(LifeSiteNews) — Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law that will prohibit religious and mission-based institutions from hiring or firing employees for having had an abortion.
Earlier this month, Pritzker signed HB 4867, an amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act, as part of a package of abortion-related laws, including one that forces all insurers to cover abortions. The state’s “Human Rights Act” is now amended to outlaw “discrimination” in employment and other scenarios based on “reproductive health care decisions.”
This means that religious employers such as Catholic parishes and schools would be unable to fire an employee who shows through the abortion of an unborn child or pursuit of in vitro fertilization that they are fundamentally at odds with their employer’s mission and principles.
Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Greg Baylor denounced the law in a press release, declaring that “forcing people or organizations to violate their religious beliefs is unconstitutional,” and “violates the First Amendment freedoms of pro-life employers in Illinois.”
He pointed out that “many organizations,” including religious and “mission-driven entities,” “advance their missions and communicate their messages by hiring and retaining people who wholeheartedly support and share the organization’s mission and message.”
“HB 4867 destroys that essential freedom,” he added.
Pritzker is one of the most radically pro-abortion politicians in the nation. As governor, he has removed any limitations on the direct and intentional killing of innocent preborn babies, such as parental notification requirements when minors want to kill their babies.
Last year, he supported a $23 million investment into abortion in his state that was earmarked for an abortion hotline and training to perform abortions.
In October, he created a group to push for abortion not only in his own state but across the country, called “Think Big America.”
“Think Big America has already funded support for constitutional amendments favoring abortion access in Ohio, Arizona and Nevada,” the Associated Press reported. Pritzker, a billionaire, is reportedly the only donor for the time being.
Pritzker has gone so far as to openly celebrate the killing of preborn children by declaring March 10 “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.” With profound irony, he thanked abortion providers for what he described as “lifesaving work” as he established this “celebration.”
I’m proud to proclaim today as Abortion Provider Appreciation Day in Illinois.
To the clinic staff and volunteers who help those in need and treat their patients with dignity and compassion: thank you for the critical and lifesaving work you do. #CelebrateAbortionProviders pic.twitter.com/2dHiDiURHV
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) March 10, 2023