In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, little if anything has changed concerning abortion in Illinois. You would think radical pro-abortion activists and legislators would be satisfied to know the status quo remains, but sadly, you would be wrong. Even though Illinois’ abortion law is one of the most liberal in the nation, pro-abortion forces are not content with unfettered access to abortion, and they are now coming after crucial pregnancy resource centers (PRCs).

Last week, SB 1909 passed the Illinois Senate on a partisan roll call vote (36 to 19) and has arrived at the Illinois House for their consideration. The so-called Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, giving the Illinois Attorney General, who is militantly pro-abortion, the ability to fine PRCs for any perceived fraud or misleading statements.

So, what constitutes an instance of fraud or a misleading statement? Based on the Executive Committee hearing testimony by State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago), it depends entirely on the interpretation of the AG’s office. The so-called “testimonies” shared in support of the amendment were in no way substantiated, with one coming from Planned Parenthood Action and the other–get this–from the AG’s office. It’s a textbook conflict of interest, and yet no one seems to think this is problematic.

Now, a senate committee meeting is not a trial in which evidence is expected to be produced, but you would think that the obvious bias and lack of proof on the side of the bill’s proponents would raise some red flags. But apparently, the consciences of pro-abortion Illinois legislators are seared. Even a clear assault on religious liberty and free speech is no problem to them where their pet issues are concerned.

In addition to the shaky-at-best reasoning behind this new legislation, it was brought up multiple times in the hearing that this bill is not necessary, as the current Consumer Fraud Act more than covers the examples Villanueva and others gave. If a PRC is acting unlawfully, they are already subject to the law currently on the books. When pressed, the Deputy Attorney General for Policy at the AG’s office said over and over that infractions would be evaluated on a “case-by-case” basis. In other words, it’s subject to the whims of the AG, not the objective standards set out by the law. But then this isn’t about using the law correctly. It’s about punishing and potentially fining out of business these critical, often faith-based, centers for any reason.

Unsurprisingly, proponents cast “limited services pregnancy centers” as preying upon women, set against Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses as compassionate providers of healthcare. Among the accusations they brought against PRCs is that they delay or under-deliver healthcare for pregnant women through vague language or outright lies about their pregnancies. But as Serena Dye, regional executive director of Hope Life Center, testified, “The wording in this bill reminds me of my personal experience at abortion facilities, not pregnancy help centers.”

Although the eventual outcome of the hearing was evident from the start, it was heartening to hear from both Dye and Kristi Hofferber, a pro-life speaker and executive director of A Beacon of Light. Both women know personally the harm done by the abortion business. They spoke boldly, detailing the compassionate and crucial work done by their respective organizations and drawing attention to the damage this bill will do if signed into law.

Another bright spot was the dogged questioning of State Senator Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia), who pointed out the inconsistencies and clear animus embedded in SB 1909, over the protests of other members of the committee. With Democrats in the majority, however, the bill passed out of committee along party lines and went on to do the same in the Senate. The same will likely happen in the House, and then it will go on to the Governor’s desk, where it will no doubt be signed into law.

Watch the Senate Committee Hearing HERE.

So, what next? This bill spells disaster for one of the last places where vulnerable moms in Illinois (and beyond, thanks to burgeoning abortion tourism coming from surrounding states) stand a chance of hearing the whole story about what their pregnancy could mean for them, and of course, where their innocent, unborn children can be saved. First, we must pray for God’s mercy and that more and more believers will be stirred to stand for life in their homes, churches, and communities. Second, we must pray for and support pro-life PRCs. Third, we must pray for and support pro-life, pro-freedom organizations that can use the law to bring attention to this unconstitutional, government-sanctioned witch hunt.

The Thomas More Society, a pro-life law firm headquartered in Chicago, has already gone on record that if this bill is signed into law, they will bring a lawsuit against it. Peter Breen, a former Illinois state legislator and the Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation at Thomas More Society stated, “Senate Bill 1909 is a radical attempt to silence and chill the speech of pro-life advocates in Illinois. The bill is presented as a ‘consumer protection’ measure, but its purpose is to protect abortion clinics from competition…” He went on to say, “This bill is flagrantly unconstitutional, and if it becomes law, we will immediately file suit to protect pro-life organizations’ right to free speech.”

