January 27, 2023
US Legislators Introduce Bill to Defund Colleges that Dispense Abortion Pills
January 26, 2023
Judge Rules Arizona Ban on Discriminatory Abortions Can Remain in Effect
January 25, 2023
National Right to Life Annual Report Now Available
- the Biden administration's attacks on Hyde Amendment protections (which prevent federal tax dollars from funding elective abortions).
- attempts to ratify the long-expired Equal Rights Amendment.
- the increasing percentage of abortions completed via the abortion pill regimen. This number is likely to increase even more, as pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are set to start filling abortion pill prescriptions.
- Biden administration policies ending safety regulations that governed the prescription of abortion pills.
- how states protect or deny the right to life through legislation, constitutional amendments, or court decisions. Click here to read about the pro-abortion legislation signed by IL Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this month.
January 24, 2023
Illinois Woman Tells Story of Abortion Survival
January 23, 2023
Attorneys for Sidewalk Counselor Arrested by FBI Reveal Defense During Pretrial Hearing
January 20, 2023
Supreme Court Failed to Find Source of Leaked Dobbs Opinion
A joint statement released by the Supreme Court and the marshal of the court stated that investigators have been unable to identify the leaker. Investigators concluded that it was "unlikely" that the court was hacked by an outsider. This limited its investigation to 82 employees, all of whom denied leaking the opinion.
“In May 2022, this Court suffered one of the worst breaches of trust in its history: the leak of a draft opinion,” the Supreme Court statement said. “The leak was no mere misguided attempt at protest. It was a grave assault on the judicial process.”
“It is not possible to determine the identity of any individual who may have disclosed the document or how the draft opinion ended up with Politico,” the statement reads.
The backlash from the leaked draft led to protests and threats outside the homes of Supreme Court Justices. Many believe that the leak contributed to fewer successful outcomes for pro-life candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
Pritzker Promotes Abortion at World Economic Forum
"We just did that. Protect a woman's right to choose. We just did that. Those are not happening at the federal level and should. But we're doing it at the state level. And it's true also about building our economy. We just passed $1,000,000,000,000 GDP for the state of Illinois. We're the fifth state in the country to do that. We're doing that with some help from the federal government, but frankly, we've had to chart a course and set an industrial policy essentially for our state.”
January 19, 2023
Arsonist Throws Molotov Cocktail into Peoria Planned Parenthood
suspect vehicle fleeing after the arson attack photo from Peoria Police Department Facebook page |
January 18, 2023
Judicial Watch Sues HHS for Fetal Organ Harvesting Records
January 17, 2023
Gov. Pritzker Advocates for Abortion Rights Constitutional Amendment
"One thing last year proved is that if given the chance, a bunch of right-wing judges and legislators will take away women’s rights. Well, Illinois spoke loudly and decisively in 2022 and declared that in the Land of Lincoln, we trust women! The right to privacy and bodily autonomy demand that we establish a constitutional protection for reproductive rights in Illinois. The extremists still want to take away a woman’s right to choose, and I don’t intend to let them. That’s why yet again, on women’s rights, Illinois will lead."
The governor, like many pro-abortion politicians, does not use the word "abortion." He instead leans on "women's rights" and "reproductive freedom," insinuating that the rights of women cannot coexist with the rights of the unborn (or even more troubling, that the unborn do not have any rights).
He also paints anyone who would protect the unborn from those who would intentionally kill them as "extremists." This language further divides Americans who might otherwise create solutions that simultaneously protect unborn children and assist mothers facing crisis pregnancies.
Pritzker's speech echoes a sentiment expressed by Illinois House Speaker Emmanuel "Chris" Welch last month. When asked by the State Journal-Register about a potential constitutional amendment codifying a right to abortion, he responded, “That's certainly one of the questions that's out there, and it’s a strong possibility. But again, I don't want to get ahead of the working group or the recommendations they formally present. I'm certain that's one of the things that's on the table.”
Click here to read Gov. Pritzker's full inauguration speech.
January 13, 2023
Jan 13 Illinois General Assembly Legislation Update
- Allows non-physicians to perform surgical and aspiration abortions that do not require general anesthesia. It also ends the requirement that a physician is present for such abortions.
- Creates "temporary permits" for physicians and non-physicians from other states to commit abortions in Illinois.
