March 17, 2021

March 17 Illinois Legislation Update

Many bills important bills relating to pro-life issues continue to move through the legislative process in Springfield. Please file witness slips and contact your legislators to make your voices heard as these bills are scheduled for another round of hearings.

photo credit: Keith Ewing / Flickr
Note: Witness slips can be filed for every hearing a bill is scheduled for. If you have already filed a witness slip for a bill in a previous hearing, you can still maximize your voice by filing another one in a new hearing.
HB 1797, which aims to repeal the Parental Notification of Abortion Act, is still in the House Human Services Committee. The next scheduled hearing for that committee is March 23 at 3:00 pm. This common-sense law requires abortion businesses to notify the parents of a minor who schedules an abortion. We must continue fighting to keep this law on the books!

Click here to file a witness slip opposing HB 1797.

Five pro-life bills also stayed in the House and Human Services Committee. They can also be discussed on March 23 along with HB 1797.

The Ultrasound Opportunity Act (HB 683) would require abortionists to give women seeking abortions the opportunity to view a live ultrasound of their unborn babies beforehand.


The Born Alive Infant Protection Act (HB 338) declares that a child born alive as the result of a failed abortion attempt be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law.


HB 783 would repeal legislation requiring taxpayer funding of abortion.


HB 791 would amend the 2019 Reproductive Health Act to prohibit abortion after 20 weeks except in the case of a medical emergency.


The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act (HB 827) would hold abortionists criminally guilty of a Class 4 felony if they complete a partial-birth abortion that isn't medically necessary. It would also allow grandparents to sue abortionists for completing a partial-birth abortion on their daughter if she is a minor, and the grandparents did not consent to the abortion. Pregnant mothers would never be held criminally responsible for partial-birth abortions under this act.


Click here to see this list of legislators on the House Human Services Committee. On that website, you can click on their names to find contact information. If your legislator is on the committee, please tell them to oppose HB 1797 and support these five pro-life bills.

SB 109 did make it out of the Senate Executive Committee. It is scheduled to have its third reading before the full Senate on March 23.

SB 109 would amend the Health Care Surrogate Act to no longer require a witness to sign the Practitioner Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. The POLST form is used when a patient is deciding what kinds of treatments they would approve of when the patient is unable to make decisions. It would also allow a national POLST form to be used instead of the Illinois POLST form. That form similarly does not require a signature from a witness.

Please contact your state senator and tell them to oppose SB 109. If you don't know who your legislator is, you can find out by typing your address on the Illinois State Board of Elections website here.