CHICAGO - Illinois is one of the nation's most abortion-friendly states, and signing HB 40 into law will only make that more the case. But will the abortion advocates that hold the majority in the Illinois House and Senate be satisfied with taxpayer-funding abortions for low income women and state employees?
Likely not. There's yet another level of abortion embracing that Illinois can reach. Something like what Oregon just passed into law:
First, HB 3391 requires all private health insurers to offer free abortions without restrictions or copays. The one exception is Providence Health Plans, which had threatened to pull out of the state because of the abortion requirement. Instead, individuals covered by Providence will soon be able to obtain free, taxpayer-funded abortions through the Oregon Health Plan.
Second, it gives $10.2 million to expand the Oregon Health Authority in order to provide “services, drugs, devices, products and procedures” for undocumented residents, $500,000 of which would specifically be used for abortions.
Additionally, beyond expanding taxpayer-funded abortion, the law goes further by specifically barring public employees from inhibiting or restricting access to abortion in any way.
ABC News summarized the law like this: “In some states such as New York, abortions are cost-free if they’re deemed medically necessary. The Oregon bill is unique, however, in that patients would have access to the procedure for virtually any reason, at any time, including sex-selective and late-term abortions.”
In short, it’s one of the most aggressive pro-abortion laws ever passed in the history of our country.
That's how the Oregon Right to Life describes their new state policy.
While Governor Rauner tried his best to stay out of that uncomfortable abortion topic, he couldn't avoid it. He's had three bills on his desk making abortion more convenient and accessible since he's been in office.
One pushed private insurers to pay for contraception - which, of course, includes abortifacients that chemically induce abortions. Another forces prolife medical personnel to go against their consciences and provide information about where they can get abortions if they refuse to do them themselves. (That measure is being challenged at the U.S. Supreme Court level).
And now, he's being asked to force taxpayers - both religious and non-religious - to pay for abortions themselves.
But it could get even more demanding. Illinois lawmakers are likely to attempt to imitate Oregon - and it could be sooner than anyone expects if the legislature-influencing Personal PAC's Terry Cosgrove is successful.
Cosgrove despises religious philosophies affecting public policy. As he said in the House Committee hearing on HB 40:
As an academic who believes in science, research and facts to guide public policy, it is disturbing to recognize that too often, public policy is not based on these principles. Rather, public policy is often dictated by narrowly-held, deeply personal religious beliefs that do not belong in the legal or policy arena, especially given the Constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state. This is especially true because those beliefs and institutions historically treat women as less than equal.
HB 40 is likely not to be the last thrust for abortion in Illinois. It can get even worse.
