortion, not including controversial “trigger language” about Roe v. Wade that was at issue in HB 40.

“The ‘trigger language’ in HB 40 had no legal effect, and there’s no need to reopen a theoretical debate about language from over 40 years ago. Instead, we wanted to start fresh with updated language and concepts that reflect the majority position of Illinoisans, especially folks in the suburbs and downstate, who care very deeply about this issue,” Breen added.

“This controversial and culturally divisive act should not be one that taxpayers should be forced to fund,” said McConchie. “Likewise, there is no good reason for taxpayers to be on the hook for someone else’s personal decision.”

Additionally, while the federal government typically matches a state’s Medicaid expenses, it will not do so for elective abortions. Breen has stated previously that, based on the estimated direct cost to the state of $30 million for abortions, the true impact to the Medicaid system is actually double that, $60 million in lost medical services.

Within an hour of the filing of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, numerous legislators from across Illinois joined the bill as cosponsors. The bills are pending as HB 4114 & SB 2241. Legislators are also considering legal action in the coming weeks to challenge whether HB 40 can be effective before June 1, 2018, due to it being held beyond the May 31 deadline set by the state constitution for the passage of bills. The current effective date is set at January 1, 2018, and legislators estimate the five-month difference in effective dates could prevent taxpayer funding of 10,000 abortions or more.



Are Progressives Targeting Minorities with Abortion?

Pro-life advocate Chris Iverson noted this fact in an article here at IFI recently:

The U.S. abortion rate is the lowest in recorded history! The Guttmacher Institute found that there were 14.6 abortions for every 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2014. That’s lower than the abortion rate in 1973 (when the Roe v. Wade case was decided) and every year since then.

Republicans in Washington, D.C. are taking steps to defund Planned Parenthood and prevent the use of federal taxdollars for abortions.

Illinois Democrats are going in the opposite direction. State Representative Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) has re-introduced legislation that would remove all prohibitions on taxpayer funding of abortions through HB 40. Here is the Illinois Citizens for Life:

For decades, Illinois has had a public policy of not paying for abortions under the Medicaid assistance program except for life of the mother. Court decisions have added “health” and rape and incest. The Illinois law went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979 and was upheld in its entirety in 1980.

Survey after survey has shown that a clear majority of Illinoisans, even those who say they are pro-choice, do not want their tax dollars paying for abortions.

HB 40 would remove this ban and require taxpayer funding of abortions for any reason throughout the full nine months of pregnancy. If this bill passed into law, the thousands of these abortions added [estimated at 15,000 or more each year] would be paid for only with state taxpayer dollars, since the federal government prohibits paying for abortions other than for life, rape and incest.

Pro-life lobbyist Ralph Rivera says that there would be no limit to the number of abortions a woman could have using tax-dollars, and the abortion could be for any reason through all 9 months of the pregnancy. There would also be no age restriction, so minors would be eligible for taxpayer funded abortions.

A large part of the targeted population in HB 40 is those who are covered under Medicaid. The website Illinois Health Matters provides a breakdown on the “Demographics of the Medicaid Population,” noting that “about 600,000 Illinois residents age 19 to 64 with low income became eligible for Medicaid.”

According to Illinois Citizens for Life, the year the Illinois Law was passed that prohibited taxpayer funding, “over 12,000 abortions were paid for under Medicaid with tax dollars.” Since the number of abortions was substantially higher when tax-dollars were used, it should be expected that more abortions will be performed once the restriction is removed. One question that follows is who is going to be having those abortions? Note these numbers:

  • Blacks make up 30 percent of the Medicaid recipients in Illinois while they are 14 percent of the whole.
  • Latinos make up 16 percent of the Medicaid recipients in Illinois while they are 16 percent of the whole.
  • Asians make up 5 percent of the Medicaid recipients in Illinois while they are 5 percent of the whole.

Since 51 percent of the Medicaid recipients in Illinois are minorities, whether it is intended or not, the passage of HB 40 will increase the number of abortions in the minority community.

A bit of history is important here. IFI contributor Tami Jackson wrote in an article titled “Margaret Sanger’s Dream Come True: Eugenics by Abortion”:

[Margaret] Sanger was a nurse and a birth control advocate in the early 20th century. But more importantly, she formed the organization, American Birth Control League, which would eventually become Planned Parenthood.

. . .

[She] 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.

