Today Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law SB 1564, which will force medical personnel and pro-life pregnancy resource centers to refer their patients for abortion and to discuss the “benefits” of abortion with them, in spite of the fact that for all pro-life pregnancy centers and for many doctors and other medical professionals doing so is in direct conflict with their consciences.
Gov. Rauner had promised during his campaign for office that he would steer clear of social issues. We knew he was not with us on abortion, but we trusted that he would not undermine efforts to protect conscience rights and to enact measures that ensured the safety of women. Not one Republican voted for this anti-conscience bill. Sadly, Rauner has chosen to side with the pro-abortion Democrats in Springfield rather than his own party.
The pro-life movement in Illinois mounted a massive phone, email and letter writing campaign urging Rauner to veto SB 1564, while Planned Parenthood and its pro-abortion cronies ran their own campaign to get him to sign the bill into law. Evidently, Rauner would rather cater to the nation’s largest abortion chain than stand with his own party and the pro-lifers who believed him when he ran for governor.
This is sad and tragic news. It will result in lawsuits filed against the State of Illinois, which is in a dismal financial state and can ill afford to take on unnecessary legal battles. The medical professionals in the state of Illinois deserve to practice their healing art and have their freedom of conscience respected. The pro-life pregnancy centers should be protected from giving exactly the advice that goes against everything they stand for. They will not do it.
