Former Rauner staffer seeks public access to First Lady's emails about abortion bill

Illinois' First Lady Diana Rauner is actively involved in her husband's policy and personnel decisions, according to inside sources. And because Mrs. Rauner's opinion is so powerful, her private communications to staff about a bill Governor Rauner signed into law requiring Illinois taxpayers to fund low income and state employee abortions could become public.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Governor Rauner's former deputy chief of staff of communications Diana Rickert is suing the governor for access to emails surrounding the decision-making on HB 40 earlier this year. Rickert is requesting particularly Mrs. Rauner's communications on the topic be made public.

    Rickert ... asked for emails to and from Diana Rauner from June 1, 2017 that include the following terms: “abortion, HB40, reproductive rights, Personal PAC, Planned Parenthood, Terry Cosgrove.” The request included a personal email address, a state email address and one from her role with the Ounce of Prevention.

Click here for more from Illinois Review

Amicus Brief filed on behalf of 23 Illinois Pregnancy Centers in NIFLA's Supreme Court case

Mauck & Baker just filed an Amicus Brief on behalf of 23 IL pregnancy centers in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates' (NIFLA) Supreme Court case.

As you know, the Supreme Court's decision in this case will have a significant impact on the ongoing litigation challenging Illinois' unconstitutional amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (SB1564). Mauck & Baker's brief voices our support of the pregnancy centers in California and highlights the need for the freedoms of pregnancy centers all across the nation to be protected.  Click here for more

Twenty-three Illinois pregnancy centers filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of NIFLA v. Becerra. Their brief defends their right to not promote abortion and a woman’s right to choose life for her unborn child. The NIFLA v. Becerra case out of California deals with whether the government can force pro-life pregnancy care centers to provide free advertising for the abortion industry. The Illinois centers contend that they, like the California centers, are also being targeted by state efforts to force them to provide pro-abortion information to those who come to them for support.

In July 2017 an Illinois Federal District Court granted several pro-life pregnancy centers a preliminary injunction stopping Illinois’ efforts to enforce a recent amendment to the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act which forces pro-life medical professionals to promote the benefits of abortion and inform women where they can obtain an abortion. California enacted a similar law called the Reproductive FACT Act which is at issue in NIFLA v. Becerra.

Attorney Noel W. Sterett of Mauck & Baker, LLC, who represents the twenty-three pregnancy centers before the Supreme Court, said “The government has no business forcing pro-life doctors and pregnancy care centers to operate as referral agents for the abortion industry. A law that targets medical professionals because of their pro-life views and right of conscience is unconstitutional and unethical.” Click here for more

Illinois could face a loss of Federal Funds if it continues to Violate the U.S. Constitution over Pro-Life Clinics

Mirroring pro-abortion action in other states, Illinois passed a law requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to discuss abortion with their clients, and even refer them to the clinics to abort their child.

Several lawsuits have been filed in Illinois to block implementation of the law and attorney Thomas Olp of the Thomas More Society says they have taken an additional step.

"As part of that strategy we're now filing an administrative complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights," he advises, "in order to ask them to investigate whether the Illinois law violates federal law."

Illinois is turning a blind eye to the U.S. Constitution, Olp alleges, paraphrasing late Justice Antonin Scalia who warned of an "edited version" of the constitution preferred by abortion supporters. 

Click here for more from OneNewsNow

IL pregnancy centers side with U.S. Supreme Court plaintiffs objecting to forced abortion advertising

Pregnancy centers in Illinois are not acquiescing to a new state law requiring them to share abortion information with interested expectant mothers.

Last summer, legal representatives won a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the new law. Thursday, twenty-three Illinois pregnancy centers filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) v. Becerra.

The centers' brief defends their right to not promote abortion and a woman’s right to choose life for her unborn child. The NIFLA v. Becerra case out of California deals with whether the government can force pro-life pregnancy care centers to provide free advertising for the abortion industry. The Illinois centers contend that they, like the California centers, are also being targeted by state efforts to force them to provide pro-abortion information to those who come to them for support.

Click here for more from Illinois Review

House to vote on Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act the week of March for Life

On Tuesday House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) announced the first great national pro-life news of 2018. “Next week—the week of the annual March for Life when tens of thousands of Americans come to Washington to give voice to the voiceless unborn—the House will vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act,” he said in a statement.

Majority Leader McCarthy explained the commonsense humanity behind H.R. 4712.

“This bill states simply that if a baby is born after a failed abortion attempt, he or she should be given the same medical care as a baby born any other way. In line with our longstanding commitment to empower women, mothers will never be held criminally accountable. However, doctors who fail to provide medical care to newborns will be held criminally accountable. There is absolutely no ambiguity here. This is about protecting babies who are born and alive, and nobody should be against that.”