Democrats in Illinois have long stood for ever-increasing abortion access. SB 1909 demonstrates, in no uncertain terms, their desire to eliminate all options but abortion for women facing an unplanned pregnancy. We know God will not allow evil to continue forever, but today, we lament and cry out to Him for justice for those who have no voice.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state representative asking him/her to leave PRCs alone by voting against SB 1909. Point out that pregnancy care centers do not engage in “deceptive practices” but rather vital life-giving work. The people at these centers minister to needy, vulnerable women and children and are supported by people of faith across the state who want to be a blessing.

Read more:

How A Pregnancy Center Saved Me From Homelessness, Addiction, And Despair
(The Federalist)

Pregnancy Resource Centers Must Be Ready for a Post-Roe America
(National Review)

The Critical Pro-Life Work of Pregnancy Resource Centers
(ERLC)

Our Springfield snollygosters are working tenaciously to provide Christian parents with a plethora of reasons to abandon government schools in Illinois. On Thursday afternoon (May 20th), the Illinois Senate took up and debated another “comprehensive” sex education bill (SB 818) that so-called “progressives” and their evil allies–Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Equality Illinois–are using to indoctrinate children starting in kindergarten.

This bill to corrupt children with leftist humanistic values is sponsored by Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and passed by a partisan vote of 37 to 18 with four members not voting. It is now up for consideration in the Illinois House, where State Representative Camille Lilly (D-Chicago) is the chief sponsor.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state representative to ask him/her to vote against SB 818. Impressionable students in public schools should not be exposed to body- and soul-destroying messages that promote leftist beliefs about sexuality.

Background

The Illinois Senate debated this controversial legislation for almost an hour on Thursday afternoon. You can watch/listen to the entire debate on the IFI YouTube channel or on our newer Rumble channel. You can also watch the embedded version at the end of this article.

It was encouraging to see five conservative senators rise to question the sponsor and/or criticize the bill. Kudos to Illinois State Senators Sue Rezin (R-Morris), Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), Darren Bailey (R-Louisville), Neil Anderson (R-Moline), and Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) for boldly speaking against this terrible bill.

Regarding the hour-long debate, there are just too many fallacies, outright lies and corrupt intentions to address in one article. Here are just a few of the glaring problems.

State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Summit), a former sex education teacher, rose to ask the sponsor, “What’s the main goal of this bill?” Senator Villivalam responded:

The main goal is to insure that our youth have the opportunity to be safe and healthy by obtaining and having access to age and developmentally appropriate, medically accurate information and making sure that no one, no one, feels excluded in their classroom. No one feels excluded in their community.

Well, the bill also demands that comprehensive sex education classes be “culturally” appropriate, which the bill defines as follows:

“Culturally appropriate” means affirming culturally diverse individuals, families, and communities in an inclusive, respectful, and effective manner, including materials and instruction that are inclusive of race, ethnicity, language, cultural background, immigration status, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and sexual behavior.

Culturally diverse and culturally appropriate? This Planned Parenthood legislation is neither inclusive nor respectful of orthodox Jewish, Christian or Muslim families. What families from these faith traditions deem to be “developmentally appropriate” is wildly different from what Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and Equality Illinois celebrate and promote. This point is further illuminated by the floor statement made by State Senator Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago):

In my history, before I came here, I was a preacher, and I preached on a regular basis. When I looked at bills like this it was really, really hard for me to get my hands around it, because it was so contrary to what we teach in church. But this is a law this is not a church. And we are representatives of the people in our district. We are not their preachers. We are not their pastors. We are not the ones that’s gonna make them keep the values right or their morals right. 

I learned by being here that many of the things that we held true in the church was actually hurting our community. And I think not having that knowledge not letting those children have the knowledge about what this is [is not good]

…

I’m standing in support of this bill as a new Patricia, not the Patricia that came in here. Because the Patricia that came in here would have had a hard time even voting for it, more less standing up and saying ‘yes, these children need to know what’s happening to them.’

