SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (LifeSiteNews) — On May 10, SB 1909 was passed by both chambers of the state legislature, paving the way for further persecution of pregnancy resource centers by classifying their pro-life services as “unfair methods” of assisting expectant mothers. The bill now heads to the notoriously pro-abortion Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker for signing.
Democratic lawmakers claim that because the state allows for abortion on demand until viability, pregnancy centers seeking to serve both mothers and babies are infringing upon the “rights” of women to murder their unborn children. Under Illinois law, abortion is also legal for vague “health” exceptions until birth, funded by taxpayers through Medicaid and available for minors without parental consent.
“The laws and public policy of this State have established the fundamental rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about their own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use of refuse reproductive health care [sic],” the bill reads. “Despite these laws, vulnerable State residents and nonresidents seeking health care in this State have repeatedly been misled by organizations and their agents purporting to provide comprehensive reproductive health care services, but which, in reality, aim to dissuade pregnant persons [sic] from considering abortion care [sic] through deceptive, fraudulent, and misleading information and practices, without any regard for a pregnant person’s [sic] concerns or circumstances.”
After accusing pro-life pregnancy centers of promoting “misinformation,” the bill language amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to include organizations that refuse to commit abortions.
“Limited services pregnancy center” is defined as “an organization or facility, including a mobile facility, that: does not directly provide abortions or provide or prescribe emergency contraception, and has no affiliation with any organization or provider who provides abortions or provides or prescribes emergency contraception and has a primary purpose to offer or provide pregnancy-related services to an individual who is or has reason to believe the individual may be pregnant, whether or not a fee is charged for such services.”
If the bill is signed into law, pro-life pregnancy centers would be prohibited from participating “in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices, including the use or employment of any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact” with the intention of offering life-affirming alternatives to abortion and persuade women to choose life for their babies instead of death. Forbidden pro-life work includes “advertising, soliciting, or otherwise offering pregnancy-related services.”
Violations of the legislation would open the door for pro-life pregnancy centers to face legal battles and consequences for defending the most vulnerable citizens.
SB 1909 would be effective once signed into law by the governor.
Illinois Right to Life reacted to the news by urging pro-lifers to contact Pritzker’s office and speak out against the bill, saying that it “singles out pro-life pregnancy resource centers, placing a target on their backs and violating their right to free speech.”
“If the Governor chooses to support this bill – which poses a clear free speech violation – the fight will not end there,” a May 11 press release from the organization reads. “Please continue to pray for our legislators, who remain obstinate in their anti-life stance and refuse to acknowledge their role in tens of thousands of deaths annually.”
The bill’s passage through both legislative chambers comes months after Pritzker was sworn into his second term in office. He vowed at the time to enshrine a “right” to abortion in the state’s constitution. Since then, the Illinois legislature approved another bill that would lessen safety restrictions and expand abortion, including by welcoming out-of-state abortionists to practice in Illinois after having their licenses revoked for committing illegal abortions and granting authority for birthing centers to kill the unborn.
More recently, Pritzker declared March 10 to be “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day” in his state, further promoting the radical murder of children in the womb.
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