On May 2, the town of Danville, Illinois became what some have called a “sanctuary city for the unborn.” After Planned Parenthood staff announced plans to open an abortion clinic in the town, the city council reacted by narrowly passing an ordinance (8-7), citing a section of federal law that forbids the mailing of abortion paraphernalia.

Danville’s recent ordinance does not quite make it a “sanctuary city”—at least not in the same sense that Seattle is a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants on the run from federal immigration officials. Danville’s ordinance is actually a reverse “sanctuary” provision that enforces federal authority in the township, in the face of state law. And herein lies the convoluted back-and-forth of legal argumentation, as both the pro-life and the pro-choice movements have exposited the law to support their side.

The pro-life ordinance makes a clear-cut appeal to the U.S. Constitution, citing Article VI which makes all federal laws the “supreme Law of the Land.” The ordinance further references a section of federal law, U.S.C. §§ 1461–62, which prohibits using the mail system to deliver abortion paraphernalia. Thus, the ordinance explains, since 1) the Danville City Council is “bound by oath to support and defend the Constitution,” 2) the Constitution makes federal law the supreme law of the land, and 3) federal law prohibits mailing abortifacients, therefore Danville is upholding the Constitution in passing this restriction.

The pro-abortion-rights side is not backing down easily, however. According to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Danville’s new rule violates Illinois state law. The state’s Reproductive Health Act prohibits local governments from restricting abortion rights tighter than the state law does, so he claims that Danville simply lacks the legal authority to pass such a regulation.

This article is not intended to endorse or refute either legal argument. Either way it turns out in court, the pro-life movement can still learn a valuable lesson from the Danville controversy.

Roe didn’t get rid of abortion—it made the national discussion that much more tangled.

Pro-lifers cheered as Dobbs struck down the blanket national ruling which said “the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” Immediately, state governors and legislators went to work to pass pro-life or pro-abortion laws, depending on the state.

I’m sure some of us, cheering for Dobbs, were tempted to view ourselves as the reasonable states-rights defenders, in opposition to those big, bad authoritarian federal mandates and rulings. But being “pro-states-rights” really only truly works for the pro-life cause when the state you live in is already pro-life. In states like Illinois, being “pro-states-rights” actually seems to be more like being “pro-choice,” at least in the Danville case.

So states’ rights is not our savior, if it ever was. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a worthy principle, enshrined in our nation’s founding, and one that works well for our side in many places, especially right when the Dobbs ruling came down and various states started banning abortion right and left. But those states only did so because they were already pro-life. The cultural and political groundwork was already in place. In states where these prerequisites are not already in place, “states rights” is just a further justification to keep and expand the abortion restrictions they believe in.

Dobbs was not the end of the pro-life fight. It just moved the battle to a different battlefield, one that is currently focused more on individual skirmishes in particular states than mass movements of troops on the national stage. The dispute over Danville’s ordinance shows us much more clearly how important the local cultural battle is. Overturning U.S. Supreme Court precedent is a major step, but it was only the first step.

Influencing culture and educating the populace who will in turn vote for next year’s lawmakers is the way to ensure the breakthrough we won with Dobbs will actually bring pro-life wins to our states’ laws.

When it comes to the abortion debate, our local neighborhoods are now the new Supreme Court chamber.

Illinois state lawmakers who serve on the Human Services Committee should know that you support these 5 Pro-Life Bills and oppose the radical birth certificate bill!

When a bill is scheduled for a committee hearing, citizens can file witness slips in support or opposition. Scroll down for instructions.

The following bills are scheduled to be heard in the Human Services Committee on March 9th. Please file witness slips for all of them. It only takes a few minutes for each slip and your name will be included among those who supported/opposed the bills.

They are all great Pro-Life bills, except for one. Please make note that HB 9 is a bill that we ask you to oppose.

Ultrasound Opportunity Act – HB 683 is sponsored by Paul Jacobs (R-Carbondale). It requires that a woman seeking an abortion be offered the opportunity to view a live ultrasound of her unborn baby before going through with the abortion.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 683.

Born Alive Infant Protection Act – HB 338 is sponsored by Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield). It declares that a child born alive as the result of an abortion be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 338.

Repeal of Taxpayer Funding of Abortion – HB 783 is sponsored by Patrick Windhorst (R-Harrisburg).
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 783.

Amends the Reproductive Health Act – HB 791 is sponsored by Patrick Windhorst (R-Harrisburg). It bans abortion after 20 weeks except in the case of a medical emergency.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 791.

Partial Birth Abortion Ban – HB 827 is sponsored by Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis).
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in support of HB 827.

In addition to these 5 great pro-life bills listed above, please also consider speaking out in opposition to this proposal to legalize fraud:

OPPOSE THIS BILL: HB 9, sponsored by Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), allows a person to change gender on their birth certificate.
ACTION: Click HERE to file a witness slip in opposition to HB 9.

Witness Slip Instructions:

Section I. Enter your name, address, city and zip code. You can leave Firm/Business and Title blank. If it won’t allow you to leave them black, enter NA.

Section II. Leave it blank if you are not representing a group, etc.

Section III. Check that you are a Proponent (except for HB 9).

Section IV. Unless you are filing a written statement, select Record of Appearance Only.

Lastly, agree to the terms of agreement by checking the box.

Click Create (Slip).

Thank you for taking time to let these legislative committees hear from pro-life/pro-family conservatives in Illinois!

If you appreciate the work and ministry of IFI,
please consider a tax-deductible donation to sustain our endeavors.  

Your support makes a difference!

What will it take for decent, sane Illinoisans to organize and protest the loathsome laws coming out of the un-mucked out stable in Springfield? Maybe this bill will do it.

On Feb. 19, 2021, State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) proposed amendment SB 457 to the “Equitable Restrooms Act.” Her amendment is called the “Equitable Restrooms Act—All-Gender,” which offers a hint to its content. This excerpt from her amendment makes clear what Bush wants:

The purpose of this Section is to promote the privacy, safety, and gender inclusivity of all Illinois residents and visitors. …

Any multiple-occupancy restroom may be converted into an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom. If a multiple-occupancy restroom is to be converted into an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom and a multiple-occupancy restroom serving a different gender is located adjacent or in proximity to the all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom, then both multiple-occupancy restrooms must be converted into all-gender multiple-occupancy restrooms. …

If an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom is newly constructed, a newly constructed or previously existing restroom located adjacent or in proximity to the newly constructed all-gender multiple-occupancy restrooms must also be designated as an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom. (emphasis added)

Maybe a reporter could ask Bush what exactly a “different gender” from all genders is? And maybe someone could ask her how exactly the privacy and safety of Illinois girls and women are promoted via mixed-sex bathrooms. In the meantime, Illinoisans should cogitate a bit on the rest of this dung heap of a bill.

