From the Thomas Moor Society:

Illinois Legalizes “Death Penalty” of Dismemberment Abortions on Viable Unborn Preemies

Thomas More Society Details the Disgraces of America’s New “Abortion Capital”

(June 12, 2019 – Chicago) The Thomas More Society has declared Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s signing of SB 25, the state’s extreme abortion law, to be tantamount to “legalizing the death penalty, with no possibility of appeal, for viable unborn preemies.”

The Honorable Peter Breen, former Illinois Representative and Thomas More Society Vice President and Senior Counsel, issued a brief analysis and response to the Democratic supermajority’s legislation, rushed through the Illinois House during the Memorial Day weekend and sent to the governor’s desk by the State Senate on June 4.

“This law is the most radical sweeping pro-abortion measure in America and makes Illinois an abortion destination for the country.

“The deceptively titled ‘Reproductive Health Act’ gives our state some of the most extremely permissive abortion laws of any state in the nation,” explained Breen.

The law brings about the following, which Breen labels, “disgraceful”:

• All licensing requirements for abortion clinics are abolished, and health and safety inspections ended, despite those inspections shutting down numerous dirty abortion clinics in recent years
• Dismemberment abortions of “preemie” babies, who feel pain, without anesthesia, are legalized
• Every private health insurance policy, including those for small churches and religious nonprofits, must pay for elective chemical and surgical abortions
• Every unborn child, up to and even during birth, will now have NO legal rights in Illinois
• Abortion is labeled a “fundamental right,” protected to a greater degree than Free Speech and other First Amendment rights

“The governor and the Democratic supermajorities who fast-tracked this legislation have created a new ‘death penalty’ in Illinois, with no possibility of appeal, for viable unborn preemies,” Breen remarked.

The law, signed by Pritzker on June 12, 2019,

• removes reporting requirements for all abortions including those done on viable babies
• repeals penalties for performing illegal abortions
• allows nurses to perform medical abortions
• strips away abortion conscience protections for health care workers, and
• eliminates existing licensing and health and safety inspections of abortion clinics.”

“It expressly strips all rights from unborn children and wipes nearly every abortion regulation off the books in Illinois, subjecting any that remain to a court challenge under a near-impossible-to-meet “strict scrutiny” standard.

“This act is barbarous.

“Its definition of ‘viability’ expressly excludes many babies who today live and thrive when born premature – these babies now have zero legal rights or protections, under this law,” said Breen.

The new law permits dismemberment abortions of living, viable, and unanesthetized premature babies, who feel pain while they are being torn limb from limb.

The new definition of mother’s “health” is so broad that it provides no protection for any post-viability baby.

Breen suggests that this law, purporting to improve health care for women, instead, by removing all regulation and oversight, sends it back to the dark ages.

“This law creates a ‘fundamental right…to have an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise that right.’

“The General Assembly majority and governor have placed abortion as the primary and principal right in Illinois, above all others,” the attorney and former legislator explained.

Under this law, every health insurance policy in Illinois is now required to cover elective abortions, even late-term ones. There are no exceptions for churches, religious nonprofits, or pro-life individuals and small business owners.

It even strikes current law that protects parents from having to pay for a child’s abortion, when performed without parental consent.

Illinois’ new abortion mandate also strips the express right in current law for health care workers to choose not to participate in abortions.

Breen is particularly concerned about the stripping of all licensing requirements for abortion clinics.

“This removes the only effective tool the state government has to regulate and shut down unsanitary and unsafe abortion clinics, like Rockford’s ‘House of Horrors.’”

“The legacy of this governor, and any legislator who voted to pass this law, will be that of cruel dehumanization of unborn Illinoisans on a mass scale,” declared Breen.

“They will bear the legacy of thousands of late-term dismemberment abortions inflicted on perfectly healthy, viable children.

“They will bear the legacy of many thousands more children aborted in Illinois instead of being allowed to live, with the resulting psychological trauma to their mothers, including teenagers, who might otherwise have brought their children to term.

“They will bear the legacy of harm done to those women who suffer from abortions performed in filthy unlicensed clinics.”

Breen added, “This law violates the deepest moral and ethical convictions of millions of Illinoisans. While the Democratic supermajorities in the 101^st General Assembly and Governor Pritzker have sped these radical measures into law, the citizens of this state can and must make their voices heard.”

About the Thomas More Society

The Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visitthomasmoresociety.org.