Lawmakers filed 6,421 bills in the 103rd Illinois General Assembly spring session. Five bills are of interest to Illinois Baptists:
SB 1909, the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act. This bill would allow pregnancy resource centers to be fined $50,000 by the State Attorney General for not offering clients abortion-related information about and would also give clients permission to sue the centers for not offering them the same. Introduced by Sen. Celina Villanueva, pending in the Senate Assignments Committee.
HB 1591 amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act. This would make same-sex marriages performed in Illinois legal should Obergefell v. Hodges be overturned by the U. S. Supreme Court even if the same-sex couple resides in another state that prohibits such marriages. Introduced by Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy, passed through Judiciary Committee, and moved to the House Floor for a second reading.
SB 1793 amends the Equitable Restrooms Act. This would apply to churches that rent their facilities to non-members. It requires public facilities making physical alterations exceeding 50% to construct designated multi-stalled all-gender restrooms. Introduced by Sen. Emil Jones III, pending in the Senate Assignments Committee.
SB 1501 amends the General Not-For-Profit Act of 1986. Corporations would be required to report annually to the Illinois Secretary of State the demographic information of its directors and officers including ethnicity, gender, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Filed by Sen. Emil Jones III, sent to Senate Judiciary Committee.
HB 1163 repeals the Reproductive Health Act creating the Illinois Abortion Law of 2022. This alters provisions of the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 and defines a “fetal heartbeat.” It would further create the Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act of 2022 and the Abortion Performance Refusal Act of 2022. Introduced by Rep. Paul Jacobs, sent to the House Rules Committee.
To contact your local representative or senator regarding any of these bills, visit the Illinois Family Institute’s website.