Bush’s amendment will mandate that if an existing single-sex multiple-occupancy bathroom is converted to a mixed-sex bathroom, any nearby single-sex multiple-occupancy bathroom must be converted to a mixed-sex bathroom. Further, if a new mixed-sex multiple-occupancy bathroom is constructed, any bathroom nearby must also be a mixed-sex bathroom.

How long before the conscience-deformed swampsters propose a bill requiring that all new and existing multiple-occupancy bathrooms must be mixed-sex? Incrementally, the left will ban all single-sex multiple-occupancy bathrooms in deference to their overlords: “trans”-cultists.

For those who don’t remember, Melinda Bush was one of the prime movers of Illinois’ malignant “Reproductive Health Act,” more accurately called the Kill Babies Bill. Apparently, there are a lot of Grayslake voters who don’t much care about girls of any age.

As I have said repeatedly (and with increasing frustration), the end game for the “trans” cult is not unrestricted access to opposite-sex private spaces for a handful of delusional cross-sex impersonators. The end game is the eradication of all public recognition of sex differences, which means no private spaces for anyone. No private spaces for girls and women. No private spaces for boys and men.

“Trans”-cultists believe girls and women should have no single-sex multiple-occupancy bathrooms available to them anywhere. And “trans”-cultists believe boys and men should have no single-sex multiple-occupancy bathrooms available to them.

If “trans”-cultists and their ignorant allies like Melinda Bush get their way, all girls and women will be forced to enter public bathrooms and walk past men using urinals. Girls and women will be forced to urinate and defecate in stalls next to men—in some cases, peers or co-workers—doing likewise. Girls and women will be forced to emerge from stalls and stand next to unrelated men—including men they don’t even know—while washing their hands after doing their business. Girls and women will be forced to purchase feminine hygiene products in the presence of unrelated men.

This is the primitive, uncivilized dystopia leftists are socially constructing and imposing on all Americans: a world without modesty and privacy. To them, accommodations for modesty and privacy point to sex differences, and that is something they will not abide.

If biological sex as manifest in biology and anatomy has no intrinsic and profound meaning relative to undressing, nudity, or intimate bodily functions, then there remains no reason for any sex-segregated private spaces anywhere for anyone.

If objective, immutable biological sex has no more meaning than eye color, then logically, sex-segregated bathrooms, dressing rooms, showers—including in high school locker rooms and college sports facilities—shelters, hospital rooms, prisons, and dorm rooms make no sense.

If biological sex is a superficial trait as unimportant as skin color, then it makes no sense for any woman to prefer female gynecologists for exams or prefer female x-ray technicians for mammograms.

If biological sex is a meaningless characteristic, then there remains no reason to require locker room attendants in middle and high school locker rooms to be of the same sex as the students they oversee. Would we ever require all locker room attendants to have a certain eye or skin color?

But if objective, immutable biological sex is intrinsically and profoundly meaningful with regard to feelings of modesty and the desire for privacy when engaged in intimate bodily functions or undressing, then the refusal to respect and accommodate biological sex differences in private settings is evil.

Make no mistake, this is coming to all public spaces in all states. The “trans”-cult will leave no corner unsullied by its delusional and evil beliefs and practices, because the presence of any cultural recognition that biological sex exists and has meaning threatens the shaky ideological grounding of their cult-like, science-denying beliefs.

In our brave new socially constructed dystopia, single-sex group bathrooms are passé. Mixed-sex group bathrooms are all the rage, and they’re coming to public schools, colleges and universities, big-box stores, sports arenas, concert venues, restaurants, theaters, office buildings, airports, bus stations, and train stations.

As I wrote two weeks ago,

Leftists have their gimlet eyes always focused on the big picture as they play the long game to rule the country. While conservatives dismiss the “little” offenses and fume briefly about the big offenses against decency, morality, and truth, leftists continue their march through every institution that shapes culture.

Slowly they come, step by step, prepared for the wailing of conservatives, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Leftists bide their time, knowing the annoying sound and fury will shortly abate. Exhausted, conservatives will go home, abandoning all that messy, unpleasant opposition to the culture-unmaking of leftists. Conservatives won’t organize, won’t persevere, and won’t sacrifice. And the ones who do fight the evil-doers are alone and isolated because the masses of conservatives don’t want to do the hard work of culture-making.

What Illinois and the nation need are a few good men and women to rise up and lead a movement of all decent people against this injustice. Just imagine what kind of country we will bequeath to our children and grandchildren if we continue to do nothing now.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative. Urge them to vote against SB 457 and the foolish agenda that fails to recognize biological facts. Ask them to protect the privacy, dignity and safety of all Illinois citizens.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Bathroom-81.mp3

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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What would happen if church members from around Illinois came to Springfield and sat praying in the House gallery each time it met during the spring 2020 session? What could God do in Illinois? That’s what Illinois State Rep. Dave Severin (R-Marion) wants to find out.

Severin is inviting Christians in Illinois to visit the Pray for Springfield Facebook page to schedule a date on the Illinois House calendar to come pray in the gallery. The idea came to him when he was driving home last June following the end of the spring legislative session. The Reproductive Health Act had just been passed, giving Illinois the most progressive abortion laws in the nation.

During the lengthy committee meetings and debates prior to the Act’s passage, Severin had seen groups of women wearing red capes and white hats depicting handmaidens from the online series “The Handmaiden’s Tale,” based on Margaret Atwood’s book of the same name, sitting silent in the audience and gallery. Severin wondered, “Where are the Christians? Where is the Church?” That’s when his idea to start the Pray for Springfield Facebook page originated.

Severin describes the page as non-partisan. “It’s non-denominational,” he said. “I’m not pushing anything other than for people to come and pray for our state.”

Multiple church groups, mainly from the southern part of the state, have already signed up to sit quietly praying in the gallery for a few hours while the Illinois House is in session.

Discussing his reasons for starting the movement, Severin said, “I want to encourage Christians across the state to pray that God would turn legislators’ hearts and give them wisdom to promote things that are good and right, and that He would give people reason to come to Illinois and stay in the state.”

