Pro-life groups sue over Illinois’ abortion funding law

Nov. 30--A number of pro-life organizations and state lawmakers are going to court in Sangamon County to block the controversial state law providing expanded public funding of abortions in Illinois.

The Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit over House Bill 40, the bill signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner that infuriated pro-life Republicans who said the governor had vowed to veto it. The bill calls for the state to pay for abortions for Medicaid recipients and women covered by state employee health insurance.

"The people of Illinois totally reject taxpayer-funded abortions," Peter Breen, a special counsel to the Society and a Republican representative from Lombard, said in a statement. "Under HB 40, Illinoisans will be forced to pay for 20,000 to 30,000 abortions per year with their tax dollars."

The lawsuit says the state can't pay for the abortions because the General Assembly didn't authorize money in the budget to pay for them. It also says that since lawmakers never adopted a revenue estimate for the budget as they are supposed to do, it can't be assumed money is available to pay for the abortions. It also notes some have said the budget is out of balance by $1.7 billion.

The lawsuit also alleges the HB 40 cannot take effect before June 1, instead of Jan. 1. The bill passed during the spring session, but was not sent to Rauner until September. Because of that delay, the lawsuit says, the law essentially didn't pass until that date and the Constitution stipulates the legislation can't go into effect until June 1. The lawsuit wants the court to at least prevent any spending on abortions covered by HB 40 until that date.

An initial hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for next Thursday.

Eight Republican state lawmakers are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. None of them is from the Springfield area.

The lawsuit also lists 10 pro-life groups as plaintiffs, including Springfield Right to Life. The Diocese of Springfield also is a plaintiff.

Springfield Right to Life president Tim Moore said polls show a majority of Americans opposed public funding of abortions, regardless of their views on the moral issue of abortion.

"You are promising to pay for something that you don't have the money for, and you are not telling us where you are getting the money from," Moore said of the General Assembly. "Why are you doing this when 60 percent of Americans are against abortions?"

The lawsuit projects that at least 20,000 to 30,000 of the 40,000 abortions performed in the state will be eligible for public funding. The suit says HB 40 "would require the people of Illinois to pay tens of millions of dollars for elective abortions ..."

Proponents of the bill have repeatedly said the costs of the bill are exaggerated.

Social conservatives were outraged over Rauner's decision to sign the bill. They said he gave them assurances in April that he would not sign it. At the same time, Rauner has consistently said he supports abortion rights and filled out a questionnaire in 2014 indicating he would sign legislation like HB 40.

Rauner's decision to sign it is one factor sparking a primary challenge from Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton. Ives, a fiscal and social conservative, said she is running against Rauner, although she has not yet filed her nominating petitions.

Staff writer Crystal Thomas contributed to this report. Contact Doug Finke: doug.finke@sj-r.com, 788-1527, twitter.com/dougfinkesjr.

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