Click here for more from NRL News Today

Discriminated against because you're pro-life? File a complaint with the Feds

File a complaint with the feds, Family Research Council says, if as an Illinois resident you've been discriminated against because of your pro-life stance.

Illinois is one of three states that has passed a law forcing pro-life pregnancy care centers to refer for or even promote abortion. Illinois’ law is the strongest in the country as it forces pro-life doctors, nurses, pharmacists to promote and refer for abortion. The law is under legal challenge in court, and is amidst a wave of anti-conscience bills targeting pro-life Americans and pregnancy care centers are under consideration in numerous states.

"If you have been discriminated against because of your pro-life stance, please read the information below and file a complaint with the federal government," Family Research Council said in a email Tuesday.

"Conscience rights for pro-life health care workers, pregnancy care centers, and employers offering health insurance are under unprecedented attack from pro-abortion state and local governments. For eight years, former President Obama’s administration turned a blind eye to these injustices, despite numerous federal laws protecting pro-life conscience rights."


Family Research Council provides these instructions to submit a Federal Conscience Rights complaint to HHS’ OCR online:

1) Go to HHS’ OCR’s Online Form to Submit a Complaint: https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/cp/wizard_cp.jsf

2) Click “File a Civil Rights Complaint”

3) Under the “Complainant” tab, enter your contact info, and then click “Next.”

4) Under the “Complaint Details” tab, for the first question, click “Other (specify)” and type “Federal conscience protections”,  answer the other questions, and then click “Next.”.

8) Under the “Additional Information” tab, add any optional information if it applies to you, and then click “Next.”

9) Under the “Signature” tab, click “Agree” and then click “Next.”

10) Under the “Consent” tab, click “Consent,” and then click “Next.”

11) Under the “Review and Submit” tab, review your full complaint, and then click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

Click here for more from Illinois Review

Pro-abortion ordinance loses to First Amendment

It's a court ruling that upset abortion supporters but an attorney says the First Amendment won the day.

Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a City of Baltimore ordinance that required pro-life pregnancy crisis centers to notify clients that they do not provide abortion services.

The ruling found that the ordinance violates the First Amendment's free speech clause, stating that the required disclaimer "portrays abortion as one among a menu of morally equivalent choices."

Although that might be the city's view on abortion, the court ruling further stated, "it is not the center's [view]."

Click here for more from OneNewsNow

University researcher suspended for possibly selling aborted baby body parts

The University of New Mexico suspended and is investigating a researcher who “transferred” aborted baby parts from a late-term abortion facility to a private company.

According to a university memo obtained by the Albuquerque Journal, Dr. Robin Ohls “acquired fetal tissue for months from the Southwestern Women’s Options abortion clinic and transferred it to a private company in Michigan,”  that private company is Zietchick Research Institute LLC, the recipient of at least three federal research/technology grants for small businesses. It has one employee.

Click here for more from LifeSiteNews

Can gov't force 'free advertising' for abortuaries?

Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed their opening brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in a lawsuit challenging a California law that requires that pro-life pregnancy centers provide free advertising for the abortion industry.

ADF represents a pro-life pregnancy care center network – National Institute of Family and Life Advocates – and two independent centers in the case that the Supreme Court agreed to take up last November.

"We know for sure this will be argued this spring and we will have a decision by the end of June from the Supreme Court, which is very exciting and great news for all Americans," says ADF attorney Denise Harle. "The government shouldn't have the power to force anyone to speak a message that they disagree with and to punish them if they don't – and that's exactly what this California law does."

Click here for more from OneNewsNow

Pro-life Illinois legislators introduce bill to ban Down syndrome abortions

The worse fear of pro-abortionists is that a particular type of pro-life legislation will “catch on.”

Currently Indiana and North Dakota also ban abortions based on genetic anomalies.

On Monday, the Peoria Journal Star reported that Illinois state Reps. Allen Skillicorn of Crystal Lake (pictured) and Thomas Morrison of Palatine have submitted House Bill 4210.

According to Maximilian, Kwiatkowski, HB 4210 “would make it illegal for a doctor to perform an abortion with knowledge the mother is ‘seeking the abortion solely on account of the fetus having a test result indicating Down syndrome, a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, or any other reason to believe that the fetus has Down syndrome.’”

Skillicorn said the bill’s inspiration came from similar measures, including, most recently, passage in Ohio.

Click here for more from NRL News Today

March for Life events planned across the US

Forty-five years after the Supreme Court ruling that mandated legal abortion nationwide, hundreds of thousands are expected to attend rallies supporting the dignity of life, from conception to natural death.