The kickoff

Pray for Springfield kicked off with a rally on January 28, the opening day of the spring legislative session in the Capitol rotunda. Severin was joined by some of his fellow lawmakers, Christian prayer groups such as Concerned Women for America, and church groups.

State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) addressed the crowd, sharing from 2 Chronicles 20 and speaking about King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah facing vast armies: “King Jehoshaphat called the assembly to the temple and they began to call out to the Lord. The Lord said, ‘Do be afraid because the battle is yours.’ There were men appointed to sing praise to the Lord. The Lord blessed his people who stood in assembly and cried out to God.”

To the concerned Illinoisans gathered for prayer, Halbrook said, “Don’t give up, be afraid, or discouraged. The Lord will prevail in this matter. That is the great lesson here for all of us.”

He also thanked them for coming and said, “We, all of us, covet your prayers. We need them.”

Another of the Illinois House members speaking was State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville), who began by expressing his thankfulness: “I cannot think of a more privileged opportunity, a more privileged time to live in our history…to be here and serve God in this capacity as a state representative in Illinois government than now after the dark ages that we’ve been in. We’re going to see God do some great things this year, I believe that.”

In contrast to what some Christian leaders have been publicly stating, Bailey urged Christians to become more politically active. He told those gathered, “Go back to your churches, go back to your family, go back to your dinner tables, whenever people say, I don’t want to get political. Say, guess what? That’s why we are in this mess! The church has got to step up and get involved, get informed, get engaged, get out, and get busy!”

“Proverbs 28:2 tells us when there is moral rot in the nation a government topples easily,” shared Bailey, “but where there’s wise and knowledgeable leaders it brings stability. So, we need your prayers for this entire house, this entire building, this entire city, this entire state, this entire country…”

Severin, the man who started it all, was the last of the government officials to speak.

“You know how you call the fire department when the house is on fire? You know who the fire department is?” Severin asked, pointing to the assembled crowd. “It’s you, you are the fire department!”

“You know who is going to turn this state around?” he shouted. “It’s not Republicans. It’s not Democrats. It’s you guys, it’s your faith and your trust in the Lord!

“This state needs hope. I own a business and when I call vendors in other states, they say there’s no hope for Illinois. There is hope for Illinois. That hope is in Jesus!”

The rally concluded with prayer for the state of Illinois and its representatives, with calls for God to give them wisdom and for them to seek His leadership.

To learn more, go to facebook.com/prayforspringfield and consider finding a date to sign up to bring a group from your church to pray in the Illinois House gallery.

IFI is hosting our annual Worldview Conference on March 7th at the Village Church of Barrington. This year’s conference is titled “Thinking Biblically About Our Corrosive Culture” and features Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Rob Gagnon. For more information, please click HERE for a flyer or click the button below to register for the conference.

The Thomas More Society filed a complaint in federal court stating that both the state of New York and New York City are discriminating against pro-life advocates.

The complaint, which was filed Jan. 21, 2020 on behalf of Evergreen Association, Inc., accuses the State and City of New York of disregarding the charitable organization’s First Amendment rights. Evergreen operates maternal health and pregnancy centers under the names “Expectant Mother Care” and “EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers.” The Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Chris Slattery, Director of EMC Frontline, described the discrimination: “We are all about saving the unborn lives threatened by abortion. Thus, we are all about offering alternatives to abortion. New York’s discriminatory laws undermine our charitable mission. How could we in good conscience hire someone who advocates abortion to encourage expectant mothers not to pursue that deadly route?”

According to a media release from the Thomas More Society, the complaint charges discrimination against pro-life organizations in the following ways:

• Violation of the right to association (First Amendment)
• Violation of due process (Fourteenth Amendment)
• Violation of free speech (First Amendment)

In a public radio program in Jan. 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denounced pro-life advocates as “extreme conservatives,” saying that “they have no place in the state of New York.” Despite repeated calls for him to apologize, the governor has refused. In the same pattern, the Thomas More Society states, “A recent string of New York attorney generals has sought to silence peaceful citizens offering abortion-bound women information on life-affirming alternatives.”

In remarks about the legislation, Thomas More Society Special Counsel Timothy Belz stated, “This is especially egregious when you consider that the law was packaged with other bills specifically designed to strip away any regulation of abortion. New York’s ‘Boss Bill’ was passed in tandem with the state’s Reproductive Health Act, which legalizes abortion until the birth of the child, and the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act, which requires health insurers to provide no-cost birth control, including abortifacient drugs, in their health plans.” In Illinois, the Reproductive Health Act (SB 25), passed by the General Assembly at the end of the spring 2020 session, also requires all employers in the state to provide no-cost birth control and abortions up to nine months in their health plans.

According to the Thomas More Society release, “The case challenges the constitutionality of New York’s so-called ‘Boss Bills,’ laws that make support of abortion a protected class in the employment nondiscrimination laws of both New York State and New York City, thus forbidding employers from making hiring and promotion decisions  based upon ‘reproductive health’ decisions of employees or applicants, including the decision to have or promote abortions. The laws pose existential threats to pro-life organizations because they impose debilitating fines and also provide for statutory damages.”

Belz explained, “These laws violate our client’s rights in multiple ways. Expectant Mother Care and EMC Frontline exist for the purpose of advocating for and providing desperate women with alternatives to abortion. Forcing them to hire someone who promotes abortion would completely undermine their mission.”

“It’s ludicrous,” said Belz, “and tramples all over Expectant Mother Care and EMC Frontline’s right of expressive association guaranteed by the First Amendment. These state and city laws also violate our client’s right to free speech and right to due process. Finally, the state’s failure to define ‘reproductive health decision making’ makes the laws unconstitutionally vague.”

The Thomas More Society is a not-for-profit law firm headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. 

To read the complaint visit https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief-1-16-20.pdf.

IFI is hosting our annual Worldview Conference on March 7th at the Village Church of Barrington. This year’s conference is titled “Thinking Biblically About Our Corrosive Culture” and features Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Rob Gagnon. For more information, please click HERE for a flyer or click the button below to register for the conference.

It’s official. Illinois is the now the most pernicious state in the country. Governor Jay “Baby Butchery Booster” Pritzker signed into law the Kill-Babies-Bill—euphemistically named the Reproductive Health Act—which has nothing to do with reproducing and nothing to do with health. Instead it enshrines in law that the smallest, weakest, most vulnerable humans have no legal rights and that larger, stronger, arrogant people have an absolute right to kill them. Illinois is now the nation’s bloody altar on which babies are sacrificed to the god of Autonomy that America worships.