State Senator Van Pelt has been in Springfield since 2013, and by her own testimony, it appears she has been thoroughly corrupted by the Springfield swamp. The “new Patricia,” must have a heart of stone because she has repeatedly ignored the Holy Spirit’s promptings to do what is right. The “new Patricia” no longer has a problem upholding sexually corrupt material being taught to children.

It was also disappointing  to hear State Senator Doris Turner (D-Carlinville) assert that “families come in very different sizes and boxes and no one has the right to define what a family is and what a family should consist of.” As with “marriage,” the God of creation ordained family. It is He who has the right to define what a family is and what it is not.

Senators Van Pelt, Turner and many of their colleagues think that “knowledge” will solve the problems caused by a sexualized culture. State Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) even stated on the floor during debate:

I just don’t understand it, I think what we are doing when we are teaching–again, age-appropriate, medically accurate–sex education to our children, we are arming them with knowledge, and I don’t know when that has ever been a bad thing. 

Maybe Senator Holmes doesn’t remember, or maybe she was never taught the creation story. Genesis 2:15-17 tells us:

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Knowledge of evil is not a good thing. It leads to death. Comprehensive sex education as proposed by Planned Parenthood, et al. is evil. Exposing young, innocent and impressionable students to Planned Parenthood’s  view of “age appropriate” material normalizes early and high-risk sexual experimentation.

Perhaps the clearest denunciation of this atrocious bill came from State Senator Darren Bailey who rightly said it will put “perversion into our schools.”

I sat here and I listen to this, and I participate in what I expect to be a prestigious body. And here we are dealing with absolute nonsense of putting perversion into our schools. Yeah, that’s what it is, it’s perversion.

Thank God we still have some state lawmakers in Springfield with the moral clarity and backbone to boldly tell the truth about this insidious agenda to undermine and subvert Judeo-Christian values.

You can watch/listen to the entire 57 minutes here:

More info:

The War on Children [VIDEO]

Stop CSE Tools & Resources

Sign the Online Petition

A Plea to Exit Public Schools ASAP

Please consider supporting the good work of Illinois Family Institute.

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

The Illinois Senate approved the so-called  “Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act” (HB 1438 Senate Amendment 2) late yesterday afternoon by a vote of 38–17 with two voting present and two not voting. This bill now moves to the Illinois House for consideration. We have been told that Governor Pritzker has been making personal calls to lawmakers, promising them favors for their yes vote.

With the regular session ending on Friday, they have this legislation on fast track. Pro-family residents must speak out to their State Representatives today.

Click here to see how your state senator voted on this anti-family legislation, or look at the graphic below.

It is important to note that State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon), Chapin Rose (R-Champaign), and Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) raised strong objections to the bill during floor debate.  On the other hand, State Senators Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), Neil Anderson (R-Moline), Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort) and others spoke in favor of passing this terrible bill.

This bill has no limits on THC levels, which is perhaps the most alarming part of this proposal. THC is the chemical substance in marijuana that gets users intoxicated. The marijuana products of the 1960’s and 1970’s contained 1-3 percent of THC. Today, the levels are 20 percent or more. The Dutch government now considers cannabis products with 15 percent THC hard drugs and illegal.

Legalization of high potency marijuana is linked to increases in addiction, psychosis, schizophrenia and violence. In states that have legalized, it has led to an increase in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, poison control center calls and an increase in use in every age category, including youth. There has also been a dramatic increase in a condition called Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome.

It defies common sense that state lawmakers are ignoring these consequences!

We know that as perceived risk goes down, use goes up. In 2013, our state lawmakers — who are not medically trained — approved “medical” marijuana. Make no mistake, the message they are sending to the culture, and our kids, is that this addictive and intoxicating drug is harmless. Not only is it medicinal, but it’s “recreational” — approved to use as a way to help people unwind and loosen up.

Why are our state lawmakers willing to give their stamp of approval to a known destructive narcotic? Just for a puny new revenue stream?

