By Kathleen Gilbert
CHICAGO, January 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a move unprecedented in Illinois history, the state House of Representatives voted 114-1 to impeach disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich, one of the leading champions for abortion in U.S. politics, on account of widely disseminated corruption charges that erupted last month.
The Illinois governor fell into ignominy after federal authorities acquired wiretapped conversations between Blagojevich and various individuals in which the governor sought to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. As governor of Illinoi Blagojevich retained the right to name Obama’s successor.
“We need him out and we need him out immediately,” Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White told FOX News after the vote. “The people of the state of Illinois would benefit from his removal.”
The vote to impeach came one day after an Illinois House committee that had investigated the scandal recommended Blagojevich be impeached for “abuse of power.” The committee’s report included various other allegations of corruption, including extortion of Children’s Memorial Hospital and the Chicago Tribune, and a number of other “pay to play” schemes.
Gov. Blagojevich, who has earned praise from the abortion industry for his objection to pro-life measures put forward by the Bush administration, is well-known to pro-life activists for advancing his pro-abortion agenda with an iron fist.
In 2005, he issued an executive order forcing all Illinois pharmacists to provide the abortifacient morning-after pill or lose their jobs.
“Rather than try to get the legislature to pass something—because we attempted to and they didn’t do it—on my own, through executive order action, I forced these guys to fill prescriptions for birth control for women who come in with prescriptions from their doctors,” said the governor in a 2006 interview. Blagojevich later warned that any bills seeking to overturn the order would be “dead on arrival” at his desk.
The impeachment proceedings will now move to the Illinois Senate for trial, scheduled for January 26, where Blagojevich would be removed from office if convicted. In that case, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would take over in Blagojevich’s place.
“The plague that has been brought upon us by Rod Blagojevich will be lifted,” said Rep. Jack Franks after the impeachment.
See related LifeSiteNews.com articles:
Major Pro-Abortion Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Caught Red Handed Trying to Sell Obama’s Senate Seat
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120903.htmlwww.lifesitenews.com
Illinois Governor Mandates Pharmacists Dispense Abortion Causing Morning-After Pills or Face Consequence
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041203.html
Walgreens Disciplines Four Pharmacists for Refusing Abortifacient Morning-After Pill Prescriptions
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120102.html
Pharmacist Vows He Will Not Dispense Abortifacient Despite Job Loss
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05121604.html