At an obscene press conference/celebration of his signing into law the Kill-Babies-Bill, Pritzker thanked Illinois’ most morally repugnant lawmakers (which is saying a LOT), State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) and State Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake), along with Planned Parenthood, Personal PAC, and the ACLU of Illinois as “true champions” for “women’s reproductive health.” Oddly, Pritzker didn’t mention the female humans (aka girls) who will never grow into women because Cassidy, Pritzker, Bush, and their accomplices signed their death warrants.

Equally repugnant were the cheers and applause from the sycophantic crowd standing behind Butchery-Booster Pritzker. Lest anyone think the term “butchery” is hyperbolic, remember that he, Cassidy, and Bush are rejoicing over the legal right of women to off their full-term babies, which means injecting their hearts with digoxin to induce heart failure, or sucking out their brains and crushing their skulls, or dismembering them. Butchery is perhaps too genteel a term.

Pritzker, Cassidy, and Bush prefer calling butchery “health care.” But neither their deceitful use of euphemistic language nor, to quote Shakespeare, “all the water in the ocean” can wash the blood from their hands. Instead, their “hands will stain the seas scarlet, turning the green waters red.”

One of Pritzker’s many applause lines was “Abortion bans don’t ban abortion. They just endanger women.” Surely, he’s not that stupid. Abortion bans do, indeed, ban abortion. They don’t end it. And murder, theft, and sexual assault bans don’t end murder, theft, or sexual assaults. But legal bans on abortion would deter abortion and reduce the number of humans slaughtered in the womb.

In an embarrassing attempt to channel John F. Kennedy who in his famous inaugural address said “Let the word go forth from this time and place,” a prideful, presumptuous Pritzker proclaimed:

Let the word go forth today from this place, if you believe in standing up for women’s fundamental rights, Illinois is a beacon of hope in the heart of this nation.

Illinois has not for many decades been a beacon of hope for the heart of the nation. Whatever flickering light remained in Illinois has now been snuffed out by Pritzker, Cassidy, Bush et al just like the babies who will be. Illinois is now a human slaughterhouse at the heart of the nation. Illinois “progressives” have turned the Land of Lincoln into a fiscal and moral mess that Pritzker’s soaring plagiarized rhetoric only illuminates. (BTW, don’t pink-hatted, “nasty,” shouting women say men aren’t permitted to opine on abortion?)

Following Pritzker came the nemesis of decency and truth, Kelly Cassidy, who with no sense of irony but lots of fake-almost-tears, declared,

There is a war against women, a war on bodily autonomy, and our opponents are using hateful, untrue, and outright misogynist rhetoric which escalates daily and endangers women everywhere.

For the umpteenth time to a party increasingly at odds with both morality and science, when women become pregnant there are two bodies—not one. If the “right to bodily autonomy” (whatever that means) comes into direct conflict with another human’s right to live, it should be obvious to all that the right to live is a right of a higher moral order than the “right to bodily autonomy.” All other rights derive from and depend on the most basic right, the right to live.

It is Pritzker, Cassidy, and Bush who endanger the greatest number of humans—including female humans. By “1965, the number of deaths due to illegal abortion had fallen to just under 200,” and in “1972 (the year before abortion was federally legalized), a total of 24 women died from causes known to be associated with legal abortions, and 39 died as a result of known illegal abortions.” Compare those numbers of tragic accidental deaths to the intentional slaughter of 61,000,000 humans in the womb in the United States since 1973 or the 426, 492 humans killed in the womb so far in 2019—including 5,544 killings after 21 weeks gestation.

The Senate sponsor of the Kill-Babies-Bill, Melinda Bush, proved herself as foolish as Cassidy and Pritzker saying,

We believe that women should have the same autonomy over their bodies that men do.

Bush paused waiting for a beat for adulatory applause for that curious notion. No worries, her henchwomen/handmaidens picked up her cue and dutifully obliged, tepidly clapping for, I guess, men’s right to abortion.

I will close with these words from JKF’s inaugural address—words that Pritzker chose not to plagiarize:

[T]he same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God…. Let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure…. ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice…. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AbortionCheers.mp3

IFI Banquet Speaker Announced!
We are excited to announce that at this year’s IFI banquet, our keynote speaker will be none other than Rev. Franklin Graham, President & CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Christian evangelist & missionary. This year’s event will be at the Tinley Park Convention Center on Nov. 1st.

Learn more HERE.

If you follow politics and public policy at all, you know well the saying, “elections have consequences.” Well, during this most recent General Assembly session (January-May), and especially the last two weeks, we have seen those consequences in spades, as super majorities in both the Illinois Senate and Illinois House passed far-reaching agenda items that can only be described extreme, duplicitous, and destructive.

The most wicked of these legislative proposals this session was the Reproductive Health Act (SB 25), the “Kill-Babies-Bill” proposal as Laurie Higgins termed it in a recent article. This bill, which, among other pernicious things, creates a fundamental “right” to abortion, redefines fetal viability, and expands the definition of “health of the patient.” It passed the Illinois House by a vote of 64-50 and the Illinois Senate by a vote of 34-20. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law this summer.

The exploitation of children doesn’t stop with the push to eliminate them in utero. Those who survive regressives’ blood-lust agenda must now navigate the LGBTQIA+ minefield thanks to the LGBT History Mandate (HB 246). This proposal will mandate that all students in K-12 public schools be taught about the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators and that textbooks purchased include discussions of the roles and contributions of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators. This legislation was passed in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 37-17 and in the Illinois House by a vote of 60-42. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law this summer.

Then we have the push to legalize “recreational” marijuana (HB 1438), a policy against which left-leaning publications opined, include the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and New Yorker. For two years now, IFI has worked tenaciously to educate Illinois residents in every part of the state, with special forums, articles, videos, web conferences, radio interviews and through a variety of other social media postings. With the help of a few Republican lawmakers in each chamber, this legislation was passed in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 38-17 and in the Illinois House by a vote of 66-47. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law this summer.

I would be remiss not to mention the anti-IFI resolution (HJR 55) that is still pending in Springfield. The sponsors have not withdrawn this indefensible motion that Springfield regressives would exploit to use the power of the government to quash our work, speech, and presence in Springfield. Their call to curtail our right to lobby at the Capitol and for the Illinois State Police to investigate us for “hate speech” is still hanging over our head and could be called for a vote anytime through January 2020 when the 101st General Assembly ends.

