Bruce Rauner won in 2014 with the help of pro-life voters. Pro-abortion groups endorsed Quinn
CHICAGO - The good news for those that want the Governor to veto a bill that would force taxpayers to pay for low income and state employees' abortions is that the bill hasn't moved to his desk as of Friday.
That means abortion-advocating group Personal PAC's Terry Cosgrove isn't confident the governor will sign it into law.
The bad news is that the Governor refuses to confirm that he's going to stick with his first public comment on the topic made in April, and veto HB 40 if it reaches his desk. Now he's telling reporters he's "assessing" the bill.
In April the official position was that Illinois is already one of 17 states that “goes above and beyond federal law by providing public funding for abortions to protect the health of the mother.”
The governor also emphasized that he had already signed two bills protecting women’s reproductive rights — one requiring businesses to pay for birth control and another forcing medical personnel to ignore their consciences and provide minimum abortion counseling.
State Senator Kyle McCarter (R-O'Fallon) told Illinois Review that he expects the governor to keep his word and veto HB 40.
The governor made it very clear to the legislator that brought 24 other lawmakers from the House and Senate to meet with him in his office that he would veto HB 40," McCarter said.
"If this bill becomes law, millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent to take the innocent lives of unborn babies in Illinois. I expect and urge the Governor to keep his word and veto HB 40. This is a true test of his leadership and character," he said.
State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington) said the governor would be breaking his word if he changed his mind from April, when McSweeney first called for Rauner's position on the bill.
"Bruce Rauner gave his word to the people of Illinois that he would veto HB 40, which dramatically expands state funding for abortions," McSweeney told Illinois Review.
Signing the measure into law would simply add to the governor's disappointing term for fiscal and social conservatives that supported him in the 2014 election.
"The governor has failed miserably in his efforts to adopt the pro-economic growth agenda that he was elected on. Instead, we've ended up with a massive tax hike and Illinois becoming a sanctuary state," McSweeney said.
More to come ...
