A number of pro-life groups and 13 Illinois state lawmakers are asking a judge to stop a new law that could give thousands of taxpayer-funded abortions to state residents starting in January. “This emergency injunction would stop a New Year’s Day implementation of this law, under which Illinois taxpayers would be forced to pay for 20,000 to 30,000 or more abortions per year,” said state Rep. Peter Breen, a special counsel for the pro-life Thomas More Society. Illinois is so far in debt it’s often seen as the most financially troubled state.
That led Breen to say, “Even apart from the sincere moral objections that many folks have to paying for abortions, there is no money in the Illinois state budget to pay for them.” He estimates the abortions could cost the state $15 million to $30 million a year. The plaintiffs seeking to stop the new law – HB 40 – warn it would make free abortions available to Medicaid recipients in the state. They could get them through all nine months of pregnancy and for any reason they choose. FULL REPORT