To say that this session has been frustrating is an understatement. The floor debates have been both laughable and discouraging. For example, State Representative Maurice West (D-Rockford) spoke on the House floor during debate on SB 25, self-identifying as a Christian minister to justify and advocate for baby slaughter.

There is a dearth of wisdom, common sense, courage, integrity, and compassion in the Illinois General Assembly. Hosea 4:6 laments, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” and 2 Timothy 4:3 warns that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” This toxic combination was on full display this month. There aren’t many serving in Springfield who are resolutely pro-family conservative in their political ideology and even fewer who hold to a biblical worldview.

After a season of a lot of hard work and prayer, it is easy to be discouraged by the outrageous politics of Illinois. We are well down the slippery slope. Where it will bottom out, no one knows. It appears that God has turned Illinois over to debased (depraved) thinking as Romans 1:28-32 predicts. In short, our state’s political leaders have not just forgotten God but are also arrogantly shaking their collective fists at Him. At the same time, far too many church leaders sit on the sidelines doing their very best to stay lukewarm. As a result, Illinois is under judgment.

At this point it is wise for us to take a deep breath, take a step back, and gain some perspective.

The Lord doesn’t call His servants to victory, but rather to faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:2; Luke 16:10-12). We are called to do good works (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10). We are called to observe all of God’s commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 2:3) and to teach them to our children (Deuteronomy 6:7; Proverbs 22:6; Psalm 78:2-4) and to the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). And Jesus tells us that all of these things and more hang on the second great commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

In the end, we must be mindful that many of our neighbors are oblivious to what Scripture teaches. They are captives of false ideologies (Luke 4:18; 2 Corinthians 10:5) and distracted by vain worldly pursuits (James 4:4). More importantly, we are called to keep our eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:14), not the storm around us. And we are instructed not to grow weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9) — even in the People’s Republic of Illinois.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. Establishing and reinforcing a biblical worldview in our families and in our churches is vital if we hope to help our own family members, let alone our neighbors, to navigate the culture in Illinois. The snares have been set out for us, our children, our grandchildren, and our neighbors. And with every legislative session, those snares are multiplying.

We remain resolved to work hard to educate and influence the hearts and minds of anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see, for the sake of the King and His Kingdom. May His will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

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I wrote this last Friday:

Regressives got a pledge from the thoroughly corrupt Mike Madigan, who rules Madiganistan with a blood-stained fist, to speedily advance Cassidy’s radical abortion bill by any unethical means possible, preventing due deliberation and preventing those who seek to defend life a chance to marshal their forces against it.

When I wrote those words, I had no idea how low Madigan and State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) would stoop in their unholy quest to make Illinois the Land of Liquidation—baby liquidation, that is.

On Sunday night during Memorial Day weekend when most Illinoisans took time to honor the men and women who have sacrificed their comfort, time, safety, and lives to secure our freedom, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) revealed again the fetid rot that has devoured him and much of the Illinois General Assembly. He suddenly scheduled a meeting of the Appropriations-Human Services Committee to vote on Cassidy’s loathsome Kill-Babies-Bill—deceptively named the “Reproductive Health Act”—with only one hour’s notice. This bill will, among other things, legalize human slaughter throughout the whole nine months of pregnancy (It repeals the partial-birth abortion ban) for any reason—including sex selection—and encode in law the repugnant notion that unborn humans have zero rights.

Early Tuesday afternoon, the Illinois House passed Cassidy’s Kill-Babies-Bill by a vote of 64-50 (with four voting present). It now moves to the Illinois Senate, which has a greater percentage of liberals. (See roll call graphic below.)

Here are some of the stinking rotten details of the egregious violation of public trust that took place Sunday night and of which many Illinoisans may be unaware:

• Cassidy introduced her original Kill-Babies-Bill (HB 2495) on February 13 but it never received even a hearing, so she tweaked it a bit to make it more offensive to the consciences of decent people, including specifically denying that humans in the womb have any legal rights.

• On Sunday, May 26, Cassidy and her accomplices then gutted a different bill (i.e., The Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code: SB 25) that had already moved through the first three of the five steps of the legislative process, replacing it with her Kill-Babies-Bill as an amendment to the now-gutted bill. This enables Cassidy’s bill to circumvent the regular lawmaking process before the legislative session ends on May 31.

• Madigan’s House rules require a minimum of one hour’s notice between the posting of a bill and its hearing and vote in committee. Cassidy and her accomplices posted the new 126-page “amendment” at 6:08 p.m. on Sunday night during a holiday weekend and scheduled the hearing at 7:08 p.m., thereby preventing opponents from attending and speaking out against it. The “suddenness” of the meeting explains why Cassidy had an ACLU attorney present with a polished 4-minute disquisition and an abortionist with a 5-minute presentation while opponent speakers Ralph Rivera representing Illinois Right to Life Action and Zachary Wichmann representing the Catholic Conference of Illinois were able to make only extemporaneous comments.

• At the beginning of the meeting, committee members were given a thick packet of letters from only proponents of the Kill-Babies-Bill.

• The spanking new Kill-Babies-Bill/amendment was assigned to the House Appropriations-Human Services Committee—chaired by State Representative Robyn Gabel (D-Chicago), who is a former training coordinator for Planned Parenthood. The bill did not belong in this committee because it contained no appropriations. It was assigned to that committee because that’s the committee where it was assured to pass.

In an inspiring, must-see statement, State Representative Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) succinctly addressed the violations of the public’s trust and the spirit of laws intended to increase the transparency of the lawmaking process that took place Sunday night. Please watch Rep. Demmer in this short video.

Far-left freshman State Representative Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) tried futilely to dismiss the ethical implications of what Madigan did in calling this hearing by saying the Reproductive Health Act has been out for months, so constituents had plenty of time to make their voices heard.

Yeah, riiight.  Nothing to see there. Pay no attention to Madigan hiding behind the curtain. It’s completely unimportant that Leftists gutted an existing bill to substitute in Cassidy’s radical and pernicious Kill-Babies-Bill. And it’s completely unimportant that the hearing was suddenly scheduled on Sunday night during a holiday weekend. And it’s completely unimportant that Cassidy’s 126-page “amendment” was posted the minimum amount of time required by law (one-hour) before a hearing commences making it impossible for constituents or experts to show up to testify in opposition to this proposal.

