Democrat Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill on Thursday that would target pro-life pregnancy centers by cracking down on so-called “deceptive practices” that dissuade women from women from aborting their unborn babies.
The bill, SB 1909, claims Illinoisans have been “misled” by crisis pregnancy centers, and that the state “has an interest to protect against deceptive, fraudulent, and misleading advertising and practices that interfere with an individual’s ability to make autonomous, informed, and evidence-based decisions about the individual’s reproductive health and have timely access to quality reproductive health care that adheres to accepted standards of medical practice or care.”
The bill also gives the Illinois Attorney General Office the ability to determine what deception is or “omission of material fact.” Centers in violation of the law could be fined up to $50,000.
“Women need access to comprehensive, fact-based healthcare when making critical decision about their own health—not manipulation or misinformation from politically motivated, non-medical actors,”Pritzker said in a statement. “By empowering the Attorney General’s office to battle deceptive practices, we’re ensuring Illinoisans can make their own decisions about their bodies using accurate and safe information.”
“If you’re a poor woman in Illinois facing an untimely pregnancy, J.B. Pritzker and the Democrats want you to have only one option: abortion,” Scheidler said. “That’s what SB 1909 is all about: protecting abortionists’ profits while depriving women of the help they’re seeking from pro-life pregnancy centers. But this attack on the welfare of poor women and the civil rights of pro-life advocates will not stand. It is patently unconstitutional, and we’re going to fight it in court—and win.”
Right after the governor signed the bill, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, seeking to stop him from enforcing the legislation.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, seeks a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction against SB 1909. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), Women’s Pregnancy Services, Rockford Family Initiative, Relevant Pregnancy Options Center, and Pro-Life Action League.
Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president and head of litigation, and a former Illinois State Legislator, said in a statement that the bill is a “blatant attempt to chill and silence pro-life speech under the guise of ‘consumer protection.'”
“Pregnancy help ministries provide real options and assistance to women and families in need, but instead of the praise they deserve, pro-abortion politicians are targeting these ministries with $50,000 fines and injunctions solely because of their pro-life viewpoint,” Breen said.
The complaint alleges that the bill, which is a revision to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, allows the state to curtail the speech of pro-life organizations by illegally targeting their efforts to “dissuade pregnant [women] from considering abortion care.” The bill also faults pro-life organizations for “pay[ing] for advertising… that is intended to attract consumers to their organizations and away from medical providers that offer” abortions, accusing the pro-life organizations of providing misleading information “overstating the risks associated with abortion.” Breen argues that all of the abortion-related information provided by these pro-life centers and organizations is backed by scientific research.
“In addition to being unconstitutional and extremely prejudicial state officials have not had cause to take legal action against pregnancy help centers, using the tools of the law that were already available,” Breen added.
Breen further alleged that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents obtained from the state attorney general’s office revealed that “the Attorney General has received zero complaints from members of the public against an Illinois Pregnancy Help Center for alleged violations of the Deceptive Business Practices Act.”
It should be emphasized that crisis pregnancy centers — instead of abortion — offer support for pregnant women in need who choose life for their unborn child. They also often offer help after the baby is born. The Charlotte Lozier Institute conducted a study of 2,700 pregnancy help centers in 2020 and found that in 2019, these U.S. clinics “served roughly two million women, men, and youth with services estimated at a value of over $266 million. This outreach was accomplished through 14,977 total staff and 53,855 total volunteers, of which over 10,200 were licensed medical professionals (3,791 as staff and 6,424 as volunteers).”
The report details:
Medical services were provided by an increasing number of centers since last counted in 2017 [13] with: free obstetrical ultrasound services provided at 2,132 centers (79 percent), STD/STI Testing provided at 810 centers (30 percent), and STD/STI Treatment provided at 563 centers (21 percent). [14] In addition, 486,213 pregnancy confirmation ultrasounds, 731,884 pregnancy tests, 160,201 STI tests, and 967,251 consultations with new (unique) clients were all provided at little or no cost. [15]
…
PHCs were shown to be rich resources for support and education to improve maternal, child, youth and family health all at no cost, including: Prenatal and Parenting Classes at 2,312 centers (86 percent), Childbirth Classes at 742 centers (27 percent), Breastfeeding Consultations at 518 centers (19 percent), After-Abortion Support and Recovery at 1,931 centers (72 percent), Fertility Awareness-Based Methods at 188 centers (7 percent), Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Presentations to youth through 979 centers (36 percent).
PHCs also widely provided Material Item Services at 2,525 centers (94 percent). These items included: 1,290,079 packs of diapers, 689,382 packs of wipes, 30,445 new car seats, 2,033,513 baby clothing outfits, and 19,249 strollers.
The study also found these clinics report high client satisfaction (99 percent, on average per center), and are estimated to have saved 886,125 unborn lives since 2008.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Twitter @thekat_hamilton.
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