- Protects abortionists who flee to Illinois after losing their licenses in other states for breaking pro-life laws. These abortionists are allowed to practice in Illinois, and Illinois will legally protect them from other states' efforts to extradite them for violations of pro-life laws.
- Removes liability from healthcare professionals and medical institutions if a legal and consensual abortion causes a mother's death.
- Allows birthing centers to commit abortions
- Mandates that health insurance plans cover abortion and abortion drugs without deductibles or co-pays (regardless of whether the plans would provide coverage for prescription drugs otherwise).
- Allows for the disposal of human embryos created through "assisted reproduction" such as IVF.
On January 12, a slew of new bills was introduced. We will highlight a few of them here. All of these bills were referred to the House Rules Committee and await assignment to standing committees.
118th US House Passes Pro-Life Legislation in First Week
January 12, 2023
Biden DOJ Advises Postal Service that Abortion Drugs can be Mailed Lawfully in All 50 States
"even if a state prohibits a pregnant person from ingesting mifepristone or misoprostol for the purpose of inducing an abortion, such an individual has a constitutional right to travel to another state that has not prohibited that activity and to ingest the drugs there. Someone sending a woman these drugs is unlikely to know where she will use them, which might be in a state in which such use is lawful."
Sending abortion drugs for the purpose of causing abortion to a person who lives in a place where abortion is illegal is still fine, according to Schroeder, as long as the sender believes that the mother will travel out of state before ingesting the pills. Such an assumption seems unreasonable, and it is very possible that a sender could still face charges from a pro-life state that would argue otherwise.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erik Baptist told Live Action News,
“These longstanding federal laws prohibit the distribution of chemical abortion drugs by mail, common carrier, or express company. That means only the chemical drug manufacturer may deliver and distribute these drugs to abortionists around the country. The manufacturer cannot use the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, or any third-party courier to distribute chemical abortion drugs to abortionists, pharmacies, or women in the United States.”
January 11, 2023
Arizona Court Upholds 15-Week Abortion Limit, Blocks 1864 Abortion Ban
January 10, 2023
IL HB 5188 would Mandate Sex-Ed Standards Promoting Abortion as a "pregnancy option"
January 9, 2023
South Carolina Supreme Court Rules State Constitution Implies Right to abortion
The South Carolina Supreme Court found that the heartbeat law "violates our state Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable invasions of privacy" because it did not allow a woman "sufficient time" to decide whether to have an abortion.
“Our State Supreme Court has found a right in our Constitution which was never intended by the people of South Carolina. With this opinion, the Court has clearly exceeded its authority. The people have spoken through their elected representatives multiple times on this issue,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tweeted. “I look forward to working with the General Assembly to correct this error.”
With the heartbeat law struck down, abortion is only banned in South Carolina after 20 weeks gestation.
Idaho Supreme Court Rules State Constitution Does Not Create Right to Abortion
January 6, 2023
FDA Rule Change Allows Pharmacies to Sell Abortion Pills
January 5, 2023
Pro-Abortion IL Senate Pushes Law Targeting Crisis Pregnancy Centers
photo credit: Jim Bowen / Flickr |
- Allow non-physicians to perform surgical abortions that do not require general anesthesia. Further, physicians would no longer need to be present for such abortions.
- Give abortionists from other states, even non-physicians, "temporary permits" to commit abortions in Illinois without Illinois medical licenses
- Protect abortionists who flee to Illinois after losing their licenses in other states by breaking pro-life laws. These abortionists would be allowed to practice in Illinois, and Illinois would legally protect them from other states' efforts to extradite them for violations of pro-life laws.
- Use taxpayer funds to cover the travel, food, lodging, childcare, translation, "doula support," and abortion expenses of women who travel from out of state to have abortions in Illinois.
- Mandate that healthcare professionals with continuing education requirements take a two-hour course about "reproductive health care" including abortion.
- Empower the Attorney General to investigate sidewalk counselors, pro-life protestors, and crisis pregnancy centers (defined as "limited services pregnancy facilities in the bill) for "deception" or "omission of any material fact" whenever he "believes it to be in the public interest that an investigation be made..." Those found guilty by a court of law following any investigation could be fined up to $50,000.
Rockford Zoning Board Rejects Challenge to Abortionist's "Home Business" Clinic
Abortionist Dennis Christensen screenshot from "Lake of Fire" documentary clip |