State Representative Tony McCombie (R-Savanna)—a woman—responded that the issue wasn’t whether constituents had sufficient time to express their views to their lawmakers. The issue was that because of Madigan’s decision to suddenly call the committee meeting on Sunday night on a holiday weekend with only one hour’s notice, Illinoisans were denied the opportunity to express their views at the committee hearing. Unlike the ACLU attorney and abortionist, Rivera and Wichmann were denied the opportunity to develop and present polished presentations.

Another hero of the evening was State Representative Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) who asked how many of the 39,832 abortions performed in Illinois in 2017 were “medically necessary” to preserve the health or life of pregnant women—which are the reasons emphasized by abortion-shouters to justify the slaughter of humans in the womb. (Watch the video here.)

Cassidy admitted she has no idea because the state does not collect such information. Of course, it’s a moot issue, since allowing abortion to protect the “health” of the mother is so wildly expansive that it includes any and no reason.

In an effort to silence Bailey, Cassidy demonstrated—again—how manipulative and deceitful she is, saying in an increasingly hostile and aggressive tone,

I will tell you that my abortion was medically necessary. It saved my life. It preserved my fertility. It allowed for the creation of my family, my children who are my world.

Cassidy knew that no white man in this anti-white, anti-male climate would dare ask any follow-up questions following her faux-indignant and irrelevant “revelation.”

Here’s what Cassidy didn’t say in her exploitative and misleading response but has said publicly to the Chicago Sun-Times. Her “abortion” followed fertility treatments that resulted in a “blighted ovum” implanted in her uterus and in an ectopic pregnancy, which is when a fertilized egg implants in a fallopian tube rather than the uterus. The termination of an ectopic pregnancy is not referred to as an abortion, and with a blighted ovum, there is no embryo, so her personal story is irrelevant.

As McCombie was graciously expressing her sympathy for Cassidy’s experience, Cassidy, oozing open hostility at the lawmaker’s compassion, interrupted her to say, “I’m not sorry. I’m deeply grateful that that option was available.”

We’re all grateful that women can have ectopic pregnancies terminated—which need not involve the intentional killing of a fetus—and we’re all grateful that anembryonic (i.e., no embryo) blighted ova can be removed via a D & C, but women would have those ethical options even if abortion were banned.

Perhaps Cassidy would compromise with Republicans and agree to limit the termination of pregnancies to ectopic pregnancies and the removal of blighted ova—or as she referred to hers, “abortions.” Ectopic pregnancies account for 1-2% of pregnancies and 93% of that 1-2% result in miscarriages, so such a compromise would reduce the number of humans killed in the womb by a LOT.

Bailey—who urged a “NO” vote on what he rightly called “this disgusting bill”—noticed something odd in the changes Cassidy made to her Kill-Babies-Bill, something that exposes Cassidy’s anti-science/anti-reality ignorance. He asked her why she replaced the word “woman” with “individual” when referring to those seeking an abortion. Cassidy, obviously in thrall to the science-denying “trans” ideology, defiantly refused to answer Bailey’s easy-peasy questions:

Bailey: We’ve changed “woman” to “individual.” Who else can get pregnant besides a woman?

Cassidy (answering stiffly): Anyone with a uterus and ovaries can become pregnant.

Bailey: So, someone other than a woman can get pregnant?

Cassidy: Anyone with a uterus and ovaries can become pregnant.

Bailey: Does anyone other than a woman have a uterus?

Cassidy: Anyone with a uterus and ovaries can become pregnant. (Watch the video here.)

It’s a good thing Cassidy-the-Stepford-lawmaker who robotically repeated the “trans” mantra isn’t also a biology teacher.

Cassidy said, “These efforts [to outlaw abortion] have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable populations.” Say what? Was Cassidy about to express her concern for “fetuses” with Down Syndrome? Was she about to express her concern for babies aborted because their mothers don’t like their sex? Was she about to express her concern for black babies who are being targeted by Planned Parenthood?

Nope. No compassion for those vulnerable populations from Cassidy. Her concern was purportedly for “women of color and the poor.” Of course, everyone knows Cassidy’s central concern is about preserving the legal right of women to hire people to kill their offspring, whether those women are poor women of color or wealthy, colorless women.

Please take the time to watch State Representative Avery Bourne (R-Raymond) in this short video, as well as this short video of State Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) who spoke out boldly in committee. Illinois desperately needs more lawmakers like Demmer, Bailey, Bourne, McCombie, and Bryant.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to your state senator, state representative and to Gov. JB Pritzker. Urge them to stop targeting innocent pre-born children and vulnerable women in Illinois. Ask them to vote against the grotesquely misnamed “Reproductive Health Act.”

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SB-25-House.mp3

SB 25 Roll Call

Illinois state lawmakers are on spring break for the next two weeks. Many of them have announced “in-district” work hours. This is a great time to get an appointment with your state representative and senator to talk to them about your concerns, especially your concerns about these extreme anti-life bills which would expand abortion’s reach in our state:

• HB 2495 and SB 1942, wrongly named the Reproductive Health Act(s) and sponsored by State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) and State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake), will repeal the 1975 Illinois Abortion law, will repeal the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, and will remove any and all regulations for clinics that commit abortions. These bills are so extreme that they allow for non-medical individuals to commit abortions in places other than medical clinics.

• HB 2467 and SB 1594, sponsored by State Representative Chris Emmanuel Welch (D-Westchester) and State Senator Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), will repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995, which only requires notification–not consent–thereby allowing young girls to have secret abortions.

The good news is the two House bills have stalled during the current session. The bad news is that SB 1594 has passed out of a senate committee and pro-abortion activists at Planned Parenthood are planning a lobby day for May 1st in hopes of jump-starting some momentum for these bills.

It should not be lost on anyone that our left-wing opponents picked May 1st — “May Day” — for this day of action. “May Day” is also known as International Workers’ Day and recognized by Socialists and Marxists around the world, often with military parades and/or political protests. (Read more HERE.)

In response to their lobby day, Illinois Family Institute is calling on all of our subscribers to join us on that day in flooding the Capitol with phone calls to stand for the unborn. We are calling on you and your like-minded friends to join us on “May Day Meltdown.” We hope to jam the phone lines with calls going into our state lawmakers offices with strong appeals to kill these bills. If all of our subscribers made three calls during the business day on May 1st–one to Governor JB Pritzker, one to your state senator and your state representative–it would send a clear, strong message that we are not going away and we refuse to remain silent.

