(Thomas More Society) — In a federal lawsuit filed November 20, pro-life organizations, a church, and Christian employers are suing Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and other state officials to enjoin them from enforcing an unconstitutional law requiring health insurers to cover elective abortions and abortion-inducing drugs.
Thomas More Society attorneys filed the federal complaint on behalf of Students for Life of America, Midwest Bible Church, Pro-Life Action League, Illinois Right to Life, Clapham School, and DuPage Precision Products.
Illinois law currently requires health insurance policies to cover elective abortions on the same terms as they cover pregnancy-related benefits. It also requires insurers to provide abortion-inducing drugs free of charge to any beneficiary who demands them, which forces other beneficiaries to pay for these abortions with their premiums. The Illinois law provides no exceptions or accommodations for employers or individuals who object to abortion on religious or moral grounds.
The complaint asks the court to block state officials from enforcing these abortion coverage mandates that violate the free exercise and expressive association rights guaranteed by the First Amendment as well as numerous federal statutes.
“For Christians and many other pro-life advocates, Illinois’ abortion-coverage mandate is fundamentally opposed to their religious beliefs and runs roughshod over their constitutionally protected conscience rights,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president and head of litigation. “Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his administration are on an uncompromising campaign to transform the Land of Lincoln into the nation’s abortion capital. In doing so, they have shown little-to-no regard for the rights of those who believe that all human life is worth protecting.
“We are proud to represent this coalition of clients in challenging this unconscionable mandate. There’s no reason for pro-life individuals and organizations to be denied the option to choose an insurance policy that exempts them from covering others’ elective abortions.”
“If billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to pay for abortions in his state out of the generosity of his heart, that can be his choice,” Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins said. “Instead, Pritzker and state officials have manipulated and supported a law to force all Illinois residents to cover his choice of abortion for them.
“In fact, when spending his money in the election, it was to get more radical abortion policies in place, to demand others to pay for abortion. Students for Life of America’s team members and supporters in Illinois should not be forced to violate our consciences just because the abortion lobby and its cheerleaders like the governor have moved from ‘choice’ to coercion.”
Read the complaint in Students for Life of America v. Gillespie, filed by Jonathan F. Mitchell and Thomas More Society attorneys on November 20, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois – Eastern Division here.
The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and freedom. Headquartered in Chicago and with offices across the country, Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court.