As the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly opens in January, lawmakers will be filing many bills for consideration, sometimes up to 5,000. Illinois Right-to-Life points to three bills already filed that merit attention as the legislature considers action on them. The following excerpt is from the IRL newsletter.
HB 4146 creates The Expanding Abortion Services Act. This is meant to play off the recent Texas law that allows civil suits to be filed by most persons against any person in violation of the Texas law, that prohibits abortions after a heartbeat of an unborn child. HB 4146 would allow persons to file civil suits against anyone who abets a sexual assault or domestic abuse or causes an unintended pregnancy, regardless of circumstances.
Half of the $10,000 award for winning the lawsuit would go to a fund to “pay the costs of abortions for pregnant persons who travel to Illinois from states that prohibit abortions for the purpose of obtaining access to abortions in Illinois.”
HB 4221 creates the Pregnancy Center Disclosure Act. Requires crisis pregnancy centers (women’s resource centers) to state in any print and digital advertising materials, “This facility is not licensed as a medical facility by Illinois and has no licensed medical providers who provide or directly supervise the provision of services.”
It also requires that in any county where more than 10% of the overall population speaks a language other than English at home, the notice distributed on-site shall also be provided in such other language.
HB 4247 creates the Public Higher Education Act. The bill includes provisions requiring each public institution of higher education to make emergency contraception available for purchase through at least one vending machine located on each campus under its jurisdiction. (The bill) defines “emergency contraception” (and) sets forth minimum requirements concerning the packaging, storage, cost, and dispensing of the emergency contraception.
In addition to these bills, IRL reports Speaker of the House Chris Welch will allow bills introduced last year to go directly to committee, so additional legislation limiting pro-life positions maybe expected.