So mark your calendars for “May Day Meltdown” on May 1st. Click HERE for their political leaders’ contact information. Your state senator and representative are the last two listed on the page.

While you are waiting for May 1st to arrive, there is something else you can do right now:

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to your state senator, state representative and to Gov. Pritzker. Ask them to stop targeting innocent pre-born children and vulnerable women in Illinois. Ask your state senator, state representative and Gov. Pritzker to oppose all anti-life legislation.

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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To fulfill Governor J.B. Pritzker’s dream to make Illinois a slaughterhouse extraordinaire and the abortion mecca of the Midwest, that ever-reliable instigator of moral mayhem, State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), has sponsored a bill that would put a twinkle in the eye of Kermit Gosnell. The absurdly named Reproductive Health Act—or as I call it, the Baby Butchery Bill, which has little to do with reproducing and nothing to do with health—was introduced in the Illinois House by Cassidy and now has 40 accomplices. Two days later Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) introduced it in the Illinois Senate. She now has 4 accomplices.

For those unfamiliar with Cassidy, she’s a lesbian whose “spouse” is Newt Gingrich’s half-sister, “genderqueer” Candace Gingrich, an instigator of moral mayhem herself. She’s a leftist ideologue and Associate Director of the Youth and Campus Engagement Program of the Human Rights Campaign who refers to herself by plural pronouns. Cassidy, obsessed with using government resources to promote deviant sexuality, supports all sorts of lousy body-, soul-, family-, and culture-destroying legislation.

According to constitutional attorney Paul Linton, Cassidy’s nightmarish 120-page bill (HB 2495) will increase the numbers of weak, vulnerable humans who will have their bodies destroyed by adults who ironically claim to worship bodily autonomy. Here are some of the things Cassidy’s Baby Butchery Bill will do according to Linton:

• eliminate any restrictions on post-viability abortions and allow abortions for any reason whatsoever throughout all nine months of pregnancy

• eliminate any requirement that the person performing a post-viability abortion use a method of abortion that would enhance the chances of the unborn child surviving the abortion [thus providing evidence that women aren’t fighting for the right to terminate a pregnancy but rather to kill their babies]

• eliminate the requirement that a second physician be present to provide immediate medical care for any child born alive as a result of a post-viability abortion

• eliminate any restrictions on where abortions may be performed

• allow non-physicians to perform abortions, both surgical and medical

• allow women to attempt to abort their own pregnancies regardless of potential health risks

• undermine institutional and individual rights of conscience

• provide a basis to nullify regulations governing the operation of abortion clinics

• allow DCFS to use public funds to pay for abortions

• require health insurance policies to include coverage for all abortions, with no exemptions, even for churches and other religious organizations

• jeopardize enforcement of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 (which is the subject of separate bills that would expressly repeal the Act)

• eliminate any requirement to investigate fetal deaths or maternal deaths resulting from abortions or to record fetal deaths resulting from abortions

• impose no restrictions on fetal experimentation

• provide a basis for barring any common law cause of action for prenatal injuries and any statutory action for the wrongful death of an unborn child

When it comes to the legalized slaughter of inconvenient or imperfect babies in their 6^th through 9^th month of life in the womb, eager Baby Butchery-Choice advocates like Cassidy and her 40 accomplices prefer to focus on percentages rather than numbers. They will exploit whatever tactic may help conceal the unmitigated evil of abortion. Instead of percentages, let’s look at numbers to help expose the truth.

In the United States, there have been 61,000,000 abortions committed since 1973—a year that will live in infamy. It is estimated that 1.3% of those babies were killed after 21 weeks gestation. That means 793,000 10-inch-long babies with fingers, toes, hearts, and brains have been killed since 1973.

Imagine the caterwauling of Leftists if, over the past 45 years, 793,000 guilty death row inmates had been executed and had been executed by having scissors inserted in the back of their skulls, their brains scrambled, and skulls crushed; or had their bodies torn into pieces; or had their hearts stopped via an injection of potassium chloride, all of which are done to babies after 21 weeks of gestation.

It’s important to note that the government does not permit the administration of potassium chloride to criminals guilty of heinous crimes without first administering powerful sedatives because, as pharmacologist and toxicologist David Kroll explains in Forbes Magazine, “If given alone without the other drugs, the high concentration of potassium chloride would be terribly painful, akin to fire or electricity coursing through the veins.”

It’s important to note also that experts say that by 20 weeks gestation or earlier, babies can experience pain and that fetal surgeons administer anesthesia and analgesics (i.e., painkillers) to unborn babies undergoing surgery.

Leftists relentlessly defend abortion by asserting that pregnant women have the absolute right to make decisions concerning their bodies. This, of course, requires proof that abortion involves only the bodies of pregnant women—a patently false, science-denying claim. If abortion really involves only one body and the owner of that body is entitled to do with it as she pleases, then shouldn’t “progressives” defend the moral right of women to take Accutane or drink alcohol throughout their pregnancies? Is it coherent to argue that while a woman has a right to kill the purportedly non-existent body within her body, she is ethically obligated not to ingest anything that would “harm” the purportedly non-existent body within her body? Either her bodily autonomy rights are absolute or they’re not. Either there are two bodies or there aren’t.

As science continues to prove the falsity of their claims, Baby Butchery-Choice advocates are being forced to move away from hard science for the foundation of their arguments and move into metaphysics. Now, they argue that, sure, the product of conception between two humans is a human, but it’s not a person with rights until…

Yeah, we’re all waiting on pins and needles for morally-compromised metaphysician Cassidy et al to explain that. Is the product of conception a person with rights when she can feel pain? Breathe on her own? Show evidence of self-awareness? Are her rights dependent on her anatomical wholeness, her physiological health, or on how others feel about her? Are her rights dependent on her cost to others? Shouldn’t Cassidy and her colluders answer these questions before they make Baby Butchery even easier?

Already, Illinois permits abortion through all nine months if a doctor concludes that a woman’s “health” is jeopardized by the continuation of a pregnancy, with “health” defined so elastically as to include virtually any reason. But that’s not enough for the self-centered and amoral among us. Everyone with the capacity to think through the logical implications of an argument knows where we’re headed. If late-term abortions of babies—not fetuses—are ethically justified by the presence of physical anomalies, terminal conditions, the emotional state of their mothers, or their mothers’ fiscal concerns, why aren’t post-natal abortions (i.e., infanticide) of newborns or week-old or month-old babies justified by those same factors?

