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 unholy trinity of J.B. Pritzker, creepy State Representative Kelly Cassidy, and her creepy “wife” Candace Gingrich (who goes by the pronoun “they,” #eyeroll) continue in their efforts to destroy whatever good remains in Illinois. (And yes, people who promote feticide, taxpayer-funding of feticide, homosexuality, and cross-sex impersonation are creepy—uber-creepy.) Now, through the legalization of recreational marijuana, Pritzker, Cassidy and their ideological allies are trying—by sucking money out of Illinoisans’ pockets while keeping them stoned—to dig Illinois out of the fiscal gorge liberals  have dug.

If it’s not bad enough that Gingrich has worked for the Human Rights Campaign for 23 years, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on July 31 that she,

will serve as vice president and head of business development for Revolution Florida, a sister company to Illinois-based Revolution Enterprises. Revolution makes a variety of cannabis products, including food, beverages, topicals and pet products…. Gingrich… will also serve as the company’s ambassador to the LGBTQ community. Gingrich… plans to establish LGBTQ-focused medical cannabis treatment centers and increase economic opportunities for LGBTQ people in the sector.

Gingrich’s fake-wife Kelly Cassidy was the lead sponsor of the “massive marijuana legalization measure signed into law last month,” which followed close on the heels of the massive human slaughter bill that Cassidy led the charge on. But the creepy couple assert that since Gingrich was hired after the bill passed in late May, there’s nothing to see here folks, so just move along.

Pritzker too scoffs at the idea that there is any connection between his support for the pot bill and the business interests of relatives, in his case his second cousin Joseph “Joby” Pritzker and Joseph Pritzker’s father Nicholas J. Pritzker who head up a capital investment firm “that has… poured money into a pair of cannabis-related ventures, PAX Labs and MJ Freeway.”

Tao Capital Partners, which Nicholas Pritzker co-founded, was an early investor in the e-cigarette company JUUL, which “was developed by the cannabis vaporizer company PAX.” Due to the concerns of many that the slow death of the tobacco industry will result in JUUL moving into the burgeoning cannabis industry, on June 7, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, chair of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to JUUL requesting, among other things, this:

All documents, including memoranda and communications, referring or relating to proposals, plans, and/or intended partnerships or collaborations between JUUL and any cannabis-related companies, including but not limited to Cronos Group [a Canada-based cannabis company].

Last year, Pritzker’s campaign claimed “the governor had not spoken” to his relatives “about marijuana policy or anything else ‘in a long time.’” First, how long is a long time? Second, not speaking to family members about policy pertaining to business interests related to marijuana that he knows they have is hardly a defense.

Oh, but there’s more. The Sun-Times quoted Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, who exposed that the Chicago way of profiting while harming Illinoisans thrives:

Governor Pritzker worked to buy off legislators during the budget process in closed door meetings and now his family will now vastly benefit. Senator Van Pelt was putting plans in place to obtain a marijuana license while the bill was being written.

According to a May 21 article in the Sun-Times, starting last January “Van Pelt was marketing… investment seminars and leading a company that intends to obtain licenses to grow and sell marijuana in the state, she also was named as co-sponsor of a bill to legalize the drug statewide.”

Last January, Senator Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) began advertising on social media her $100 seminars on how to profit from recreational pot once it was legalized. According to the Sun-Times, “Less than four months later, those seminars and another cannabis-related business Van Pelt is involved with are being investigated by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office.”

A damning news report from WCIA in Springfield on Van Pelt’s “scheme,” reveals that scheming isn’t new to Van Pelt:

In 2015, while in office, she promoted a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme that later ended abruptly when its owners were convicted for dodging taxes and defrauding investors of $4 million dollars.

The Sun-Times reported the extent of Van Pelt’s troubling entanglements with the cannabis industry:

In addition to charging nearly $100 to watch her online cannabis investment seminars, Van Pelt also serves as the president of WaKanna For Life. The multilevel marketing company… aims to win licenses to grow and sell pot, according to company CEO Melissa Boston-Atoyebi.

On April 20, considered a holiday among pro-pot advocates, Van Pelt and her co-investors sold tickets to a seminar they held on the cannabis industry at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville.

According to WCIA, Van Pelt’s actions represent not only a violation of ethics guidelines for lawmakers but perhaps even state law:

Undeterred by ethics laws that prohibit public officials from using their office to enrich themselves, Van Pelt uses her personal Facebook page to post images of her private meetings with Governor J.B. Pritzker, including images of March 21st Legislative Black Caucus meeting agenda which outlined how the state should prioritize marijuana shop licenses for black business owners…. Van Pelt’s personal involvement in a company that could reap handsome profits in the wake of legalization has raised ethical questions about the potential for a conflict of interest. Several members of the Legislative Ethics Commission, who are legally restricted from discussing open investigations, said they were unaware of Van Pelt’s activities, but acknowledged that her actions were troublesome, and that they could easily trigger an ethics complaint to the Legislative Inspector General.

Van Pelt signed on to the recreational marijuana bill as a co-sponsor in early May. The WCIA exposé came out on May 14. The Sun-Times reported that shortly after her scheme was exposed,

New conflict of interest provisions were added to the marijuana measure just before the Illinois Senate passed it, banning lawmakers and their family members, as well as state employees, from being able to get a cannabis business license for two years.

Then on May 15, Van Pelt was removed as a co-sponsor of the bill.