The National March for Life, held each year in Washington, D.C., typically draws large crowds from across the country. This year, the march will be held on Jan. 19 and will feature the theme, “Love saves lives.”

Speakers include Pam Tebow, mother of former NFL player Tim Tebow; Congressmen Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Chris Smith (R-NJ); and Sr. Bethany Madonna from the Sisters of Life.

The D.C. march is one of the largest annual political rallies in the United States. Numerous other cities across the U.S. will also hold Masses, marches, and other events on or near the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

Click here for more from CNA Daily News

IL wants taxpayers to foot bill for abortions

The Thomas More Society filed suit asking for an emergency injunction after a new Illinois law forces the state's taxpayers to fund a minimum of 20,000 more abortions per year.

The attorney general's office took the argument and said that the people of Illinois can't enforce the Constitution in the courts,” explains Peter Breen (Thomas More Society special counsel). “So in other words, we are powerless to hold the General Assembly of Illinois accountable. Then the court agreed in a sweeping first-time ruling on this point."

Thomas More Society is confident, since filing an appeal, that the higher court will reverse the ruling to make the state Constitution relevant in the case.

Click here for more from OneNewsNow

New study reveals terrible suffering but also hope for women who have abortions

A study published in December in the peer-reviewed Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons reveals that women suffer from a wide variety of severely traumatic psychological effects from abortion, effects that often last for many years and have life-changing consequences.

When asked what negative effects, if any, they attribute to their abortions, 23.7% recognized that they had taken a life. Many mentioned that they suffered from depression (14.4%), guilt or remorse (14%), self-hatred or other negative feelings towards themselves (12.4%), shame (10.9%), and regret (9.3%).

Click here for more from LifeSiteNews

Abortion could be key issue in IL 3rd CD Democrat primary

Abortion could be a key issue in Illinois' upcoming 3rd Congressional District Democrat primary.

Democrat Congressman Dan Lipinski (pictured), who succeeded his father Bill Lipinski in representing Illinois' 3rd Congressional District, is vulnerable, a poll released by his primary challenger Marie Newman indicates.

When voters are made aware of Lipinski's conservative leaning on social issues as compared to the relatively unknown Newman's, the race tightens to favor Newman by five points.

"The best negatives on Lipinski include his anti-choice, anti-LGBT rights and anti-immigration record," the poll analysis says. "These negatives did not include strongly worded rhetoric, but rather simple statements of fact regarding his record on these issues or quotes from him."

Lipinski, whose views in contrast with the vast majority of his party, has been publicly honored by Chicago area pro-lifers over the years.

Click here for more from Illinois Review

US businesswoman named new director of UN committee on children. Will she support Trump’s pro-life agenda?

The Trump administration “welcomed” UNICEF’s new executive director, appointed on Monday, raising hopes, and questions, about whether the new chief will embrace the administration’s pro-life stance.

American businesswoman Henrietta Holsman Fore became UNICEF’s 7th executive director, replacing Tony Lake, the Obama-nominated chief and former national security advisor during the Clinton administration. The post has been occupied by an American since its inception in 1947 and is formally appointed by the UN Secretary General after consultation with UNICEF’s executive board which includes the United States. UNICEF has promoted controversial policies on life and family matters since adopting a rights-based approach based upon the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the CEDAW treaty on women’s rights. In recent years UNICEF has endorsed more contentious interpretations of the two treaties put forth by their monitoring committees.

Click here for more from LifeSiteNews

New Video game expedites having an abortion

The abortion industry and their legion of supporters/defenders are nothing if not clever. Here’s a new twist, at least new to me.

Wikipedia describes the Daily Dot as “a digital media company covering Internet culture and life on the web,” the self-described “hometown newspaper” of the Internet.

Well today one of their contributions was a profile of a new browser-based video game called “Trapped.” The headline of Samantha Grasso’s story is “‘Trapped’ is a realistic game about how hard it is get an abortion.”

By the headline and the first paragraph, the mission statement, so to speak, of “Trapped” is clear: abortions are difficult to get, more expensive to procure than thought, and made unnecessarily complicated by gynecologists who tell women abortion is wrong and dishonest crisis pregnancy centers/women helping centers.

The ‘face’ of the villains are TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws. The heroines are abortion funds women can tap into to pay for their abortions.

Click here for more from NRL News Today

Vision 2020 - Week 42 - Rep. Will Guzzardi (D) and Rep. Michael Halpin (D)

Pray for our legislators...

Will You Pray with Us?

Even as we enter the darkest, coldest days of winter, God's light and love shine brightly upon us!