Every Republican who claims that the reductively called “social issues” are less important than tax rates or pension reform is culpable for the noxious political and moral climate that is killing us. Every Republican who defers to GOP leaders who claim that party unity and political “wins” demand silence and capitulation on the “social issues” is culpable for the increasingly brazen and foul demands for de facto infanticide. Every Republican who has skittered nervously away from saying it is evil to permit the intentional killing of babies in the womb who were conceived via criminal acts is culpable for the political power of the intellectually incoherent and morally vacuous whose consciences are so seared they cheer and shout for death.

Take ACTION:  Please speak out!  Click HERE to send a message to your state senator, state representative and to Gov. Pritzker. Ask them to stop targeting innocent pre-born children and vulnerable women in Illinois. Ask them to vote against HB 2495 and HB 2467.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IL-abortion-article.mp3

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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

Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Personal PAC have joined forces, once again, to eradicate any and all limits on killing babies in Illinois, absurdly claiming that Illinois’ parental notice law is “dangerous” and “unnecessary.”

The push comes from Governor JB Pritzker’s office and has materialized in the form of two bills. In a press conference, State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), chief sponsor in the Illinois House for the grossly misnamed Reproductive Health Act (HB 2495), stated, “We know that there is a movement today to limit access to reproductive health care. We want to reflect our values in Illinois and trust women.”

Well, she got one thing tacitly right. Those who wield power in Illinois have barbaric “values” that include utter disregard for the bodily integrity, dignity and sanctity of humans in the womb.

In fear of Roe v. Wade being overturned, they will do everything in their power to preserve the non-existent moral “right” to slaughter inconvenient and imperfect humans in Illinois. According to speakers at the February 12th press conference, their bills will do the following:

• Repeal the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 including criminal penalties on doctors who commit abortion

• Repeal the Partial Birth Abortion ban, which allows babies to be killed up to the time of birth

• Remove any and all regulations on clinics that commit abortion

• Repeal the Parental Notification Act of 1995

State Representative Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Westchester) is the chief sponsor of the HB 2467, a proposal to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995. This law only requires notification—not consent. But pro-abortion advocates don’t want anything—not even parents—to hinder a child’s ability to have her baby killed. Liz Higgins, Planned Parenthood Associate Medical Director, stated, “Planned Parenthood and our partners are not going to let this become a country where people can no longer access abortion.” This includes our daughters. The government is once again interfering in familial relationships in order to advance Leftist “values.”

This must be stopped. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU will stop at nothing to achieve their body-and soul-destroying goals. If we fail to do everything in our power to block the passage of these bills, we become complicit in the destruction of countless more innocent lives.

How much longer will God stay his wrath on this state for shedding innocent blood?

Take ACTION:  Please speak out!  Click HERE to send a message to your state senator, state representative and to Gov. Pritzker. Ask them to stop targeting innocent pre-born children and vulnerable women in Illinois. Ask them to vote against HB 2495 and HB 2467.

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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

There are two dates on my mind today. The first is January 22, 1973, the day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, opening the door for virtually unlimited abortion on demand. Since that day, over 61 million Americans have perished at the hands of medical practitioners who shun the Hippocratic Oath. Let that number sink in for a minute. 61,000,000. That equates to about the total populations of California and Texas combined!

There have been so many deaths from abortion that many Americans are becoming desensitized to the issue. I remember the initial response to Roe v. Wade. There were grief-stricken people of faith across the nation standing in peaceful protest and turning out for marches, walks, and human life chains so long they passed through cities. But today, the silenced innocents are all but forgotten. To most, they are nameless, faceless, soulless numbers. But God remembers.

Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15)

Medical science has revealed that these babies were far more than numbers. Even though they were doomed never to take their first breath, they had beating hearts, working organs, functioning brains, and souls that cried to the Lord for justice. We didn’t hear their screams. But God heard.

Imagine the horror of seeing such things done to the bodies of our living children. God doesn’t have to imagine. He sees.

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. (Psalm 56:8)

But these realities are not stopping “progressive” politicians from doing what they can to facilitate more deaths. On the 46^th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade, Illinois’ new governor, J.B. Pritzker, while signing an executive order supporting taxpayer-funded abortions, declared that Illinois “will be the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to guaranteeing women’s reproductive rights.”

Equally damning, the majority of elected state lawmakers in New York erupted in applause at the passing of the Reproductive Health Act, a measure which legalizes the death of babies, even up through the ninth month of gestation. The bill was quickly and joyfully signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York, the state with the highest percentage of abortions per capita, will see even more innocent babies executed—legally. These forsaken children will have no memorial, outside of those detailed in Planned Parenthood’s annual report.

Ironically, there is one famous public memorial that urges New Yorkers to remember and to validate the lives of New Yorkers—an eerie reminder that human life is precious—all human life. Regardless of sex, race, creed, color, or age, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. In this place, there is a statement affirming the value of the unborn.

That is the memorial to those lost on September 11, 2001, the second date on my mind. A day of great tragedy and heartache—one that still haunts America to this day. Almost 3,000 innocent people died that day. The victims of the tragedy could not protect themselves. The decision to terminate their lives was made by others.

Yet, we remember and honor these precious lives. A solemn monument was erected in downtown New York City called the 911 Memorial. At this sacred site, the names of all those who perished are forever chiseled into the American psyche—inscribed in gray granite for future generations to see and remember.

Ten of those listed include unborn children. The unborn who perished inside their mothers are listed for the world to see and mourn! They are not callously called “fetuses.” They are not referred to as a “biological mass.” They are called what they are: children!

The names of each individual are there to remind us about the horror of deaths of innocent people caused by the decisions and actions of others. This memorial is in the center of New York City, ironically a place where the lives of many other babies are extinguished daily.

And, we are not to forget—unless you happen to be a “progressive” politician with an agenda.

“DEANNA LYNN GALANTE AND HER UNBORN CHILD.”

“LAUREN CATUZZI GRANDCOLAS AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

“JENNIFER L. HOWLEY AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

“HELEN CROSSIN KITTLE AND HER UNBORN CHILD.”

“VANESSA LANG AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

‘PATRICIA ANN CIMAROLI MASSARI AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

‘RENEE A. MAY AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

“SYLVIA SAN PIO RESTA AND HER UNBORN CHILD.”

“RAHMA SALIE AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

“DIANNE SINGER AND HER UNBORN CHILD”

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