Rauner: Keep one provision of abortion proposal, lose the other

May 12--Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said Friday that he would approve a bill to keep abortions legal in Illinois even if federal law were to change, but he said he opposes expanding the availability of taxpayer-funded abortions because the idea is "too controversial."

Rauner's comments came a few days after state lawmakers approved a proposal that includes both provisions. The legislation would lift restrictions on Medicaid- and state employee insurance-covered abortions. It also would change a provision in Illinois law that ties the state's abortion policy to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that protected a woman's right to have an abortion. Abortion rights supporters have accused Rauner of backtracking on a campaign pledge to support the ideas contained in the legislation. During his 2014 campaign for governor, Rauner filled out what was then a confidential questionnaire for the political action group Personal PAC, in which he expressed support for the ideas.

During a question-and-answer session Friday on WBEZ radio, the governor said he is only in support of the language that ensures that abortions will be legal in Illinois regardless of what happens on the federal level. If a proposal included only that part, Rauner said, he would "sign that legislation if that bill came to my desk."

"What we need to do is make sure that gets protected," Rauner said after he was asked by a caller and host Tony Sarabia to explain his shifting position on the issue. "Many people are very concerned, and perhaps rightly so, that things could change at the federal level. Our current law -- and I believe it was put in, in 1975 -- said that if the federal law changed, Illinois' law would change and automatically reverse and reproductive rights could be taken away. We should never let that happen."

Rauner has promised to veto the legislation, though he did not go so far in his comments on Friday. Despite voting to send the bill to Rauner, Democrats used a procedural move to hold onto the paperwork and keep it off the governor's desk, at least for now.

The governor accused Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of adding the expansion of taxpayer funding for abortions to the proposal "to create political problems" for him.

"We're one of the more progressive states," Rauner said. "I support that. I want to protect that. But the bill goes further and expands taxpayer funding in a way that only two other states have. That's very divisive, it's very controversial. That part, I don't think makes sense to do now."

Rauner said he has asked the General Assembly to send him a bill that includes only the language he supports. Bill sponsor Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, has previously said she declined the governor's request.

"I am not leaving women who are insured by the state of Illinois, whether you're an employee or Medicaid is your insurer, I am not leaving them in the dust," Feigenholtz said. "I'll let Gov. Rauner do that. That's what it looks like he's doing."

kgeiger@chicagotribune.com

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