Comment on Pro-life law firm says Illinois could become ‘Abortion Capital of America’

SPRINGFIELD – Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker vowed to make Illinois “the most progressive state in the nation for access to reproductive health care,” and a conservative pro-life law firm based in Chicago agrees that will happen if Democratic-sponsored legislation becomes law. The Thomas More Society released a 13-page report Friday outlining legal arguments detailing why the Reproductive Health Act, as the measure is named, would greatly expand access to reproductive health care beyond what Supreme Court precedent has dictated. Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel for the Society, said in a news release that should this legislation be successful, “Pritzker and his Democratic supermajorities would convert the ‘Land of Lincoln’ into the ‘Abortion Capital of America.’” Breen is a former state representative from Lombard, and was the minority floor leader in the previous session. According to the memo, the proposed legislation fully repeals current abortion law, including a “broad range” of constitutional statutes related to the procedure and other aspects of law not related to abortion at all. While it does repeal several aspects that federal courts have declared as unconstitutional, “A bill intended to repeal only unconstitutional provisions of Illinois law would have been half a page long, not 120 pages.” The memo makes a few main points against the Reproductive Health Act.