Margaret Sanger was born in 1879 and died in 1966, so this issue is not new. Today, Sanger is seen as a feminist hero and the Democratic Party supports full funding for Planned Parenthood.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state to ask him/her to vote AGAINST this pro-abortion bill.  Ask them to consider how abortion providers and eugenicists are promoting abortion to destroy the innocent pre-born human lives of black and brown babies.


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Urgent – Tax Dollars for Abortion?

After this week’s election upset, which will give Republicans a net gain of four seats in the Illinois House next session, Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) moved HB 4013 to third reading. This means it can be called for a vote at any time during the Lame Duck Veto Session (Nov. 15, 16, 17, 29, 30 and Dec. 1) – when retiring or defeated lawmakers return to address unfinished business and are no longer accountable to the voters.

HB 4013 is a terrible big government and pro-abortion bill and tops our list of concerns as we go into the final stretch of the 99th Session of the Illinois General Assembly.

HB 4013 removes all prohibitions on using taxpayer-funding for abortions throughout the full nine months of pregnancy under Medicaid, and removes the ban on state employees’ insurance policies paying for abortions.

Based on the current number of Medicaid recipients, HB 4013 would have the potential to increase abortions in Illinois by at least 37 percent!  In real numbers, that would be about 15,000 more babies slaughtered with our tax dollars each year! 

Please call your state representative today and insist they opposes the use of your tax dollars going to kill pre-born babies.

We need you to urge your state representative to oppose HB 4013!

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state representative to ask him/her to vote AGAINST this pro-abortion bill.

You can also contact your state representative by calling the Capitol switchboard at (217) 782-2000.

Please call today! It’s a matter of Life and Death!


Save the Date!  Feb. 18th Worldview Conference

We are very excited about our third annual Worldview Conference featuring world-renowned theologian Dr. Frank Turek on Saturday, February 18, 2017 in Barrington. Dr. Turek is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture:  Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Click HERE for a flyer.




Beware of False Profits

Written by Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

Apparently, Planned Parenthood is no longer content exploiting just women and children–so they’ve moved on to the federal government. Over the past several years, it seems the country’s biggest abortion provider has also been running one of the country’s biggest scams: a Medicaid racket that’s ripped off millions of taxpayer dollars. Today, it appears that at least six states have been targeted by Cecile Richards‘ scheme, which reportedly conned the government with hundreds of thousands of bogus reimbursement claims.

One of those states–Texas–will be hearing its first arguments on the issue this week in U.S. District Court, thanks to former Planned Parenthood director-turned-whistleblower Abby Johnson. With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), she plans to expose at least 87,000 instances of fraud during her time as a clinic manager in Southeast Texas. Based on her testimony and supporting documents, Planned Parenthood routinely submitted ineligible claims on everything from pap smears to STD and pregnancy tests. In fact, Johnson says her bosses at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast were under so much financial pressure that they would repeatedly tell staff, “We must turn every call and visit into a revenue-generating client.” A ring of at least 10 clinics were falsifying patient charts, which they would “fix” and “cover up” before the auditors and inspectors came.

“People may hold different views about abortion,” Johnson says, “but everyone can agree that Planned Parenthood should play by the same rules as everyone else. It certainly isn’t entitled to any public funds, especially if it is defrauding Medicaid and the American taxpayer.” In states like Iowa, the plot was so sophisticated that clinics were getting $26.32 reimbursement checks for a $2.98 package of birth control. State and local governments have poured more than a billion dollars into Richards’s group–and this is how she repays them? Twenty-eight million in stolen funds in Iowa, $6 million in Texas, $180 million in California, and similar allegations in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.

And while we can’t say exactly where the dollars went, evidence suggests President Barack Obama’s campaign was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Planned Parenthood’s largesse. Thanks to this extra revenue from overbilling, Richards’s group had the flexibility to spend a whopping $15 million to put Barack Obama back in the White House, where he can keep the money flowing to his favorite chain. When an organization like Planned Parenthood is suspected of not just fraud, but criminal cover-upsfalsifying medical informationviolating safety standards, encouraging prostitution and sex traffickingmedical malpractice, sex-selection abortion, accepting racially-motivated donations, and huge profits, this is no longer about abortion. It’s about accountability.

The Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that America is on track for its fifth straight trillion dollar deficit, yet our government continues to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to this group, which also happens to be under congressional investigation! If both parties are serious about cutting spending (and nothing they’ve done recently suggests they are) then it’s time to put an end to this relentless cycle of exploitation. The war on women was a hoax. The war on taxpayers is not.