The leaders of Illinois are the latest to sacrifice the weakest in their state on the altars of fear and self-glory. They passed legislation to systematically overturn a host of important safeguards on life and conscience—like the Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act, the Performance Refusal Act, informed consent provisions, and statutes requiring certain medical safeguards and restrictions. “And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32).
One note: we take a strong stance in defense of the right to life from conception to natural death and fervently oppose the so-called “Reproductive Health Act” (RHA). There is very little to commend in this bill, but the NCLL will always give credit where it is due. Illinois legislators left one important protection in place that their peers in New York stripped away—the protection for unborn children when their mothers are criminally assaulted. Illinois statutes still say it’s wrong to kill a child in the commission of violent crime against his or her mother.
That said, the RHA peels back nearly every other protection for unborn children and their mothers. SB 5 eliminates parental notification, spousal notification, physician requirements, protections from fraudulent abortive procedures, and certain medical staff and facility requirements. It replaces the terms “woman” and “mother” with “individual” or “uterus” to promote scientifically disproven transgender ideology. The act even goes so far as to explicitly declare, “A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this State.”
These leaders are accountable before God for their votes, and we pray for their repentance. At the time of this writing, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker hadn’t announced when he would sign the legislation to tear away the protections for this generation of unborn and their mothers. Please pray for God’s mercy.