Legalization will lead to more users, more addicts, more unqualified employee candidates, more intoxicated drivers, more work place accidents, more disabilities, more homeless, more mental illness and more dependents on social welfare. Marijuana use among people 25 and under will increase dramatically — those whose brains are still developing and whose brains are most susceptible to the harms of marijuana use.

Why are state lawmakers setting such a terrible example for our children and grandchildren? They are failing in their job of protecting the citizenry.

YOU can help stop this foolishness from becoming reality in Illinois.

Take ACTION: Please pray that this bill fails in the House! Then Click HERE to send an urgent email asking your state representative to oppose HB 1438. Then make a quick call to his/her Springfield office. Click here for the Springfield office phone number. After entering in your information, you will find that the last official on the list is your state representative. He/She needs to hear from you TODAY.

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this video playlist dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Cannabis Myths Exposed

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

How Did They Vote?

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

The Thomas More Society has now moved for an emergency injunction to be heard on Thursday, December 28, to stop State of Illinois officials from providing tens of thousands of taxpayer funded abortions in the New Year.

Additional legislators and groups will also seek to join the suit that day, including State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) and State Senator Neil Anderson (R-Rock Island). The taxpayer lawsuit, filed at the end of November in the Sangamon County Circuit Court, is brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Illinois taxpayers, represented by county and statewide pro-life organizations, the Springfield Catholic Diocese, and a group of Illinois legislators from across the state.

“This emergency injunction would stop a New Year’s Day implementation of this law, under which Illinois taxpayers would be forced to pay for 20,000 to 30,000 or more abortions per year,” explained Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “Even apart from the sincere moral objections that many folks have to paying for abortions, there is no money in the Illinois state budget to pay for them. And, because of games played by Senate Democrats, in holding HB 40 until late September, after the May 31 cutoff for legislative action, this bill can’t be effective until June 1, certainly not on January 1.” Breen also serves as state representative for Illinois’ 48^th District.

If implemented, despite its illegality, HB 40 would force every Illinoisan to pay for free abortions for those on Medicaid. This would apply through the full nine months of pregnancy and for any reason, even when the latest scientific research has shown that the unborn child can feel pain and survive outside of its mother’s womb.

The State of Illinois has a tradition of allowing taxpayer lawsuits, which are brought by private individuals to protect the public treasury. Illinois law requires such a suit to be brought by a petition for leave to file a taxpayer complaint, which was granted by Judge Jennifer Ascher on December 6, at the last hearing in this case.

The Illinois legislators bringing the lawsuit include (italicized names are newly added):

• Representative Mark Batinick, District 97
• Representative Jeanne Ives, District 42
• Representative Charlie Meier, District 108
• Representative Steve Reick, District 63
• Representative Barbara Wheeler, District 64
• Representative Keith Wheeler, District 50
• Senator Neil Anderson, District 36
• Senator Dale Fowler, District 59
• Senator Sam McCann, District 50
• Senator Kyle McCarter, District 54
• Senator Dan McConchie, District 26
• Senator Paul Schimpf, District 58

The pro-life groups listed on the complaint include (italicized names are newly added):

• Illinois Federation for Right to Life
• Illinois Right to Life Action
• Springfield Right to Life
• Right to Life of Adams County, Inc.
• Clinton County Citizens For Life
• Henry County Right to Life, Inc.
• Knox County Right to Life, NFP
• Lake County Right to Life Committee, Inc.
• Morgan County Right to Life, Inc., NFP
• Faith and Freedom Family Ministry, NFP
• Pro-Life Action League, Inc.

The above listed legislators and groups are joined in this action by:

• Diocese of Springfield In Illinois

Read the Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion for Leave to File a Verified Amended Taxpayer Complaint HERE.

Read the original Petition for Leave to File a Taxpayer Action to Restrain and Enjoin the Disbursement of Public Funds and the Taxpayer Complaint to Restrain and Enjoin the Disbursement of Public Funds HERE.

About the Thomas More Society

The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit thomasmoresociety.org.