The creepy actions of creepy leaders like Pritzker, Cassidy, and Van Pelt help explain the growing movement to have Chicago go its own way, that is to become a separate state. And they help explain the mass exodus of Illinoisans to places with green pastures rather than fetid swamps.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Predatory-Profiteering-Leaders.mp3

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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Once again, high potency marijuana is in the news. Governor J.B. Pritzker and several state lawmakers held a press conference this past Saturday to announce their bill (SB 7) to legalize marijuana for “recreational” use in Illinois. This legislation is sponsored by Illinois Senators Heather Steans (D-Chicago), Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), Kimberly Lightford (D-Westchester) and Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago).

Illinois Family Institute continues to present overwhelming evidence of the high costs and consequences of this onerous public policy, and Illinois voters must speak out if we hope to turn the tide on their plans. Many of our friends and neighbors simply do not understand what this policy means for their families, communities, schools, workplace and roadways. If we hope to stop this legislation from becoming law, we must quickly educate and activate parents and grandparents.

It doesn’t take much to turn the tide!

As you are aware, the most extreme abortion legislation to date was introduced in Illinois this year. With a super majority of Leftists in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and an extremely anti-life governor, it appeared to be a slam dunk for abortion activists. But these bills are now stalled! You did that!

Pro-life advocates made calls, visited their lawmakers, wrote letters and sent emails, and urged others to do the same. God used your efforts to push these bills back!

Earlier this year, the push for marijuana legalization in New Jersey fell apart. According to an article in the New York Times:

“[the] effort to legalize marijuana in News Jersey collapsed… after Democrats were unable to muster enough support for the measure, derailing a central campaign pledge by Gov. Philip D. Murphy and leaving the future of the legalization movement in doubt.”

Our goal is to derail the push here in Illinois with strong evidence coupled with strong opposition from concerned citizens like you. We can stop this from becoming law in the Land of Lincoln!

The evidence of harm couldn’t be clearer. This crazy social experiment has been going on for years in Colorado, California and Washington, and the data is extremely alarming. Consider our top 10 reasons to oppose legal weed in Illinois. And please share the linked graphics on your social media pages.

10 Reasons to Oppose High Potency Marijuana Legalization:

1.) Increased THC Levels. It’s Not Your Daddy’s Weed!

The TCH (tetrahydrocannabinol) levels in today’s marijuana products are much higher than the marijuana of the 60’s and 70’s. This high-THC content has been linked to an increase in serious mental health issues and addiction. A recent Cambridge University study found that the use of today’s high-THC products was associated with a higher risk of addiction than lower potency forms of marijuana and that the association was found to be even higher in younger cannabis users.

This includes the alarmingly high THC Content in Concentrates (oil, wax, dab, shatter).

2.) Increased Risk of Psychosis, and even more alarming is Youth Suicide; more here.

Several studies have linked marijuana use to increased risk for psychiatric disorders, including psychosis (schizophrenia), depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. A recent study published in the The Lancet Psychiatry shows that consuming pot on a daily basis and especially using high-potency cannabis increases the odds of having a psychotic episode later.

This is also closely related to the homelessness problem that is increasing in Colorado due to the weed. Please also watch and listen to PGM Pastor Phil Kwiatowski‘s concerns in this short video presentation.

3.) Increased Marijuana-Related Hospitalizations and Poison Control Center Calls. 

Dr. Karen Randall, an ER physician and a resident of Pueblo, Colorado, spoke at a recent town-hall meeting in Des Plaines. Her testimony about how legal weed has negatively affected her hospital and community is powerful. Watch and listen to what she has to say here.

Washington state also has a huge problem with calls to poison centers as well.

4.) Increased Marijuana-Related Exposures in Children 0-5 Years Old. 

“A study in the December 2018 Pediatrics found that nearly half of hospitalized children in Colorado whose parents enrolled in a smoking cessation program tested positive for marijuana exposure. Authors of the study, “Marijuana and Tobacco Co-Exposure in Hospitalized Children” (published online Nov. 19), said findings suggest prevalent co-use of tobacco and marijuana in the state that could expose children to harmful effects of both.” Read more here and here.

5.) Increased Violent Crime in Legalized States; more here.

Are you surprised to learn that research published in the journal Psychological Medicine concludes that continued use of cannabis causes violent behavior as a direct result of changes in brain function that are caused by smoking weed over many years? Read more here.

6.) Increased and Potential Serious Brain Alteration; more here.

Medical research has revealed altered brain activity in young adults with cannabis addiction. The findings suggest a mechanism that may explain why the risk of depression and other mental health issues is higher among those who use the drug. Read more here, from the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

7.) Increased Heroin and Opioid Deaths in Illinois After “Medical” Marijuana is Legalized in 2013.

Would you be surprised to know that legal weed is also linked to increased alcohol consumption? More here, from Dr. Kenneth Finn.

8.) Premature Aging of the Brain.

“By studying a large number of imaging scans, researchers have identified conditions and behaviors that could make the brain age prematurely, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcohol use, and the use of cannabis.” (Medical News Today)

9.) Increased Marijuana-Related Traffic Fatalities; more here. 

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a report in October 2018 claiming that “Colorado, Washington, and Oregon experienced a 5.2% higher police-reported crash rate overall than would have been expected had they not legalized recreational marijuana.”

10.) Increased Social and Economic Costs Outweigh Tax Revenue by $4.50 to every $1. more here and here.

Given the facts above, you can see how the social costs for the state’s first responders, welfare system, health care system, traffic fatalities, violent crime, increased use in all age categories, and addiction – are costs Illinois cannot afford.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this playlist of 16 videos (and growing) dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

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

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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

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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