As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11

Vision 2020 and the Illinois Federation for Right to Life would like to invite you to join us in praying for our state and our legislators.

We know that prayer changes things.  And we know that NOTHING is impossible with God. So let's join our hearts and voices together and petition heaven on behalf of the great state of Illinois
Some of our legislators need prayer that God will open their eyes and change their hearts (or move them out of their positions) and some need prayers that they will have the strength, courage and boldness to be able to stand firmly against the opposition as they fight for life and family values.

March for Life Chicago 2018 to be Largest Midwest Pro-Life Event

Community Leaders Proclaim, "Women Deserve Better Than Abortion"

The 2018 March for Life Chicago will draw large crowds (currently estimated to be 6,000 +) of pro-life advocates from across Illinois and the Midwest. On Sunday, January 14, 2018, people from all walks of life will come together on Chicago's Federal Plaza to proclaim the sanctity of human life and call for an end to abortion as they march through the Loop beginning at 2 p.m. (Central). Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich and the Chicago Bears' co-owner Pat McCaskey are among the featured speakers.

March for Life Chicago Board of Directors President Dawn Fitzpatrick explained that the peaceful march through the streets of Chicago is a reminder that people of Illinois and throughout the Midwest desire to change the societal perception of abortion. "Killing a child in the womb is never a viable answer. Abortion is not an acceptable solution to any problem. We believe that 'Love Saves Lives' and that is our theme for this year's March. We call upon religious, civic and community leaders to renew every effort to build a nation and culture dedicated to protecting life at every stage and eliminating the violence of abortion," stated Fitzpatrick. "Thousands of individuals and groups will come together on January 14 to proclaim that our women, men, children and families deserve better than abortion."

    WHAT: March for Life Chicago 2018, "Love Saves Lives"
    
    WHEN: Sunday, January 14, 2018, from 2 to 4 p.m. (Central)
    
    WHO: Thousands of individuals and groups from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio and Missouri
    
    WHERE: Federal Plaza, 50 W Adams, Chicago - MAP: goo.gl/maps/Zu1lI 
    
    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: MarchForLifeChicago.org

Click here for more from Christian Newswire

Star Wars, Obi Wan Kenobi, and abortion

Those of us old enough to remember seeing the original “Star Wars” (first shown at the theaters in 1977) are familiar with the many “iconic” characters. One of those, of course, was Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi (played by the late, great Sir Alec Guinness).

Fr. Dwight Longenecker wrote a book, “Abortion and Obi-Wan Kenobi.”  Here’s the beginning to Fr. Longenecker’s great read:

In 1914 Agnes Cuff, a flighty and unstable young woman with few prospects and little money found herself pregnant. The father didn’t want to be involved. She was alone, shamed, poor and pregnant.

Today she would be encouraged to get herself to an abortion clinic and end the unwanted pregnancy.

Instead a little boy was born.

“If abortion had been easy and legal in England in 1914,” Fr. Longenecker writes, “the world would never have experienced the witty, smart, subtle art and the quiet, steady witness of Alec Guinness….…and Star Wars would have had an enormous void.”

Among the 60 million+ lost lives just in the United States since 1973, who knows what greatness was lost? “What advances in science, medicine, technology, business, the arts and sport might there have been?” Fr. Longenecker writes.

Click here for more from NRL News Today

Federal judge sides with Indiana University to block key provisions of fetal trafficking law

U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson mainly sided with Indiana University last week in striking down key fetal trafficking provisions of Indiana’s Dignity for the Unborn Act. The ruling means Indiana is blocked from enforcing much of the law aimed at prohibiting the trafficking of parts from aborted babies in Indiana.

“We are gravely disappointed with this ruling,” stated Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter. “The purpose of the law is to prevent the trafficking of aborted baby parts in our state. Most of the safeguards in the law are now gutted due to Indiana University’s penchant for using the parts of aborted babies for experimental purposes.”

Indiana University [IU] sued to block the law due to its provision that prohibits the “acquisition, receipt, sale and transfer” of aborted fetal tissue. In its pleadings, IU acknowledged it obtains tissue from organs such as brains, livers and kidneys for experiments. However it argued the law’s definition of fetal tissue is too “vague” when defining it as, “tissue, organs, or any part of an aborted fetus.” IU also argued that the definition of what it means to “transfer” aborted tissue is too “vague.”

While undercutting much of the law’s effectiveness, Magnus-Stinson’s ruling does let stand provisions including the prohibition of selling aborted tissue or organs and the prohibition on altering the timing or type of abortion for the purpose of obtaining parts from aborted babies.

Click here for more from NRL News Today