Bill Infringing on Conscience Rights Passes, TEXAS Act Does Not

In addition to passing legislation repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act last week, the Illinois General Assembly also passed SB 1169, which prevents Illinoisans from using the Health Care Right of Conscience Act to defend their religious exemption requests regarding COVID-19 vaccine mandates. On the positive side, the TEXAS Act was not passed during the fall veto session.

SB 1169 would amend the Health Care Right of Conscience Act to specifically prevent Illinoisans from using it to receive exemptions related to COVID-19. This is problematic for pro-life Illinoisans who take issue with the fact that all currently available COVID-19 vaccines used a line of stem cells harvested from aborted babies in their development and/or production.

The TEXAS Act would have given individuals the ability to sue those who cause "unintended pregnancy" for $10,000. If they win the lawsuit, $5,000 would have been awarded to the person who filed the lawsuit, and $5,000 would have been added to a fund to transport women to Illinois from other states for abortions. At least for now, Illinoisans don't have to worry about the TEXAS Act being used to fund abortions.

JB Pritzker's signature is the only remaining requirement to repeal parental notice and pass SB1169.